Heavy Rider School

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rainbowsntoffee

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I've been daydreaming as you do..
What would you think the market would be for a heavy rider school, say advertising specifically at 12-13st -18st?
I know several people who ended up buying horses before they were really ready having ridden as kids, given up in their teens, had their own kids and wanted to start riding again. With baby weight and the obvious eating too much! they couldn't go to local riding schools (weight limit max 13.5st in these parts).
My ardennes boy would carry anyone up to 20st without blinking if he didn't have a dodgy set of hips. He's not expensive to keep at all and has a great temperament etc. Shoes are more expensive but if he didn't have the hip issue wouldn't need them anyway neccessarily.
I know beginners are heavier to carry, but I don't see why you couldn't do half hour lessons until rider is balanced and horse not do more than one total beginner a day or something. No mounting from the ground ever, although maybe some sort of set up with a saddle stand for practising the theory! Plus perhaps combine that half hour of ridden lesson with half an hour mucking out/stable management lesson which would also help the riders get fitter and maybe loose a bit of weight as a bonus.
I'm presuming the horses were all extremely well boned and confirmationally good themselves, fit and healthy with well fitting tack.

I realise running a riding school isn't cheap by any stretch- rent/mortgage for yard, horse cost, dentist, back checks, tack, insurance (Lots of insurance!) and the like..

At the riding school I learnt at the horses didn't do more than an hour-two a day anyway, so I sort of think it *should* be possible. Plus you wouldn't exclude light riders, just cater specifically more towards extremely chunky cobs.
I guess to balance the books you would need to increase charges a little.

Can you possibly list pluses and minuses and why noone has done it? Excluding the animal activists placcarding the gate of course :D
Ta! (back to work now.. hohum)
 
"Oh Mary, haven't seen you for ages", "Yes I've been really busy horse riding". "Where do you ride Mary"? "Oh the fat persons yard down the road"!

Not sure if people would want to be associated with riding at a specialist overweight club. Just a thought. Sorry if that's negative.:confused:
 
I think its a great idea in theory, there are alot of people 12stone and over that ride or would love to ride.
 
Sorry if I sound awful, but are horses really built to carry that kind of weight?

Their skeletal structure et al. I'm certainly no vet, but I would be checking out this firstly.

A beginner at 18stone will feel to the horse a whole lot heavier than 18stone, given they are not 'carrying' themselves etc... and in and out of balance. Even a novice rider still learning balance will have an effect on the horse.

Firstly I would checking to see what horses can carry for their own welfare, regardless of their physical appearance.

The breed you is big but what was it bred for?
Perhaps pulling horse, and often these breeds are used for meat as well, for the obvious reasons.

After satifiying myself on the above I would then ask:
Would there be a big enough demand in the area?
And are they willing to pay your premium?
if there is a suitable horse - is it able to actually teach someone in terms of schooling, or is someone simply going to pay to be a hacking passenger ride?
Yard costs, staff costs, (or if no staff you do it yourself, what happens when you are ill etc...)
Purchasing the horses
Insurance (would insurers be happy with your business)
So start up captial needs to be understood, and plans made to meet all the above should business be slow.

Good luck in your venture if you do go ahead!
 
Well, when my friend ran a riding school, he did have some big horses and could find something for most riders. With one possible exception though, they were all quite fit and either hunted or competed/ done so in their earlier lives so were not ideal for beginners or very unfit people.
The horse that I used to hunt was also hired from time to time by a 16st, 6ft 4in guy, and they had a great time together. The one we did run into difficulty with was a friend's OH who was 6ft 6in, 17st and a complete beginner. A couple of the horses could just about cope with him for half and hour a week!
Very big horses (and by that I mean substantial as well as tall) take a bit of keeping sound when in this type of work on any commercial scale, and you do need a very good farrier. Ideally you need a big school too - our guys were not much fun in a 40x20 although we had a lot of fun on hacks, and of course out hunting! That is another point - they also get sour quite quickly, so you need some big horse-loving friends (like me!) who are prepared to take them out for some fun on a regular basis.
The hunter was a case in point, and I would regularly get a phone call in the winter to say that he needed a day's hunting before he bucked someone off :D
 
without wishing to be rude( I am not a skinny minnie by any stretch of the imagination) but riding is a sport,. unless you are in the sport of Sumo wrestling, you don't see 20 stone people competing in any other sport so why is it widely accepted in the equestrian world?
If you want to partake in sport then surely you should ensure you are fit enough to do it?
 
Small point that not all heaver people are fat, if you are tall you would weigh more. I would say that it would be quiet easy for a tallish bloke to weigh 12/13 stone and not be fat

I know some rugby players are fat but some are pure muscle so would weight a tad more than normal bloke but be a lot fitter

Ithink most people who are over weight know they are and I would think that that most would be happy to say they go the xx riding school at least they are doing something about it
 
I think it's a great idea.

Haven't got anything to add on the pros and cons, but the school where I normally go to has a limit of 12st with full gear on.

I'm 5'7 or 8, a size 12 and still weighed just under the 12st with all of the gear on. A pound or 2 more and I would have been overweight.

I would imagine alot of guys are excluded weight wise who aren't overweight as such.
 
Well looking at the cumbrian horse site which uses clydesdales, the prices are not cheap and they always book up their rides etc.. might be worth checking out their site and what they offer ..
 
charlie76 said:
without wishing to be rude( I am not a skinny minnie by any stretch of the imagination) but riding is a sport,. unless you are in the sport of Sumo wrestling, you don't see 20 stone people competing in any other sport so why is it widely accepted in the equestrian world?
If you want to partake in sport then surely you should ensure you are fit enough to do it?
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i agree with the 20st part, i dont think many horses could easily carry that however not all heavy people are unfit. my oh is a rugby player whos 5ft11 and weighs 17st!!! and trust me hes very very fit and healthy. i dont think there are many places who would take a well built man :(
 
I am a riding school manager, we have a 16 stone weight limit. If you actually saw what a horse has to put up with being ridden day in day out by heavy riders then you would change your mind. Its all well and good a heavier rider having their own horse that they ride once a day but not in a riding school. We had a lovely big kind ISH who took all the novice heavy riders (and face it, most RS cater for novices). We have to have his back treated non stop when we had him in the school, he was always suffering and he coped as he was kind.
We since sold him to a heavier lady, however, she is balanced and she rides him once a day.
Also bear in mind the weight of the tack on top of the riders weight.
 
I don't know about the overweight thing, but a yard aimed at adults (and therefore having bigger horses by default) might possibly work... it can be hard to find a riding school that can cater for the tall, I am ok weight-wise but I feel flipping ridiculous tooling round on a 13hh-ish pony!:rolleyes:

I think you would need to offer more variety than just lessons, hacks, half and full day rides, beach trips etc would all be good. I definitely think you'd need liveries in to make ends meet too. I don't know if there is enough of a market for this sort of thing, given the economy at the moment.
 
Just to add - I used to ride at a place in Surrey which did do kids lessons, but also had a good selection of bigger horses for adult lessons and hacks. They never seemed to have trouble filling their hacks up as there were lots of people like me - living and working in London, well paid enough to afford a 2 hour hack a week, but not quite able to stretch to their own horse. I think the area of the country you are in would affect your business, in some areas you may find that adult will get their own horses as it is relatively cheap to do so, but in areas where livery etc is very pricey you may find a market for the middle ground people - not broke, but not flush either.
 
I can see your sentiment although i feel it would be highly unethical! You would have to turn away clients if they didnt fit the bill weight -wise which is highly descriminitive. Plus, without sounding rude I dont think horseriding is the best activity for obese people. Of course some 'bigger' folk are fabulous riders and most of them have no qualms riding at a normal school. An RS aimed at large people would therefore only get obese people coming in and how many seriously huge horse riders are there out there? nott enough to make money anyway! i only know 1 very large rider and i hate to say it but she is dreadful. I dont know why she even has a horse as she is so terrified to get on it. Presumebly as she doesnt have much staying power or coordination.

ps. I think this would be a terrible idea in terms of business. Why would you want to narrow your market when you could provide lessons for all ans have a few large horses suitable for larger people. If I were the targeted client (aka a large person) I would be embarrassed to go to a RS for 'big' people. It would make me feel terrible! no one wants to feel different afterall and I think this would end up knocking the clients confidence instead of boosting it.

From a view of the horses, you would probably spend any money you made on having horses backs done by the vet/back man as theres not many horses who would be able to take very heavy bouncy novice riders on their backs for very long...
 
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sherbet said:
Small point that not all heaver people are fat, if you are tall you would weigh more. I would say that it would be quiet easy for a tallish bloke to weigh 12/13 stone and not be fat

I know some rugby players are fat but some are pure muscle so would weight a tad more than normal bloke but be a lot fitter
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a tall muscular guy with big shoulders can easily weigh waay more than that! i let my cousin (6'5", then young and not fat at all, v sporty) hack out on one of my horses once (16h id x tb Adv eventer), it didn't even occur to me to ask his weight, it was only when we were 1/2 way round the loop that he mentioned in passing that he was 17 stone, i'd guessed him at about 13 stone! we only walked after that...! he wasn't a beginner though. the mare was fine btw...

OP, i think it's a good idea, and the demand is there. i think you'd need strong, short-backed horses with really great temperaments for teaching big heavy riders on. no way around it, a heavy person will fall harder than a light one, so you don't want people hitting the deck!
simulators would be a good start of course, no riding on a real horse allowed until instructor was happy with balance, progress etc.
definitely no mounting from the ground, ever.. but then, i'd stipulate that anyway, for any rider of any weight unless they can vault on...
i don't want to start the usual debate here, or set anyone off, or insult anyone, but i'd differentiate between a big-framed tall person who happens to weigh a lot, and someone of the same weight who is very overweight for their height and frame... imho the former is going to find it a lot easier to be a decent rider, not hurt/hamper the horse, and stay on, which is ultimately what it's all about.
 
I may be going serious mad here, but I am really nervous about replying to first time posters, who have put a somewhat contraversial topic on for that first post :confused: Can it be............another...........:rolleyes:

I think it's a ridiculous idea btw, and the school would probably never get a licence.
 
shysmum said:
I may be going serious mad here, but I am really nervous about replying to first time posters, who have put a somewhat contraversial topic on for that first post :confused: Can it be............another...........:rolleyes:

I think it's a ridiculous idea btw, and the school would probably never get a licence.
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Oh gawd, i didn't look... not another troll. i hope not, but you're probably right. i wonder if their house is on fire... :( :(
 
ah no, I'm not a troll.
I was just wondering about it in general and figured this is the biggest horsey forum around! I normally read it but don't comment.
I realise it's controversial. There are opinions both ways, always very heartfelt as is everything horsey.
If your opinion is no, not fair on horses under any circumstances please feel free to say so but if we could keep it to a straight "no- too heavy" and avoid the usual argument that would be great!
 
"avoid the usual argument" :confused:

You've only just joined, how can you tell us to avoid a usual argument. :confused::eek:

I smell something under a bridge my lovely.......clip clop.
 
I should also point out I'm not exactly intending to go for starting a heavy rider school, no backing funds for starters, but I was more interested in what other people saw as the pros and cons.
Thanks :)

Oh, and I would think you would happily take smaller riders, just that the horses would be weight carrier types if possible. No point blocking a friend because shock horror she's not heavy.. giving horses a rest is always a good thing.
 
I 'know' Rainbowsandtoffeee from another forum ... she aint no troll! ;)

I like your idea, perhaps not a specific school for chubbers, just one with big fit horses that welcomes the larger rider - I like the idea of the simulator until your balanced enough to ride 'kindly'

xx
 
Thanks Mrs O! :)

Yes, simulators are a very good idea - even if you did 20mins simulator, 10 mins horse..
I think a big part of it would be advertising your weight limit- anyone on the heavier side knows how hard it can be to ring up and ask.
Perhaps driving lessons too although to be honest I haven't the foggiest what the weight limit is for driving - always *looks* like it's heavier than for riding!

Thanks for everyones input.
 
I couldn't leave this without commenting - especially as a newcomer to posting in these forums. I don't think calling people a 'troll' is overly adult now is it??

I see no reason why this couldn't work - i mean look at Cumbrian Heavy Horses. They have masses of publicity, and get people visiting from all over the country. Obviously it would never be the most easy thing to set up, but would any riding school? I'm not going into too much detail as everyone else has already done it.
 
Being 5' 10" and not a waif, I was limited when I came back to riding, so I think it would be a good idea. As you said, there is nothing stopping people who weigh less riding the same horses.

I too have a Rugby Playing OH who I had to buy a horse for far sooner than I would ideally have liked due to the limitation of finding him school horses that he could ride. Luckily for me, my purchase has turned out to be a true star but I would definitely have come to a yard as you outlined had you been around at the time.

In my next life I'm coming back as a jockey - they don't have the problem!!
 
anothernewbie said:
I see no reason why this couldn't work - i mean look at Cumbrian Heavy Horses. They have masses of publicity, and get people visiting from all over the country. Obviously it would never be the most easy thing to set up, but would any riding school? I'm not going into too much detail as everyone else has already done it.
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I have been to Cumbrian Heavy Horses several times

The only person I have ever seen there over the usual weight was my partner... who is 6ft2 and muscular - not overweight

Cumbrian Heavy Horses is popular because of their fast beach/forest/lakes rides and not because they cater for overweight novices. They do not have a school and offer very little 'schooling' when out and about. They are fabulous because they cater for experienced riders looking for a superb ride on strong, young heavy horses. They are only open between March and September.



I think opening a school catered for the overweight is a ridiculous idea (not aiming anything at you OP just offering an opinion). As others have mentioned, there may be welfare implications, it's discriminative and IMO unethical.
I very much doubt you would get enough interest from this 'niche' market to keep a riding school going. The only heavy riders I know are men. As someone has already mentioned - horse riding is a demanding, physical sport. Surely a rider must be prepared to be 'fit' before contemplating starting?

Just my opinion :)
 
I agree and disagree with this.

Some people are larger built due to health problems, which may then seem that the only joy to them is horse riding.
People who can control their weight but choose not too is a different matter.

I'm 5ft 10" and i'm a big girl. I have problems all down my fathers side with weight issues and health problems. The only joy I had was riding, I rode a gorgeous shire horse, we'd travel out for hours through the country, even did schooling sessions. Due to stuck up people at the yard I left, all they could say 'your too heavy for him'.

I've got over all that now, but if I was 'too heavy' why did my instructor set me up to ride him?? I admit, I was scared too at first but she re-assured me saying good points about my riding, I had a light seat. I've been riding since I was 7, always have been a big girl and always will.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but some need to think logically about why some people may be on the bigger side.

Just to gloat, a picture of me and the big boy warming up :D

oliviaonoli.jpg
 
I think it would be a good idea but I wouldnt market it as such. If such a place could teach carriage driving then that would be fab and another way for heavier people to have fun with horses.
 
TheEquineOak said:
The only heavy riders I know are men.
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Erm 6'1" 12.5 stone male rider here, and I see a LOT of female riders, who weigh an awful lot more than me.

The riding school for the fuller figured rider is an interesting one, but I do think it's a testament to our modern way of living that such an idea should even be considered. That said, if the demand is there and the business case works, then provided to welfare and health of the horses comes right at the top of the list then there is no real reason why it could not work.

As for discrimination, I am not a 'fuller filly' does that mean a clothing company is discriminating against me? Possibly, but that's not the way I see it; as far as I am concerned they are just catering to a given market.
 
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