JB (and others),

I am not disagreeing with your views on weight and the impact on horses. I frankly don't have a strong opinion and have heard it argued well both ways in the past.

However, I don't agree with the argument that JB makes that says "5 pounds is 1/2 of a percent of a horse's weight, what is 1/2 of a percent of a one mile race, 26 feet."

I have an analogy, which is a bit of a reach, but I think it points out a flaw in that logic.

A 150 pound distance runner is running a 10k race. As we all know, weight fluctuates (some of us more so than others). The runner is a bit heavy the day of the race, weighing 151.5 (1% heavier than usual). With this extra 1% body weight, running 10,000 meters, should I expect a 1% regression in his time (100 meters). If he was running a marathon, would you deduct 1% of 26 miles?

I know horses are not humans and obviously that makes my analogy far from perfect. And weighing 5 pounds heavier and carrying five pounds are two different things. However, horses obviously carry weight more efficiently than humans do.

I apologize for the slightly offbase analogy, but I don't think 1% more weight = 1% impact on distance.