Height vs weight.

[clippi]

75kg is still only 15% of a 500kg Arab.

75kg is the minimum weight limit for the race rides. My fit arab weighs 380kg. I weigh 50kg

I also hop on my daughters section a to hack him out and school him (never longer than 30 mins)

 

[Darremi]

I'm not disagreeing with you. Just pointing out that some competitions have minimum weights that horses have to carry. A fine, 14.2hh arab is not going to weigh anywhere near 500kg. Of course I'm sure that most/all riders get as close to the minimum as they can. Charisma was only little and Mark Todd is very tall, so I'd love to know how much % of C's weight he was. RE racing didn't Red Rum win the Grand National carrying 12 stone?

This does not detract from the fact that the more weight the horse carries the harder the task! Ultimately it is the riders choice.

Re Red Rum - he was allocated 12 stone to carry because the National is a handicap which means the better horses carry more weight, in order to level the playing field with the lesser horses. Completely validates my point that weight does affect performance.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I never disputed that carrying more weight makes it more work for the horse. I just think that you have to use common sense and not overload horses, but also don't go too far the other way and become paranoid about horses carrying weights that are well within their capabilities.