Re: Hw vs Fw

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

So whats going on here?  A higher  pulse due to my weight.  Both
> horses by the way have been at it for the same amount of time.  Ride and
> race together.  While out on rides when my junior rider is not along I'll
> ask a lightweight that I may be riding with; whats your pulse?.  And just
> about every time they will be 10 to 15 beats under Big Red.  Now what this
> means over 50 or 100 miles, I'm not sure.

I've been giving an awful lot of thought (and reading alot of journal
articles) on the energetics question since I got the research results I
did on HWs statistically doing as well as lighter riders.  I'm starting
to think more and more than as long as the HR stays in the aerobic
range, 10 or 20 or whatever beats per minute isn't going to make much
difference to the horse, because at both of those HRs, you're still well
below maximum capacity.  It IS going to make some difference in
recoveries, just because all other factors being equal, the horse
carrying the Hwt rider has to drop his HR that extra 10 bps, while the
lighter horse doesn't.  However, another factor might be that actually,
the Hwt horse is fitter (in most cases) than the Hwt horse, simply
because during conditioning, the Lwt horse hasn't had the same demands
placed on him that the Hwt horse did---the speed, number of hills may be
equal in both conditioning programs, but the Hwt horse simply has to
move more mass down the trail.

  If the heart is working harder,
> what does that mean in relation to all the other peramiters by which we
> judge B.C.?  

Well, another factor is that the research has found that it takes the
same amount of energy to move a 900 lb horse plus 100 lb rider down the
trail as it does to move a 1000 lb horse with NO rider down the trail. 
So when we're comparing a Fwt rider to a Hwt rider, you have to look at
the weight of the horse as well---maybe alot of Fwt riders on big horses
are entering rides as Fwt, but are actually using the same amount of
energy as the Mwt rider on a smaller horse.   Maybe (and this is just
idle chatter), the body weight of the horse should also be a factor in
BC judging.

Where we do excell is going up and down hills.  I'm with you,
> we don't stand a chance on the flats? Wonder why?  Must be the time factor
> working against us.  And finally one last comment.  Its very rare we have
> the chance to beat a lightweight over the line.  I've always been willing
> to give that to them.  I'd just like the scraps of whats  left, B.C.

I think the big difference is how close to maximal effort are you
traveling at---at submaximal speeds, a Fwt horse is using fewer calories
per kg per minute than the Hwt horse is, but BOTH horses are still able
to supply adequate energy to keep the mail moving.  During a sprint to
the finish, now the fuel substrate has changed and both horses are
burning almost 100% sugars.  The Hwt horse is definitely at a
disadvantage then, because it DOES take more energy to move that total
mass forward at maximal speed, and the heavier-loaded horses is going to
hit the wall before the Fwt horse.  That's where you're losing the race.

Nifty discussion thread.

Susan Garlinghouse