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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
  
| I also want to add one more thing into the mix:
I was 145 in highschool, and could ride endlessly in the western Wyoming mountains and deserts next to my Dad ranching. In the saddle at 7 am, done at 5 pm through some of the most grueling country to ever hit the big screen. I was strong, I was ruthless, I was fearless, and I had my riding down to an art. Here's a statement that would have had my 18 yr old self in a rage: My horsemanship isn't half of what it is now.
I've learned, I've gone to clinics, I've researched, I've spent endless hours asking questions, watching videos adding, taking away, changing equipment, changing horses, feeding horses, understanding what makes them tick, vetting horses, bawling over horses, bleeding over horses, dying of shame over horses, thinking about timing, learning about timing, relearning posture, muscle memory, and wrapping my mind around the mental difference in a rider scraping 3D times at best, to a 1D/2D rider getting faster and faster every run.
I personally feel that experience, education, mental game, equipment, a super feeding program, a great vet plan can get you a lot further down the road than 10 or even 15 lbs. I can outride and outrun the crap out of the 18 yr old me, by WAY over a second. That was 11 yrs ago. 11 years of pure struggle and about 2 hours of pure euphoria. The euphoria is what keeps me going!
Bottom line:
I think that now I could ride a rocket at 140 and ask it for its life. I also know that a decade less of experience, education, no feeding plan, and the wrong equipment, I scraped top 3D times in a slower region at 145. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 331
Location: Loma Linda, CA | I weigh about 140. A good weight for me is 120 and that is my goal. I go to the gym 3-4x a week. My philosophy is that if my horse is in shape then I should be too.
I think of myself as a jockey (I think a lot of barrel racers do) and if I'm a jockey, an athlete, like my horse, then I'm gonna work as well :)
And it definitely probably helps to be lighter. And in a sport where tenths of seconds count, it definitely couldn't hurt, but I'm not gonna starve myself to be 100 pounds either.
Also if you look at girls winning rodeos they are generally petite small things. I have no idea if theres correlation there, but I have noticed it. |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
 
Location: Riding Crackhead. | I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance. |
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 Googly Goo
Posts: 7053
| CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance.
That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud. |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | TXBO - 2014-01-03 10:17 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance. That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud.
I look hot too. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:29 PM
TXBO - 2014-01-03 10:17 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance.   That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud.Â
 this made me giggle, you go girl!!! You should definitely be proud and show that off!!! |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | sophiebelle - 2014-01-03 7:31 PM In April I was about 20 lbs over weight. I got bucked off in April and broke some bones. I'm having a hard time recooperating from that incident and put on an additional 15 lbs. I can't ride worth flip. It is compounded with the injuries to my back, but I have no balance right now. I need to get the weight off, but any work out sets off my injuries. I'm very frustrated right now.
Have you tried doing some yoga or taking some classes? A lot of times, yoga won't aggrevate injuries as much because it's low impact and non-repetitive. You could build some strength without putting a lot of stress on your injuries and you might be able to make some headway. |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | hoofs_in_motion - 2014-01-04 11:15 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:29 PM TXBO - 2014-01-03 10:17 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance. That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud. this made me giggle, you go girl!!! You should definitely be proud and show that off!!!
I was just being stupid. Poor TXBO probably thinks I'm a spaz.  |
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 How freakish is that?
Posts: 3927
Location: Oregon | I think people are confusing weight with ability and a bunch of other variables. All else being equal if the horse is packing less weight it is going to turn faster and run faster. It's just physics. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
Location: Bastrop, Texas | crapshooter - 2014-01-04 1:48 PM I think people are confusing weight with ability and a bunch of other variables.  All else being equal if the horse is packing less weight it is going to turn faster and run faster. It's just physics. Â
I totally agree. I'm amazed this discussion has gone as far as it has. People can say, "I've seen chubby riders beat riders who weigh a lot less." Of course...we all have, but that same chubby rider would clock even better, if she wasn't as chubby. When was the last time anyone heard, "She would have clocked better if she had a little more fat on her ass"? Like Crapshooter said, it's basic physics. You don't get faster with more unnecessary weight. |
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Googly Goo
Posts: 7053
| CYA Ranch - 2014-01-04 12:35 PM hoofs_in_motion - 2014-01-04 11:15 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:29 PM TXBO - 2014-01-03 10:17 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance. That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud. this made me giggle, you go girl!!! You should definitely be proud and show that off!!!
I know you're a spaz.
Waiting for a hawt pic. |
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Expert
Posts: 1956
Location: Ky | I heard Dale Youree say one time that, "equal riding ability on the same horse every 10 pounds of added weight equals 1/10 of a second".
I'm sure that was his opinion and not some study he did but his opinion carries quite a bit of weight in the barrel racing world. |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | TXBO - 2014-01-04 2:41 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-04 12:35 PM hoofs_in_motion - 2014-01-04 11:15 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:29 PM TXBO - 2014-01-03 10:17 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-03 10:13 PM I lost 30 pounds last winter/spring. It made a huge HUGE difference in my riding and balance. That's a worthy accomplishment. You should be proud. this made me giggle, you go girl!!! You should definitely be proud and show that off!!!
Waiting for a hawt pic.
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