Am i too big

How do you work out lbs per square inch I was 198lbs and the saddle is a working hunter 17 inch version. I think the face that she is 20 and never been sick or lame makes it pretty clear that she didn't struggle and no circulation was lost I would imagine as we rode for over 8 hours on some of the longer rides that she would have shown some kind of problem on her back or even her legs if it had been a problem to her. Sadly the kissing spines and spavin type problems seem to be inherited or are as a result of round bone and poor genetic matches rather than in most cases the weight of the rider
 
windand rain said:
How do you work out lbs per square inch I was 198lbs and the saddle is a working hunter 17 inch version. I think the face that she is 20 and never been sick or lame makes it pretty clear that she didn't struggle and no circulation was lost I would imagine as we rode for over 8 hours on some of the longer rides that she would have shown some kind of problem on her back or even her legs if it had been a problem to her. Sadly the kissing spines and spavin type problems seem to be inherited or are as a result of round bone and poor genetic matches rather than in most cases the weight of the rider
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You measure how much of the saddle is in contact with the back in square inches and divide it into your weight in pounds. At 198lbs in a 17 inch saddle I'm guessing you were well over.

I'm not sure I understand, are you saying that your horse has kissing spines and spavins? Our just generally that you would never associate them with carrying too heavy a rider? I can't agree with you that weight would make no difference to the formation of spavin, it's a wear and tear disease, after all. It would be completely logical to me that carrying heavier weights would hasten its formation. And my experience of a horse with kissing spines would lead me to believe that there are degrees of the disease that a horse could cope with under a light rider, but not under a heavier one.
 
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No my horses have never been lame sick or sorry from anything worse than a hoof abscess what I am saying is I have ridden this pony since she was five years old so for 15 years and she doesn't have and never has had any spavins or back problems. There seems to be far more horses now than 20 year ago with these diagnoses probably because the veterinary science is better so instead of instantly jumping on the fat rider bandwagon we should look into the genetics and conformation of the affected horses. A horse predisposed to arthritic changes will certainly not be helped by being ridden by a fat rider but many of these diagnosed horses are big horses more often than not ridden by tiny riders or gypsy cob types whose general conformation and bone quality is poor. That is of course a generalisation but then without research so is the heavy rider opinion. Research would have from thermal imaging that a fat well balanced rider does less damage than a skinny unbalanced one beyond that I am not sure if there is any research that tells you much about any connection if there is any between heavy riders and bony problems in horses. My guess would be the plethora of kissing spines is probably related in tb to their early backing and as some people think it ok to back yearlings because tbs are backed at that age will then set out to do the same with their babies resulting in many breeds showing the same signs. A mature newly backed horse should have years of work in it so If genetically sound and having good conformation with dense well made bone backed at 5 or 6 the horse should be capable of working as a leisure horse for up to 20 years. There are always exceptions and in this I am assuming no accidents, field injuries and disease.
 
So there you have it OP!
A typical HHO set of answers. Tis simple:- the heavier the rider, the more weight the horse can carry!!!!!?
 
And don't even bother to learn to ride if you are more than 6 stone because your unbalanced riding will damage the horse's back
 
And I wrote a good post that hopefully would have been educational ,about loading on the back and how to check ,but of course this crappy forum deleted it all.
 
windand rain said:
And don't even bother to learn to ride if you are more than 6 stone because your unbalanced riding will damage the horse's back
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quite, I hate these threads-there seems to be no middle ground. To add to your post above, its not only genetics and conformation IMO. Its partly the types of horses we are riding but also the insistence that (almost) everything is drilled in circles on a surface from a young age. Instead of fitness being built up slowly and then the horse let down properly at the end of it, we have horses that aren't fit enough year round, shod constantly, turned out individually on bowling greens, mostly ridden in sandpits and never allowed to regulate their own body temperature (OK, nothing to do with rider weight, not completely through first coffee yet).
 
Fides said:
I used to do this until I discovered my weight could differ by a stone and a half without a change in clothes size :(
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Same for me. I have recently put on a good 1.5 stone and am still wearing same jods and jeans. They're not as comfy as they were but still do up without much issue! Some of my other clothes (fitted dresses etc.) are not the same story... :(

Needless to say the serious diet has begun.
 
I never had any problems with weight when I was young. I literally could eat anything I liked and never put on an ounce. But now I really struggle to keep my weight at ten stone (I am currently 3 lbs over). I never have any snacks, not even a biscuit. No chocolate or sweets. Just my three meals a day, or half the time just two, breakfast and dinner. And I have STILL gained the 3 lbs grrr. I need to stay at ten stone if I am to be light enough for my little mare who is not yet broken. She's 14.3 hh and will be a light middleweight. Hopefully she will gain another inch.
 
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