Re: Horse Height & Bone

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Lisa, I don't qualify as an experienced endurance rider compared to most
everyone else here on Ridecamp, I can only pass on what we learned in
collecting data on over 600 horses at Tevis to try to identify
weight-carrying ability.  First, there were horses carrying about the
same load that your 14.2 mare will that successfully completed Tevis. 
Two, long and slow conditioning of your mare will increase her cannon
bone circumference appreciably---I've followed a few and heard reports
of horses gaining 1/2 - 1" of bone over the course of several years. 
Just keep in mind that it takes years to get a full response from bone,
so don't despair if your mare doesn't have 9" cannons by next spring.

Third, from the data we collected (which granted, was only collected at
Tevis and so only describes Tevis horses, not endurance horses as a
population), it appears that it's the weight of the horse itself that
matters more in weight-carrying ability, more so than the weight of the
rider.  Look at it this way---let's say your mare weighs 850 pounds and
you as a Hwt rider weigh 212 pounds.  Your mare is carrying 24.9% of her
own weight, which is WELL within the range of successful horses we saw
at Tevis (in fact was average), and the total weight she must carry down
the trail is 297 pounds.  So now you sell her to a lighter rider, let's
say one that with tack weighs 155 pounds, at the upper end of the
flyweight scale (about 30 pounds less than the average successful Tevis
horse carries).  Now the same horse is carrying 18.2% of her own
bodyweight---only 6.7% less of a relative weightload.  She still has to
carry the vast majority of the total weightload regardless of rider
weight, that of her own body mass.

Again, these comments are only based on research results, but in my
opinion, Lisa, your "little" mare is perfectly capable of carrying you
safely and successfully for many miles, after some long, slow, careful
conditioning with her.  Our database is FULL of horses and riders of a
very similar size that very successfully completed Tevis, and in most
cases, many, many, MANY other rides as well.

Best of luck with her,

Susan Garlinghouse, MS
Equine Research Center
California State Polytechnic University



Lisa Lyttle wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> reading all this stuff about bone and height has me a little worried
> about the suitability of my mare for endurance.
> 
> She's a pure arabian mare, well looked after, we've only started her
> undersaddle at 4.5 years of age (she turns 5 this month).  She is 14.2
> with 7" of bone and I'm 5'8 and not telling you how much I weigh;-).
> except to say that I'm definitely a heavyweight rider.
> 
> She has what I believe to be that I can go all day attitude (you should
> see her after cattle), and really nice conformation - especially in the
> legs except that her cannons could be a tad shorter, but they're
> definitely acceptable, should I give up the idea of endurance now with
> her, or just bring her on quietly and then sell her to a lighter/smaller
> rider?
> 
> Lisa