Trivia

On Horse or On Foot?

On January 7, 2019 by Erika Eckstrom

A group of us were recently posed the question:

Is it harder to run or ride 1000km?

Backstory of Man vs. Horse Argument

The original “Man versus Horse Marathon” is an annual race of 35km (just over 22 miles) where runners compete against riders on horseback. The race — a shorter distance than an official marathon road race would be — takes place every June in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells across mix hilly and boggy Welsh terrain.

The event was started in 1979 when a local landlord Gordon Green got involved in an equestrian vs. non-equestrian debate in his pub, the Neuadd Arms. Green ended up on the side arguing that a man was equal to any horse over a significant distance across country and to prove it he decided that the challenge should be tested in full public view, and organized the first event in 1980

For the next 24 years, Green found himself on the losing end of the argument as riders on horseback left human runners in the dust.

But then in 2004 it finally happened when a British man named Huw Lobb won the event on foot. Three years later Germany’s Florian Holzinger outran the horses, as did one other human contestant. Of course the media loved it.

To this date, 2004 and 2007 are the only two times a man has bested a horse and rider. In all other races since 1980 a horse and rider has won.

In 2004 they started recording weather conditions and 2006 they started also to record footing conditions as well. It might be important to note that on those two dates, the weather was rather hot. However, those are not the only hot years that the race has experienced.

See the entire list on Wikipedia.

Endurance

In theory, humans are more efficient at long distance running than horses due to their capacity to dissipate heat. But barely.

Running is what humans evolved to be best at. A small group of fit humans can run at a modest pace basically indefinitely. Hunting parties used to spend days running down large game that though outrageously faster than us couldn’t keep up the pace as long. Because we sweat to cool off instead of pant and have little insulating hair, a human being can run a marathon on a hot day faster than a horse can. Allegedly…

Obviously, animals that don’t sweat are much worse. Though wolves are surprisingly better at endurance with their bodies acting as a spring to retain a lot of energy as they trot, they are in Alaska where overheating isn’t as problematic.

However, like humans horses are pretty well adapted for long distance too. A horse can go about 4 mph almost indefinitely minimal amount of sleep necessary (compare that to the 6mph of humans, who however require more rest). Horses can also slug along 20% of their body weight with little to no impact on their distance and speed (roughly 200#). Horses also have humans beat for sprints but do require more recovery time after those exertions.

There’s a reason we turned to horses for transportation.

Modern Existence vs. Primitive Days

After reading all of this, however, we might want to argue that a lot of this doesn’t apply anymore. We’ve changed horses so much by selective breeding that many of them really will not be able to accomplish long distance runs as they could have in the past.

How Domestication Altered the Horse Genome – Forbes Magazine

Furthermore, humans themselves have evolved so far from the primitive persistence hunting days that only a small proportion of elite athletes would even qualify for the above assumptions anymore. Humans today are much bigger than primitive times (and not just fatter, actually bigger!), which means less surface area to disperse heat, more weight to carry, etc etc

Rider Wear and Tear

As per wear and tear on the human body riding versus running, it would depend on if you’re a rider or a runner.

If you’re a rider with muscle memory then yeah, you can basically just sit there and let your instinct and muscle fitness take over. How many photos of endurance racers reading books do we have to see???

However, If you’re not a seasoned rider there’s a good chance that you’ll be decently disabled and covered in saddle sores by the end of the ride.

Why is that?

Riding is more about balance than grip. Non-regular riders’ are prone to gripping with their legs just like beginners as they tire and weaken. Additionally, as you grip more you become a clothespin on your horse’s back, causing more seat insecurity continuing the cycle of the death grip. Clenching with your upper or lower leg or both is tiring and straining.

While regular riders can also get saddle sores, they are a especially a problem for those riders who don’t get to mount up often and aren’t fully fit. Saddle sores are caused by three things: pressure, friction, and sweat. As any rider can testify, all of the above are prevalent in riding and the worse you are at riding the more of those you’ll experience. Humans were designed more for standing and walking than for straddling a horse. Without condition of our bodies, when we ride we place pressure on skin and muscles that aren’t innately evolved to be taking that kind of strain.

Which horse?

The ease would also depends on which horse you’re riding to determine whether or not it’s easier or harder to ride.

For the rider, the ease of the ride greatly depends on the mount under them. Those endurance racers reading are on their own partners who they are incredibly familiar with them. The horses are trained AND in sync with them. Riding an unfamiliar horse will be harder. Not to mention the difficulty of riding an untrained horse!

Furthermore, those long distance riders are often on Arabs which are generally speaking a smoother and longer strided horse. When you compare that to the physical exertion of riding the choppy stride of a pony, the big motion of a draft horse or even the short strides of a quarter horse you will find yourself feeling significantly more fatigued.

For the horse, their build also will affect their ability to traverse that distance. The heavier built horses will not only be significantly slowed down but their endurance will be even more affected. The thickness will also make it much harder for them to cool down, recover and continue on.

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