Badminton..fitness & weight...

Bryndu

Bryndu

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Hi all,

Well....after an exhausting 6 hours of watching Badminton...(and SO glad I am not a BBC cameraman in that wind:))....which I have to say I enjoyed as it obviously needed a bold horse and a thinking rider......I was just wondering....

Some folks have said the ground was sticky...some said not....obviously the wind was a factor and this can have an influence on horse and rider breathing......

But.....I have just been sticky beaking on a thread about Air Jackets.....and it seems you need to ride with a body protector and an Air Jacket if you choose to ride in an Air Jacket....

Now I have absolutley no experience of Air Jackets....but would having a BP and an Air Jacket have an effect on the weight of the rider on the horse.....and if so.....might this have had an influence on the fitness/tiredness on some of the horses whose riders choose to wear them?

Back in the day...there used to be a minimum weight of 11 stone 11 ounces which for the smaller riders had to be carried as weight cloths....and the bigger people used to try to slim down to get a near the weight as possible.

Thanks
Bryndu
 
I can answer the air jacket question having just bought one. Tried it on and was surprised how light it is, it's just like a light waistcoat. There's really no weight to it. Wouldn't make a difference to being "weighed down"
 
Air jackets are pretty light (think about 1lb) so the difference is negligible. They haven't had to carry a set weight for many years now and doesn't seem to have made any difference.

fwiw I thought a lot of the male riders were looking very skinny.

I think the wind would have made a huge difference. As someone who cycles a lot, it's draining cycling into a headwind and both slows you down and knackers you.
 
Thanks both:) Good to know the Air Jackets are light.

Personally....having listened to Tina Cook talking about the wind and how strong it was galloping in to it.....I should say that it was probably a major influencing factor.

I live by the sea and we have very strong winds....and it is amazing the effect it has on the horses' breathing....sometimes just schooling.

Best wishes
Bryndu:)
 
I agree about some of the male riders being skinny - Mark Todd especially. I'm not sure less weight is always better though, there has to be some advantage to being heavier and stronger when you're anchoring a large adrenaline filled horse - and longer legs certainly help stickability. But I do wonder what effect air jackets have on balance and streamlining - do they flap around?

Bear in mind that the ground doesn't effect all horses the same way, look at how important the going is in racing. Also the condistions did change through the day yesterday which may explain the variation in rider opinion. Mind you it wasn't that bad most of the time so it might well be that the wind caused problems.
 
wind makes a massive difference
i took my mare to the beach about a month ago to do some gallop work & she struggled so much, shes a 5 year old so obviously not crazily fit although fit enough to do a ODE happily but it was really windy & she was not happy 1 bit when I asked her for anymore than a fast canter

i do think people seemed to under estimate the course though as last year i think it was everyone was saying how it seemed more of a 3* track and it was very much a proper 4* track this year so its possible people were a bit less prepared.
 
Not just about fitness and weight, streamlining especially into that wind would have made a difference. Look at how well fitted Izzy Taylor and Harry Meade's kit were...
 
The other factor is the course direction as the last time it ran in that direction horses finished very tired .In the middle of the course from the colt ponds to the quarry it is a constant climb. Also I personally dont feel that since the new format came in horses are as fit as generally they dont need to be however when faced with the challenge of that course they are caught out. They will be out looking for near TBs again.
 
It will be interesting to see if this is the start of eventing swinging back towards being primarily an XC competition again - it would be nice to see similarly influential courses elsewhere.
 
armchair_rider said:
It will be interesting to see if this is the start of eventing swinging back towards being primarily an XC competition again - it would be nice to see similarly influential courses elsewhere.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly, Guiseppe did a fantastic job. Hopefully Badders will be reinstated at THE FOUR STAR event, I don't think riders will underestimate it again!
 
If I can find it I'll post a study about rider & tack weight and horse performance. Ideally you should be under 15% of your horse's body weight. 10% and under give you the ultimate advantage
 
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