horses sensing and responding to change in weight carriage

Question
QUESTION: hello ma'am, do horses sense and respond quickly to the change in their weight carriage? i will explain you in a simple way

lets suppose a horse won a race by 3 lengths carrying 56kgs. lets suppose in its next run, suddenly the weight to be carried came down to 49kgs and the horse is carrying the same rider, how will the horse respond? do it feel light and run much more faster in the race winning by more than 3 lengths. (or) it feels light and riderless and performs awfully?

ma'am, this is one of my serious doubts. here, there are horses which performed badly even though carrying same rider with less weight carried compared to its previous run.

ANSWER: Rohit,

In general the less weight a horse carries, the faster and further he should be able to run.
That is what the business of handicapping is all about, it can be very technical, and based on the performance, age, etc., of each horse, officials determine how much weight each horse should carry.


However, one reason why people love horse racing so much is that no one can EVER be certain how a horse can perform. Everything can be the same, and he will perform differently. He is not a machine.....he will have good days, better days, and not so good days.

He could be stiff, tired, less energy, etc. so the amount of weight carried can never determine the outcome of a race, thank goodness. Otherwise, no one would go to race tracks any more. There would be no excitement.

Mitzi

www.mitziSummers.com  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: so ma'am, if suppose the horse carried 56kgs with one particular jockey and won 4 races in 4 starts, it means that horse got used to the rider as well as the carried weight. suddenly when weight to be carried drops down to 49kgs with same rider in its 5th run, does the horse think that weight to be carried decreased and feel uncomfortable? since this is new carried weight to the horse.

hope my question is clear.

Answer
Rohit,

The horse should run better with a lighter weight. Just put a back pack on yourself with a certain amount of weight and get used to it, and then make it lighter. It will be easier for you to move.

However, now that  you are carrying lighter weight, maybe your shoulder feels sore today. Or you weere restless all last night and you are tired. Maybe the back pack is not "riding" well today.....Maybe it is off to the side and throws you off your stride?

So even though you are carrying less weight, you may not do as well in the "race".
Does this example make my answer a bit more clear?

Mitzi
www.MitziSummers