How heavy is too heavy?

[jenki13]

hmm, okay, i have no idea how tall she is but i would be frankly amazed if she was less than 20 stone in the first vid, probably more.
i really don't think you can possibly compare OT and co (who don't tend to ride 'quite fine tbs' either imho... most event horses are more substantial than fine tb 'blood weed types') who ride with absolute balance and control, to the rider in question.
i know 'weight is weight' BUT balanced controlled weight is much easier to carry, and it is possible to 'ride light' or 'ride heavy' according to experience.

gosh jemima_too, that is self-control. yes, have done LC before and broke spectacularly (at an Event where there seemed to be only a sweetie stand, oops) but have a better handle on it this time, will gradually reintroduce stuff a la Dukan way.
i put a stone on in a week when skiing once (unbelievable) so i know how bad it can be! months to lose, hours to regain...

Really? I wouldn't have put her anywhere near that heavy.. imo she doesn't look as heavy as some other posters on here that have stated as 20stone+
Just looking at various youtube videos for example this horse looks a lot finer than the girls own chunkier looking horse (I don't actually know of that many very fine TBs or other horses once they are fully grown/muscled up so it was a comparison):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGc6yEJPZ4&NR=1&feature=fvwp

I know that you can ride more balanced making it easier for a horse to work but its still carrying the same amount of weight. For example put on a rucksack weighing 15kg say.. do the straps loose now run.. then do the straps up tight & run.. much more comfortable & easier to move correctly with the tighter straps (no bobbing around) but at the end the day you've carried the same amount of weight around on your back & through your joints.

out of interest how much do you reckon I weigh in this photo:
http://www.thefotografer.co.uk/Gallery/horse/2009/Ludlow%20Hunt%20Show%209th%20August%202009/event.php?p=GRAH9862.jpg&album=Show+Jumping+Senior+Open

 

[kerilli]

oh, very very difficult to say, esp as i don't know your height.
from that pic i'd guess you at less than 5'4" and therefore i'd say roughly 10 stone ish. probably miles out though, in which case, apologies!

 

[Megibo]

just want to post again to say you really never know...

i weigh 12st (am 5ft 3) and ride my 13.3 cobby she's never shown any issue with my weight...

however long story short back woman today brought up a lot of problems with most of her spine on the left side caused by the saddle and as a result she was pain/discomfort. anyway, through manipulations her back is now fine but she's advised even though she is a weight carrier for the sake of her back (and also old scar tissue in her left stifle and above hock) it would be much better for her not to actually be used for that purpose (carry weight). and has therefore put in a weight limit of 10 st 7 max for her. what's made it worse is the fact that she has to carry me plus alot of excess weight where she has 'exploded' on long grass. she's actually the healthy weight of a 17hh horse, no wonder the saddle doesnt fit....
so as a result, i'll be walking her in hand, free schooling and grooming her etc until she's the right weight and so am i!!
admittedly this wont apply to every 13.3 weight carrier type but goes to show sometimes even if they don't complain like my mare who is very stoic they could have a much lower weight limit than you think and she certainly wont be allowed to get this fat again. ashamed to say she's been fatter before!! so me lesson harshly learnt and i'll be riding the chunky 14.3 until i'm 2 stone lighter at least and the pony is happy through her back

edited to say: i see wagtails point now ( i think its wagtail) who said they'd not be riding a pony if they weighed over 10st 7

 

[kerilli]

just want to post again to say you really never know...

i weigh 12st (am 5ft 3) and ride my 13.3 cobby she's never shown any issue with my weight...

however long story short back woman today brought up a lot of problems with most of her spine on the left side caused by the saddle and as a result she was pain/discomfort. anyway, through manipulations her back is now fine but she's advised even though she is a weight carrier for the sake of her back (and also old scar tissue in her left stifle and above hock) it would be much better for her not to actually be used for that purpose (carry weight). and has therefore put in a weight limit of 10 st 7 max for her. what's made it worse is the fact that she has to carry me plus alot of excess weight where she has 'exploded' on long grass. she's actually the healthy weight of a 17hh horse, no wonder the saddle doesnt fit....
so as a result, i'll be walking her in hand, free schooling and grooming her etc until she's the right weight and so am i!!
admittedly this wont apply to every 13.3 weight carrier type but goes to show sometimes even if they don't complain like my mare who is very stoic they could have a much lower weight limit than you think and she certainly wont be allowed to get this fat again. ashamed to say she's been fatter before!! so me lesson harshly learnt and i'll be riding the chunky 14.3 until i'm 2 stone lighter at least and the pony is happy through her back

edited to say: i see wagtails point now ( i think its wagtail) who said they'd not be riding a pony if they weighed over 10st 7

good for you for posting, and for getting your girl sorted.
as you say, some of them just don't complain. the ones that really complain sometimes aren't listened to anyway.
if she's that overweight you are very lucky that she's not laminitic, hope she responds well to the new regime.

 

[jenki13]

oh, very very difficult to say, esp as i don't know your height.
from that pic i'd guess you at less than 5'4" and therefore i'd say roughly 10 stone ish. probably miles out though, in which case, apologies!

Sorry forgot to say my height, I am indeed 5'4" ! I was actually 10.5 stone if not a little heavier then. No apologies l wouldn't have minded what weight you said I was... I was just wondering how well you guessed weight.

Also don't mention the horses weight ..the fat bloater.. it was extremely hard to give her a good work out for about 4 weeks that summer thanks to an annoying work schedule!

 

[Megibo]

good for you for posting, and for getting your girl sorted.
as you say, some of them just don't complain. the ones that really complain sometimes aren't listened to anyway.
if she's that overweight you are very lucky that she's not laminitic, hope she responds well to the new regime.

true, although i would rather have a moaner! she'd been telling me in very subtle ways that i just put down to her general quirkiness
shes that overweight according to the weigh tape, and has been bigger, so yes very lucky this year and all the last summers...!
thankyou i hope that she will, back lady is coming again in two months to do my sisters horse so she'll 'review' her then so fingers crossed...

 

[EAST KENT]

Food CAN be an addiction. It can be a comfort the way other people smoke, do drugs or drink. The difference with food is that unlike booze, or drugs, or cigarettes, you can NOT just give it up 100%. It requires a collossal amount of discipline to eat just enough, especially after years of eating to excess. People eat all over the place, all day, temptations are in place on TV, magazines, etc, that don't exist for alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Food is socially acceptable and even encouraged; families gather around the meal table; it's not about just giving up.


Stop making it sound like an easy way out. Depending on the procedure it can be VERY major surgery, can cause problems in it's own right, does NOT teach or encourage healthy eating and doesn't always work.

Like anything else it works if you work with it;no pigging out at office do`s ..cos more than likely you`ll end up vomiting.Dieting purely by will power almost always fails in the long term..the diet must be a new way of life,and very few,me included ,have the strength to continue life long.Very few "slimmers of the year " stay slim for long,and no wonder with food constantly ,in mags,on tv..everywhere.If as once we ate to live it would be fine,but these days it is living to eat.I had surgery due to lack of will power and in my opinion being too heavy to ride and finding everything such HARD work.It was my choice ,my money,and although a big step it was the best thing ever for me.Dieting is a miserable ,lonely and grumpy existence.

 

[EAST KENT]

Yes,it was hysterical when my aunt developed an eating disorder after being told she was fat (she was never more than a little bit plump) an addiction to slimming pills and then committed suicide. We still tell the story at birthdays and christmases.

What a cheery little thought for you all at family gatherings..so do you have "big" kids ..do tell

 

[PapaFrita]

What a cheery little thought for you all at family gatherings..so do you have "big" kids ..do tell

Yes, I do. Every one of them weighs over 20 stone, and I've been squeezing them out for years so I can get more benefits and a really big council house. Not one of them has a mouth or a sense of self importance as massive as yours

 

[*hic*]

Like anything else it works if you work with it;no pigging out at office do`s ..cos more than likely you`ll end up vomiting.Dieting purely by will power almost always fails in the long term..the diet must be a new way of life,and very few,me included ,have the strength to continue life long.Very few "slimmers of the year " stay slim for long,and no wonder with food constantly ,in mags,on tv..everywhere.If as once we ate to live it would be fine,but these days it is living to eat.I had surgery due to lack of will power and in my opinion being too heavy to ride and finding everything such HARD work.It was my choice ,my money,and although a big step it was the best thing ever for me.Dieting is a miserable ,lonely and grumpy existence.

Sadly the number of ex-surgery patients with terrible tales to tell who are now back at WeightWatchers, SlimmingWorld etc with their health ruined and having gained nearly all they had lost is on the increase. I wish more were made of these sad cases, it might stimulate a lot of other fatties, like me, to actually TRY to lose weight rather than waiting for the "Magic" op. My own sister, who is approaching twice my weight, seems to have given up again, saying that she knows surgery is inevitable so she might as well enjoy her food now, I could slap her for her stupidity, especially as in childhood she was underweight and on supplements to build her up whereas I have been restricted on what I can eat since I was a baby.

 

[PapaFrita]

Like anything else it works if you work with it;no pigging out at office do`s ..cos more than likely you`ll end up vomiting.Dieting purely by will power almost always fails in the long term..the diet must be a new way of life,and very few,me included ,have the strength to continue life long.Very few "slimmers of the year " stay slim for long,and no wonder with food constantly ,in mags,on tv..everywhere.If as once we ate to live it would be fine,but these days it is living to eat.I had surgery due to lack of will power and in my opinion being too heavy to ride and finding everything such HARD work.It was my choice ,my money,and although a big step it was the best thing ever for me.Dieting is a miserable ,lonely and grumpy existence.

Funny... I thought I said very much the same thing, only more eloquently. AND I said that the surgery was far from being an easy option. Are you too intent on arguing with me to actually read what I write?
Actually, don't bother answering. It's clear you're not really interested in healthy debate

 

[kerilli]

Sorry forgot to say my height, I am indeed 5'4" ! I was actually 10.5 stone if not a little heavier then. No apologies l wouldn't have minded what weight you said I was... I was just wondering how well you guessed weight.

Ah, I wasn't very far out then! that's a big relief, i was dreading that i might have offended you. i think i'm fairly good at guessing weight actually, as long as i know how tall someone is...

re: the dieting stuff - yes, it's bloody difficult, no question. sweet carby food is EVERYWHERE, plus we have been trained for decades to treat ourselves with it. it has taken me over a month of strict low carbing to turn off my little inner voice (i really do have one, it's most odd) which says, after a long day, or whenever i'm tired, "you deserve chocolate chip cookies." it has a choc chip cookie fixation. and a cadbury's buttons fixation.

i think if i had gastric band surgery but was still in the grip of my carboholism then i'd be one of those who liquidises mars bars, melts Ben & Jerry's to slurp etc. i don't think it's the easy answer AT ALL.

 

[EAST KENT]

Yes, I do. Every one of them weighs over 20 stone, and I've been squeezing them out for years so I can get more benefits and a really big council house. Not one of them has a mouth or a sense of self importance as massive as yours

Oh wonderful ,thanks for a real good chuckle!

 

[EAST KENT]

Sadly the number of ex-surgery patients with terrible tales to tell who are now back at WeightWatchers, SlimmingWorld etc with their health ruined and having gained nearly all they had lost is on the increase. I wish more were made of these sad cases, it might stimulate a lot of other fatties, like me, to actually TRY to lose weight rather than waiting for the "Magic" op. My own sister, who is approaching twice my weight, seems to have given up again, saying that she knows surgery is inevitable so she might as well enjoy her food now, I could slap her for her stupidity, especially as in childhood she was underweight and on supplements to build her up whereas I have been restricted on what I can eat since I was a baby.

Honestly I fail to see how that CAN happen,it would be interesting to hear just how they achieved their weight gain.Sorry about your sister,with that frame of mind it probably will not work very well for her.As said before,the clinics make you show willing by losing a fair bit first. Oh dear PF seems cross

 

[*hic*]

Honestly I fail to see how that CAN happen,it would be interesting to hear just how they achieved their weight gain.

Oh it's quite easy really. You start off carefully on the diet following surgery and the weight drops. Apparently, and this is according to a girl who had had gastric banding, you then start to feel that you are in control at last so you start to eat the "wrong" foods because hey, you can't eat much so you're going to carry on losing weight, but now you're beginning to stretch what stomach you have left and you're still craving the naughty stuff but you know you're going to carry on losing weight because you've had surgery but then you aren't losing as fast so you get a bit miserable and to cheer yourself up you eat more of the bad stuff on top of what you're supposed to be eating but you still know you can't overeat because you have so little stomach but you manage to eat a bit more each day and you always feel hungry and you've gone up a clothes size so you feel bad so you eat something to make you feel good . . . and it all just goes back on. I can't be bothered to go into the health problems that can be caused either by the surgery, or the weight loss or as a result of over eating and horrendously overstretching the remaining stomach.

I'm surprised that you didn't research it before having it done.

 

[EAST KENT]

Well that could happen to a complete numpty..however as mine was six years ago now it ain`t happening here. Never did believe in wasting money.But please,can you not now produce an example? And were they bypasses on the NHS or bands ,payed for? Yes,if you consumed say four MarsBars in a day..2000 calories..that would be stupid,but sure as Hell there`d be no room for any other intake.

 

[Wagtail]

Hi! This is my first ever post on H&H. I am just under 15 stone and have a 15.3hh Friesian who seems happy to carry me for 'happy hacking'. I did a lot of research into this, and the most common answer seems to be that a horse can carry up to 20% of its own weight, but you need to look at the horse's conformation, the rider's ability, the work being asked of the horse and so on. For example, A long back, a wobbly rider and hunting all day all result in you needing to take a big reduction in that figure of 20%. I hope this is useful...it's an intersting debate!

Agree with this. Thanks

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

sidesaddlegirl...you are NEVER 13.5 stone

very smart

LOL thank you!

 

[DragonSlayer]

I read this at first...with interest.

THEN I thought I had walked into the Year 8 year room.

Some of you need your heads banging together, a good kick up the arse and bringing down several pegs.

If some of you behave how you post.....

No words to say, without being banned