Questions for engineers, fatties and skinnies...

Very interesting! Is the lower % for draught breeds offset by their generally heavier weight, so they can still carry the heavier riders?

My pony is about 350kgs so theoretically can carry 70kgs. Which means I am getting up there for him, if I add my riding gear and tack.

* puts biscuit back in the tin *
 
You should always be aware of your size when riding.

This is the reason I won't go out with skinny men. Don't want to squash the fe*kers eh?
 
As I said" for extended periods" ,for example a days hunting. An hour or so,s hacking wouldnt be a problem to a mature horse with reasonable conformation at even 25 %.Also,ponies tend to be able to carry a higher percentage compared with horses. The big problem however is the 1.5 lbs per square inch,because the horse might not have sufficient back to take a large enough saddle.I would say it is far easier to overload the saddle area than the horse as a whole. Incidentaly a rough way to calculate it is to ride the horse without a saddlecloth or numnah and then measure the pressure area which should be clearly visible.
 
Mike007 said:
As I said" for extended periods" ,for example a days hunting. An hour or so,s hacking wouldnt be a problem to a mature horse with reasonable conformation at even 25 %.Also,ponies tend to be able to carry a higher percentage compared with horses. The big problem however is the 1.5 lbs per square inch,because the horse might not have sufficient back to take a large enough saddle.I would say it is far easier to overload the saddle area than the horse as a whole. Incidentaly a rough way to calculate it is to ride the horse without a saddlecloth or numnah and then measure the pressure area which should be clearly visible.
Click to expand...

I think that's the next thing I'm going to do.
 
Bareback. But very few people try a days hunting more than once.:D. The thing about bareback is it is quite hard to maintain pressure on one spot(cos you bounce about)so it is harder to stop the circulation.
 
Mike007 said:
As I said" for extended periods" ,for example a days hunting. An hour or so,s hacking wouldnt be a problem to a mature horse with reasonable conformation at even 25 %.Also,ponies tend to be able to carry a higher percentage compared with horses. The big problem however is the 1.5 lbs per square inch,because the horse might not have sufficient back to take a large enough saddle.I would say it is far easier to overload the saddle area than the horse as a whole. Incidentaly a rough way to calculate it is to ride the horse without a saddlecloth or numnah and then measure the pressure area which should be clearly visible.
Click to expand...

Really interesting. Next question. What do I do when I have the area in square inches - whats the calculation? *Scratches head in a primitive and dim sort of way*

Also, so if you are worried about the lbs per square inch, obviously lose weight is priority number 1, but would getting off and giving your horse regular breaks work as an interim measure?
 
Also remember,some saddles like the older stubens had very hard pannels which didnt so much spread the load,but actualy concentrated it.Oh and another thing, since the use of saddlecloths is almost universal,they dont spread load or make the saddle more comfortable,far from it.They cause more problems than they help and realy only keep the saddle free of grease. I bet in this weather all your horses come back dripping with sweat under the saddle cloth.Take the damn thing off. Do it once and see if I am making this up. Your horse will come back practicly dry under the saddle. Then tell me that isnt more comfortable for them.:cool:
 
Naturally said:
Really interesting. Next question. What do I do when I have the area in square inches - whats the calculation? *Scratches head in a primitive and dim sort of way*

Also, so if you are worried about the lbs per square inch, obviously lose weight is priority number 1, but would getting off and giving your horse regular breaks work as an interim measure?
Click to expand...
Divide your weight in lbs by the number of square inches:cool:And yes ,getting off your horse at regular intervals is wonderfull for them.Sadly those least able to get back on easily are often the ones who should do it most,and I count myself in this catagory.:(
 
Whatever the size of your horse he has 4 legs and he has a certain weight (= force of gravity acting on horse's mass)

If a horse has a mass of 500kg then the weight is 5000N.

That is 1250N per leg due to his natural weight.

If you weigh, say 15 stones that is 95kg or 950N.

Therefore when you are on your horse you add 23.75N to each of his legs.

Therfore instead of each leg holding 1250N witout rider, it is now 1273.75, an increase of only 1.86% per leg. Not much on the legs then, even if the rider was a couple of stones heavier than 15 stones.

The real change is on the back. The body of the horse from withers to hindquarters is slung from the spine. It is probably quite heavy as it contains all the internal organs and massive digestive system. The riders weight will add a greater percentage to the load though.

Say the natural load on the spine unmounted is 150kg, that is 1500N. Adding the 950N of the rider will make a total load of 2450N. The rider has increased the load on the spine by 38.7%.

Therefore, a bigger weightier horse, say a 750kg horse rather than a 500kg horse, will be less inconvenienced by a big rider because the percentage increase in the load on the spine will be less.

My brain hurts now.
 
I keep thinking to myself i'm too big for my mare as when she gets fit, but then arabs can take up to 20% of their weight for competition and 30% hacking comfortably so then I think again. I'm not fat but I feel too tall on her sometimes.
 
I thought the horse naturally had a greater percentage of its weight over the forehand anyway? Not, as dreamcometrue suggests, equally distributed over/down all four?

I am delighted with the replies, so far as I've got a good mix of the curious and the conscientious and the academic. And plenty of (healthy) food for thought.

I was wondering about the combination of muscles and bones. The horse appears to be an ideal design to be sat on by us, but we didn't create it. In the wild, a thing on their backs would like be a predator so reason one why we are lucky to be allowed to sit up there! If this is merely an optical illusion are we exploiting something really borderline incapable of doing what we want it to do? Can merely examining the structure of a horse and use of the knowledge we have on principles of muscles and bones prove it's OK to do it?
 
I think horses have been bred for riding for so long now that we have optimised their carrying power through conformation. TBH I see a lot of horses that personally I don't think should be ridden, due to bad conformation, but they are and yes, they have a job and a purpose, so happy days. However, I think it is paramount to remember that they were not designed for us to ride, hence why it is so incredibly important for an owner to ensure that their horse is muscled up over it's back, it isn't overweight or underweight, and that it has balanced, well maintained shoes/hooves.

When horses get old they become more and more sway backed - this proves that the area we sit on is incredibly delicate and that the weight bearing on the spine anyway is immense, without us bouncing around on it :D

So, keep your horse fit and well tuned I say, that will help heaps :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top