Am i too big

Moomin1 said:
'Strong and healthy' a far better example of language to use infront of a child than fat? I don't know if I'm reading that wrongly, but surely it's not a good idea to be using 'strong and healthy' as a description for overweight people?
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To clarify:
For example "I am exercising to become stronger and healthier" rather than "I am too fat". Positive versus negative body image. No-one should be made to feel negative about their body/ other people's bodies especially at formative ages. The media will take care of that without hearing it from a parent.

Additional example: I spent 8 years at international level competition in another sport. I was 85kg and a maximum of 12% body fat. I was definitely well into the overweight zone on the bmi chart and in size 14 clothes (in places...thighs, shoulders, back). I had very vascular arms and visible abs. I have never been healthier.

Overweight people (even "fat") people can be strong and healthy. It's a misconception that being thin is everyone's ideal body shape and size. Just look at distance swimmers. They often carry quite a lot of fat based weight in response to their training environment. Most rugby players are going to be considered overweight.
 
ester said:
My fit 14.2 welsh D 21 yo carries a fit nearly 13 stone on a daily basis for hours quite happily. He also didn't seem to bothered when I was heavier/less fit but I was and wouldn't have carried on riding him at that weight longer term. I think quite a few on the hho forum probably don't know what 13 stone actually looks like and if 9/10 stone struggle to extrapolate from that. Just my opinion though as we do always seem to get suggested weights around the lower end of the scale on here. Struggling for recent pics of me on him without being trussed up in hunting or showing jackets atm though!
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I totally agree with this!!! Haven't posted much for a while but I used to put lots of pics of me on my 14.3hh very lightweight thoroughbred mare on here. No one EVER suggested I was too heavy but I actually weighed between 12 and 12 1/2 stone!!! We hunted, jumped etc and she never ever had a problem. I am also 6 ft tall so even at my slimmest I weigh 12 stone and am currently 13

A hell of a lot of riders weigh more than 12 stone and ride smaller horses without problems...........they just keep it a secret for fear of being lynched! It's a good thing men don't like riding......what would they ride?!
 
But surely it shouldn't matter what someone looks like on a horse as Weight is weight?

(Ie someone could look alright proportionally on a horse, but still be very heavy?)
 
Dusty85 said:
But surely it shouldn't matter what someone looks like on a horse as Weight is weight?

(Ie someone could look alright proportionally on a horse, but still be very heavy?)
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Centre of gravity and core strength affect the balance*. Say the difference between carrying an unconscious person and one who is helping you, even in the same position. An unbalanced weight is even worse than a dead weight.
*These might not be reflected in immediate visual appearance.
 
Well looking right is very subjective... if you were very heavy I'm not sure how you would look right proportionally just because you had short legs? I missed where someone said we could judge on what people looked like?

I agree weight is weight although the spread might be different with regards to your ability to support yourself over the whole bearing weight of the saddle as oppose to just one bit if it is muscle weight as opposed to flab :p. Oh and stability as bakewell said.
 
I completely agree with you Bakewell. Like trying to carry someone who is wriggling as opposed to keeping both of your balance.
What I'm saying though is someone could have the best core strength and balance but still be miles too heavy?
 
each horse is different, based on confirmation, ability, energy, attitude, all aspects. When I got my horse when he was 12 I had him vetted, he was fit, healthy, regular work, big boned Suffolk punch cross cob, 15.3hh and I asked the vet what his weight limit would be guessed at. He said that he should not carry more than 12 stone. I was surprised. I must admit it would explain why he never looked as happy to move with the heavier riders. These where not all beginners either. he was in a riding school.

So I would say no one can really say, it all has so many dependencies
 
Dusty85 said:
No one (me included) has said this!
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I think I got confused by what you were aiming at with your post!

So yes of course you could have fab core strength etc but still be miles too heavy, but I would hope that would be obvious to both rider and onlookers and as we are talking about 13 stone and not a 12.2 show pony I don't think we are in that sort of realm :).

Fwiw I probably wouldn't buy Frank for myself now as I would prefer to have a little more cake eating leeway/not to worry like I did a bit when I thought I was genuinely a bit too heavy for him. :p. But he was bought as a family pony 9 years ago when I was probs 11- 11.5 stone and mum and sister similar.
 
These threads really annoy me my 13hh highland pony regularly carries me and I have varied from 11 to 15 stone she is happy to walk trot canter and even happier to gallop and jump and done a 25k ride in all paces too. I have competed at level 2 TREC on her when I probably at my heaviest. She has never had a thing wrong with her and is still fighting fit at nearly 20. I would be far more concerned if you were planning to ride a sticky legged pony or in some cases a big over 17hh warmblood as they generally speaking have poorer joints and conformation is not designed to carry weight. On a horse or pony that is compact has short flat boned cannons and a well made short back I would expect it easily to carry a rider of up to 15 stone if they can fit in the saddle. There are a whole host of thermal imaging photos floating about that shows that a 18 stone balanced rider does far less damage to a horses back than an an 8 stone novice unbalanced rider. So in my opinion which no doubt will be shot down you will be fine riding this mare if you get her fit and muscled ready for a rider but then again I would expect someone taking on an ex broodmare to give it fittening work before they rode it regardless of how heavy they were
 
Go for it OP...
As long as her legs don't buckle !
Seriously though I can't see why you can't hop on for a short spin around the block.
I wouldn't be taking her out for hours at a time ,but a short hack will do you both good.
Take it slow and have fun !
 
For those wondering how much tack weighs, I just took a large plastic bag and put into it:
17" K&M cob dressage saddle ( quite a light saddle ) with stirrups
Thin cotton dressage numnah
Dressage girth
Charles Owen hat
Suede chaps
Jodhpurs boots.

This lot weighed 11kg ( 24.2lbs ).
 
Just had a quick giggle at some of these posts where they say your weight "plus clothes". I had always assumed that when people give their weight on these posts that they meant clothed weight! I didn't think many of us regularly ride naked---the chafing for one thing!! Ouch! I'm having visions of Lady Godiva riders all over Britain now :) Going to take forever to grow my hair long enough! :)

Sorry, I've clearly had way to much sugar to be sensible today!
 
LessThanPerfect said:
Just had a quick giggle at some of these posts where they say your weight "plus clothes". I had always assumed that when people give their weight on these posts that they meant clothed weight! I didn't think many of us regularly ride naked---the chafing for one thing!! Ouch! I'm having visions of Lady Godiva riders all over Britain now :) Going to take forever to grow my hair long enough! :)

Sorry, I've clearly had way to much sugar to be sensible today!
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No the thought had occurred to me too - I always weigh myself fully clothed with boots on as the only reason I care is horsey! Perhaps if I stripped off, my BMI would be better? :p
 
JFTD said:
No the thought had occurred to me too - I always weigh myself fully clothed with boots on as the only reason I care is horsey! Perhaps if I stripped off, my BMI would be better? :p
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Be nice wouldn't it? Although even if I did that plus cut my hair, trimmed my nails and shaved my legs it would still be higher than I would like!
 
LessThanPerfect said:
Be nice wouldn't it? Although even if I did that plus cut my hair, trimmed my nails and shaved my legs it would still be higher than I would like!
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Oooh excellent point - I wonder how much my hair weighs... It is fairly long... I bet if I had a pixie cut it would knock a few decimal points off my BMI!
 
cobgoblin said:
For those wondering how much tack weighs, I just took a large plastic bag and put into it:
17" K&M cob dressage saddle ( quite a light saddle ) with stirrups
Thin cotton dressage numnah
Dressage girth
Charles Owen hat
Suede chaps
Jodhpurs boots.

This lot weighed 11kg ( 24.2lbs ).
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Thanks for that. I guess my long boots and body protector would account for a few extra pounds too. Then there's clothing, coat in winter etc. So two stone is not a bad estimate IMO.
 
LessThanPerfect said:
Just had a quick giggle at some of these posts where they say your weight "plus clothes". I had always assumed that when people give their weight on these posts that they meant clothed weight! I didn't think many of us regularly ride naked---the chafing for one thing!! Ouch! I'm having visions of Lady Godiva riders all over Britain now :) Going to take forever to grow my hair long enough! :)

Sorry, I've clearly had way to much sugar to be sensible today!
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Ah but you see, most scales are in the bathroom and unless you shower in your clothes...
 
Wagtail said:
Ah but you see, most scales are in the bathroom and unless you shower in your clothes...
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I go into my bathroom fully clothed and I leave it in a similar state. So I weigh myself fully clothed. But actually my scales aren't even in my bathroom...
 
Wow every time I see these kinds of threads I am wondering why my pony has never been squashed to death lol
I never really weighed my tack but I just assumed it was probably about a stone. Equally I weigh 9 and 1/2, so I just round it off to 10stone with boots and full kit on. So if my dodgy estimate is right, my 14hh pony (not really stocky build) has been carrying 11stone around for years. Is 21 now and still bombing about all over the place. Also let my boyfriend hop on occasionally for a quick plod, and he weighs a lot more than I do. I'd only let him take her for a short walk, but she prefers to trot off with him :P
 
windand rain said:
These threads really annoy me my 13hh highland pony regularly carries me and I have varied from 11 to 15 stone she is happy to walk trot canter and even happier to gallop and jump and done a 25k ride in all paces too. I have competed at level 2 TREC on her when I probably at my heaviest. She has never had a thing wrong with her and is still fighting fit at nearly 20.
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What pounds per square inch of saddle was she carrying when you were at your heaviest? I think research suggests that skin damage can be caused above 1.5, but of course how high it goes depends on how big the bearing surface on your saddle is.
 
blazingsaddles said:
Don't own scales. Judge my weight gain/loss by the size of my muffin top over my jods. It's all down to bone size - horses (not the riders).
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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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