this is translated from www.taunusreiter.de) with the permission of the author Frank Mechelhoff
How heavy is to heavy
Your trail horse can be a bit overweight, before it starts on a long trail. Now lets define this. A bit overweight is, when you cannot see its rips but still can feel them. There is no excess fat in the neck or on the body of your horse. Starting out in this condition will secure the best possible outcome for your horse on the long trail. And talking about a long trail, this is not a weekend ride, but anything up to 600 mls or more in one go over the time of 4 weeks or more. (See training of the trail horse, physical training). Most horses i see in Colorado and also in Europe are overfed (fat) and under worked (not fit).
If your horse is properly trained, the muscles of the stomach and underbelly capable of arching the back over a long period, it will be able to carry your riders weight without getting harmed. That means also that his hind hoofs are hitting the ground in front of his front hoofs as a rule of thumb.
If your horse is fit, older than 5 years and withing the above constitution, it will be able to carry aprox. 20 % of its own weight in additional weight on its back. This is you, your saddle, and your saddlebags, beeing able to ride properly. even after 6 hours or riding. So generally, it is the rider, who gets tired, after 6 hours of riding, and then stops riding properly, tiring the horse.
So if your horse i a 1000 pound horse you can pack 200 plus pounds on it. Now every 10 pounds over this requires, more care and longer
training, if your horse is to stay healthy for a long time. This is the reason why we in Europe, walk 10 minutes every hour, mostly down hill,
why we change gear quite often (walk, trott, jog). And making sure we stop and camp, before our horse gets overly tired.
Just one reminder: if your horse is overweight, (fat), this means he cannot carry that 20 % of the weight but even less.
Your trail horse can be a bit overweight, before it starts on a long trail. Now lets define this. A bit overweight is, when you cannot see its rips but still can feel them. There is no excess fat in the neck or on the body of your horse. Starting out in this condition will secure the best possible outcome for your horse on the long trail. And talking about a long trail, this is not a weekend ride, but anything up to 600 mls or more in one go over the time of 4 weeks or more. (See training of the trail horse, physical training). Most horses i see in Colorado and also in Europe are overfed (fat) and under worked (not fit).
If your horse is properly trained, the muscles of the stomach and underbelly capable of arching the back over a long period, it will be able to carry your riders weight without getting harmed. That means also that his hind hoofs are hitting the ground in front of his front hoofs as a rule of thumb.
If your horse is fit, older than 5 years and withing the above constitution, it will be able to carry aprox. 20 % of its own weight in additional weight on its back. This is you, your saddle, and your saddlebags, beeing able to ride properly. even after 6 hours or riding. So generally, it is the rider, who gets tired, after 6 hours of riding, and then stops riding properly, tiring the horse.
So if your horse i a 1000 pound horse you can pack 200 plus pounds on it. Now every 10 pounds over this requires, more care and longer
training, if your horse is to stay healthy for a long time. This is the reason why we in Europe, walk 10 minutes every hour, mostly down hill,
why we change gear quite often (walk, trott, jog). And making sure we stop and camp, before our horse gets overly tired.
Just one reminder: if your horse is overweight, (fat), this means he cannot carry that 20 % of the weight but even less.