The keeper of the ‘Bridge of Death’ (Terry Gilliam) made a grave error in not specifying to which breed of swallow his question applied. But authors A. Matsuura, S. Sakuma, M. Irimajiri and K. Hodate from the Department of Animal Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Towada, Aomori, Japan, have made no such mistake – they specify the horse breed known as the Taishuh in their study of loading weights. [Note: The breed is extremely rare – according to Wikpedia there are only around 65 of them alive] Via the pages of the Journal of Animal Science (August 2013 vol. 91 no. 8) the team have, for the first time, answered the –
Question : “What is the maximum permissible load weight of a Taishuh pony at a trot?”
Answer : “The maximum permissible load weight of the Taishuh pony trotting at 3.0 m/s over a short distance is less than 100 kg (43% of the body weight)”
See – ‘Maximum permissible load weight of a Taishuh pony at a trot’