All this talk of weight.....

Good grief! :eek: I wouldn't be able to ride any of my horses if I went by this thread!

This is me on the late Henesy. He was a 17.2 TB x WB

picture.php


This is me on my old loan horse. He is a WBxShire (ex 2*eventer), 19hh and 20 yrs in this picture:

picture.php


This is my 17.1hh ex pointer TB:

picture.php


I would be keen to know how much weight you think my boys could carry?
I am riding in the first 2 pictures, not the last.
 
Hutchie said:
Lulublowinginthewind.jpg


14.2 Connie x
Click to expand...

The main problem with this one is that she is probably 70 kilos overweight and so anything extra will be a strain. If she loses the excess weight then I would say she could carry 10 - 11 stone. (which is slightly less than she needs to lose). Lovely mare though!
 
Am am nearly 12 stone and ride a 15.2 tbx. I am very muscular and I really dont think my horse has an issue carrying me. It depends on how you are built and how your horse is built. Some people are the same weight but are muscled and some are flabby. It all depends on what you do other than riding and how you ride eg sack of patatoes or balanced.
Intresting thread though, good to see this discused :)
 
14,1 highland, 6 y/old, can't find a decent stood up pic but:

395142_544353531787_567405587_n.jpg


and I appreciate this is a horrible pic for many reasons

532637_540681675217_308228178_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
Always Henesy said:
Good grief! :eek: I wouldn't be able to ride any of my horses if I went by this thread!

This is me on the late Henesy. He was a 17.2 TB x WB

picture.php


I would say your 17.2 TB x WB would carry 13 stone. He is tall but quite fine.I would say more, but he looks quite weak in the loins to me but it could be a bad moment caught on camera.



This is me on my old loan horse. He is a WBxShire (ex 2*eventer), 19hh and 20 yrs in this picture:

picture.php


Looks like he could take up to 18 -19 stone!
This is my 17.1hh ex pointer TB:

picture.php


I would be keen to know how much weight you think my boys could carry?
I am riding in the first 2 pictures, not the last.
Click to expand...

I would expect a 17.1hh TB with good conformation could carry 13 stone, possibly more.
 
Last edited:
Wagtail said:
Yes, the stood up picture makes him look long in the back, which perhaps he isn't. I would say up to 12 stone.
Click to expand...

HA! No he has a very short back. He's bred to carry 14/15 stone of stag down a mountain - I think he would be offended if you suggested he was incapable of carrying more than 12 stone ;)
 
Sorry Wagtail...the piccie was set to private, hope you can see it now?

For the record....I weighed 15 stone in the picture of Henesy.

We did a lot together over the precious years that I had him. He carried me with ease, we did x-country, pleasure rides, hacking. He was never lame, sick or sorry.
I weighed 14 stone in the 2nd picture...tbh I felt like a pea on a drum with him. I am 5'10" and he made me feel like an Oompa Loompa

I ride my TB at 14 stone.
 
Always Henesy said:
Sorry Wagtail...the piccie was set to private, hope you can see it now?

For the record....I weighed 15 stone in the picture of Henesy.

We did a lot together over the precious years that I had him. He carried me with ease, we did x-country, pleasure rides, hacking. He was never lame, sick or sorry.
I weighed 14 stone in the 2nd picture...tbh I felt like a pea on a drum with him. I am 5'10" and he made me feel like an Oompa Loompa

I ride my TB at 14 stone.
Click to expand...

Yes, have now edited my post. Hensey looks quite happy with your weight there. I think it is a difficult angle though because he looks a bit weak behind which he probably isn't.
 
14hh (still growing) rising 4 year old New forest x cob. Light hacking in walk only (about 30 minutes) once or twice a week or a session of light schooling, walk and trot only for 15 minutes.
Snapshot516-09-201216-56.png


Snapshot316-09-201216-49.png
 
Wagtail said:
Yes, have now edited my post. Hensey looks quite happy with your weight there. I think it is a difficult angle though because he looks a bit weak behind which he probably isn't.
Click to expand...

Yes his hind end does look weak in this picture. He really wasn't.
I tore myself up about riding him at 15 stone and so I didn't ride him. However, my vet, physio and farrier all told me I was being daft and that he could cope with my weight.
That horse was my horse of a lifetime. I would never ever have caused him any discomfort or pain.
To be fair - he could motor around the x-country without batting an eyelid.

It's a tough one isn't it? Battling an underactive thyroid has caused me misery - but I am working on dropping a further 2 stone.
 
Wagtail said:
The main problem with this one is that she is probably 70 kilos overweight and so anything extra will be a strain. If she loses the excess weight then I would say she could carry 10 - 11 stone. (which is slightly less than she needs to lose). Lovely mare though!
Click to expand...

She's not this overweight anymore, this pic is from the summer she has now dropped weight but I don't have any pics of late but will have to keep it in check this summer
 
Holly Hocks said:
14hh (still growing) rising 4 year old New forest x cob. Light hacking in walk only (about 30 minutes) once or twice a week or a session of light schooling, walk and trot only for 15 minutes.
Snapshot516-09-201216-56.png


Snapshot316-09-201216-49.png
Click to expand...

Lovely pony with really nice conformation. Once mature, I don't expect she would struggle with 12 - 13 stone. Right now, I would proably feel I was too heavy for her (at ten stone) and would like no more than 9 stone on her ideally. But for the short periods you are talking about, it probaby wouldn't hurt her to have a tad more.
 
thanks Wagtail - I'm currently 10 stone 6 (I was just under 10 stone but have put some on recently - am back on diet again now!) She is incredibly stocky in the flesh - a real chunky monkey. She rides quite big as well, but I know what you mean and that's why I don't do much with her at the moment - I need to get rid of this bloody flu so I can get back to the gym again and lose some weight!!
 
It's really subjective though isn't it,especially once you know the horses details.For example when I saw the pic in the very first post I was thinking 10-11 stone max due to it's apparent size and build,and then I read the bit about height and breed and thought I was obviously way off,or was I?? Should it only be down the look and build of the horse or should it's breed/type and height come into it??

I actually thought the second pic of the cremello looked to be a better weight carrier out of the two (and a very nicley put together horse BTW whoever owns him),taking their statistics out of the equation,and going solely on their appearance.
 
JFTD said:
HA! No he has a very short back. He's bred to carry 14/15 stone of stag down a mountain - I think he would be offended if you suggested he was incapable of carrying more than 12 stone ;)
Click to expand...

Sorry to have a pop,just your post was only one I noticed that made reference to this kind of thing.

Should a horses past (or even current) purpose play a part in deciding rider weight??

I have owned a highland,a fell and a clydesdale over the years,but I have never used their original purpose to judge what weight of rider to put on them (well couldn't with the clydie as riding didn't come into it anyway,a fact which many seem to overlook when riding heavies,but that's another argument that won't get into lol).

All natives must have had an original purpose,but if they no longer have it as many of them don't then how is it relevant?? Breed types and build changes according to current purpose (well and fashion in the show ring it seems but that's also a whole other debate:o),so isn't that more relevant??

Even if they are currently used for what they were meant for isn't that still different to ridden activities?? The stag thing then,carrying a dead weight for on one journey very occasionally has to be very different than regular,varied activities with a live and moving person on your back,especially any sort of fast work or jumping which I'm guessing they definitely don't do with stage on their backs;):p

Sorry just musing,but it always seems a bit of an irrelevant argument to me,as the activities are generally very different in method and frequency.
 
Devonlass, the thread is discussing the maximum weight a horse could carry - not necessarily in the context of frequent or hard work, so actually, I disagree. If a horse is bred to be capable of carrying a 15stone stag down a mountain side for an afternoon, assuming it is fit for purpose, that horse should be equally or more capable of carrying a 15 stone human on a half hour hack, or round a school for a pony ride. Your logic, as they say, is flawed :cool:

Sure, highlands don't do fast work with stags on their backs, but they do carry them over extremely rough conditions which would be equally straining on them, though in a different manner.

Actually I think the whole thread is daft, because photos are not a good way of making this sort of judgement - it is inherently individual, not only to conformation, but to musculature and fitness of the horse, the context and nature of the work - in my opinion, of course.
 
Last edited:
Dead weight is harder to lift and move than live weight. A live person has a level of buoyancy and muscle control so I would say it is much harder for a pony to carry a 15-20 stone red stag up hill and down dale than a beefy rider moving in conjunction with them
Picture044.jpg

How about this one then 13.1, 9 inches of flat bone and fully mature
Probably a slightly better picture with her first and only foal
17967_1305884937403_5027018_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
She is a Trait Breton or Ardennes?

Draught horses are funny animals. They are bred specifically to pull, so they may actually be weaker in the back, and less able to support a heavier rider than a "riding-type" horse of similar stature.

I would say treat as a cob, and max of 14st :)
 
Casey76 said:
She is a Trait Breton or Ardennes?

Draught horses are funny animals. They are bred specifically to pull, so they may actually be weaker in the back, and less able to support a heavier rider than a "riding-type" horse of similar stature.

I would say treat as a cob, and max of 14st :)
Click to expand...

windand rain said:
I would guess you and the entire first year of the local secondary school:o
She is build like an outhouse:D
Click to expand...

She is a registerd Westphalian Kaltblut, complete with brand (which you can see in summer, in a light drizzle :p )

Yep windand rain, that's what we reckon as well :D :D
 
Casey76 said:
She is a Trait Breton or Ardennes?

Draught horses are funny animals. They are bred specifically to pull, so they may actually be weaker in the back, and less able to support a heavier rider than a "riding-type" horse of similar stature.

I would say treat as a cob, and max of 14st :)
Click to expand...
No she isn't.
She's a 16h registered Westphalian Kalt blut whose damsire was called 'Enorm'. She is short-coupled, extremely strong, with well over 12" bone, weighs at least 800 kg and has happily carried an 18 stone beginner regularly, although only for about 30 mins at a time. She is always pleased to see the beginner, so I can only assume tht she is perfectly comfortable carrying her.
My research tells me that all the northern European Draft horses are very similar and likely to have some antecedents in common.
 
This is an interesting post :D
What about my boy?
8c7a9221-5c91-4671-80aa-2ba8f1da48eb_zpsaf838428.jpg


Hes about 15.2hh, 4yo. Took this pic last summer, hes leveled out now but hes been turned away 5 months so has no fitness.
 
I'm not sure gwiniver being tall is relevant? Clearly nowhere near tall enough for it to compromise the horse, which is all that matters. Disagree entirely she's too tall, & I actually think its rude to say so unless its causing issues, which is hardly likely for the above combination.
 
Littlelegs said:
I'm not sure gwiniver being tall is relevant? Clearly nowhere near tall enough for it to compromise the horse, which is all that matters. Disagree entirely she's too tall, & I actually think its rude to say so unless its causing issues, which is hardly likely for the above combination.
Click to expand...

Agree. I don't think she looks tall anyway. More like tblover is used to seeing big horses and short riders :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top