Skip to content
Search Library
thumbnail

What factors determine the weight-carrying capacity of horses? Skeletal structure and stature? Conformation, including muscularity and strength of topline? How does rider weight influence a ridden horse? What happens when weight of the rider is increased quickly?

Using 20 female riders and their regular mounts, researchers measured the effects of increasing the weight of the rider by 15% and 25% on behavior, gait symmetry, and physiological responses of horses during a standard dressage test. The horses represented different sexes (12 geldings, 2 stallions, 6 mares), and all were ridden and competed regularly.

The 20 pairs were tested in two blocks of 10, with each block lasting four days (two successive weekends). To increase the weight of riders during the study, they were fitted with weight vests in which lead blocks weighing 2.2 lb (1 kg) could be placed in small pockets. Baseline health information was collected on all horses on the first day, and dressage tests and gait symmetry analysis took place on the remaining three testing days. Rides were recorded for behavior analysis, saliva collected for cortisol measurement, heart rate gauged for fluctuations, and gaits assessed for irregularities.

Cortisol, a stress hormone, increased in response to exercise, regardless of the weight carried by the rider, an effect predicted by the researchers. Average heart rate did not differ between the control (rider’s normal weight) and the two treatments (15% and 25% more weight than normal). Behavior of horses during the dressage tests was measured, with tail-swishing the predominant “conflict behavior,” though mouth-opening and undesirable head movements (head tossing, shaking, raising) were also noted. Gait analysis yielded no differences between the control and the treatments. In sum, this study found that “increasing rider weight by 15% and 25% did not result in significant short-term alterations” in any measured parameter in dressage horses executing a standard test.

Two limitations of this study, as described by the researchers, were its short duration and low-intensity exercise, suggesting that these results should not be extrapolated to other disciplines or intensities.

Christensen, J.W., S. Bathellier, M. Rhodin, R. Palme, and M. Uldahl. 2020. Increased rider weight did not induce changes in behavior and physiological parameters in horses. Animals 10:95

X

Subscribe to Equinews and get the latest equine nutrition and health news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for free now!