Interesting article on weight of riders.....good read

I'm possibly amongst the oldest on this forum but at Christmas took a long hard look at myself, haven't eaten chocolate, biscuits or cake since then and not dieted otherwise, and have lost a stone without trying, or being hungry.
I'm pretty fit for my age and have had my share of injuries, just suddenly felt my clothes had shrunk, so did something about it. It really wasn't that hard, just eliminate too much sugar.
I don't think you can make any comparisons about cowboys/films/men in armour/ and what we do today with competition horses. I bet there weren't many fat cow boys in real life.
Also, men and women were considerably shorter than they are nowadays, not many strapping six footers.
And I realise hacking etc is different to competing, but sometimes driving I come across people who are wider than their horses. This can't be right.
 
Mark Todd rode Charisma at the Olympics, Badminton, Burghley and at pretty much every 3* and 4* star event in the UK, winning many on his dressage score. Charisma was, according to Wikipedia, 14.3 and at eventing fitness would probably have weighed in between 400kg - 450kg. Toddy is 6' 2.5" and weighs 82kg, with the saddle he'd be over the 20% but was still able to perform at the highest level. Charisma stayed sound and lived to 30. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't think about our weight but it's not the only consideration surely?
 
yes, i did wonder about this, i thought he was 15.2 but at eventing fitness, Toddy would probably have been around 20% of his weight with the saddle and going out jumping huge courses, whereas most "fuller fillies" won't be competing at anything like that level.
Golden_Match_II said:
I wouldn't rely on Wikipedia as elsewhere on Wikipedia it states Charisma was 15.2hh
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Cortez said:
Sorry, what are you on about? Historical films are just that: films, and therefore not in ANY way reality. The MODERN average UK female is a size 16; this is a recent phenomenon. The European average is 12; this has been the same for 40 years. So people are fatter because of a healthier diet? Interesting.....nothing to do with eating too much then? It may have become a pain listening to people being told they are too fat, but the fact is......people are too fat.
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Agree with you Cortez.

Its a well documented steady rise in obesity, largely due to a more sedentary lifestyle and a high sugar and fat diet.
In the past the majority of people worked hard physically from first light to dusk, had a relatively nutrient poor diet.
Weight is a rather touchy subject, but I think that the subject should be raised and discussed..... people will often not say too much in a face to face situation for fear of offending or upsetting the person.

Maybe people should be encouraged to carry 15 to 20% of their body weight in a rucksack and go round a cross country course and see how they get on.... I would imagine that the heavier you are, the less capable you are of any kind of sustainable effort.
 
Same applies to the grossly overfed unfit horse too Any weight percentage whould be taken on what a horse shoud weight when fit and healthy itself putting fat people on fat cobs is perhaps not the answer
 
You know if you are too heavy for your horse. Local yard has a 15 stone maximum - even sometimes this can be pushing at although they have sensible weight carriers for this job.

Some people know they are too heavy and carry on anyway because we are too scared of offending anyone and not really socially acceptable. Could I be lighter? Oh, most certainly by a couple of stone likely but I have horses who easily and happily carry me because I am (about) 11 or 12 stone at 5ft 6 / 5ft 7. I have been at shows where there have been people of cobs with their bums quite literally folded over the back of the saddles. Can the horse carry them - yes. but is it fair on the horse? That's for your decision not mine.

Losing weight can be simple if you want it to be. Just burn more calories than you are consuming, that is at least a starter.
 
My shoulders are wider than my ponies :p Hips very much not though ;) (And no, I'm not too big, for either hacking or competing)
 
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Then history tells you pack animals were used to carry panniers of lead, gold and meat all of which are static weights much heavier than most humans but the arguement there is they were only expected to walk. I still think it is relatively easy to tell if your horse is struggling under your weight and yes I see lots of it. Possibly the biggest culprits are at shows with 10 stone adults riding tiny welsh ponies or the larger than average riding great overweight cobs. This is obviously the public shop window and is where it is seen to be acceptable as these big people are winning places when it is evident they are too heavy for their pony. Perhaps as well as fat horses being put down the line overweight for their ponies/cobs should be too
I am no skinny as I have admitted and have been considerably heavier and ridden but now I am unbalanced old and weak I wont ride for more than a few minutes if at all but have never sat on a horse at any weight that struggled to carry me happily I just wouldnt do it.
 
Cortez said:
Oh gods, not again............Lots of inaccuracies in there, but in general I would say that most people worry too much about the amount of weight their horses can carry comfortably. Equally there are a lot of people who are, quite simply, too fat to ride. So take a realistic view of your weight and ride a suitable horse. If you are too heavy and want to ride, lose the weight.
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not going to read through all the comments but agree here...if you need reassurance from elsewhere to make you feel ok about riding your horse then you must think deep dwn your too heavy.... come on ... I don't need to do a calculation to know if im too heavy to me its common sense...if you feel to big to ride your horse lose weight if not crack on ???
 
It can also be interesting to note that different people 'suit' different weights better.

I'm 5'7" and weight 10st 2lb - and have been told that I'm fat, offered diet leaflets etc. But I have a square build with broad shoulders and wide hips. I could, and have, lost weight but find that my energy levels plummet if I get below 9st 10lb. So I'm happy with where I am.

Would I ride a lightweight 12hh pony? Definitely not. But the 15hh TB/cob at the riding school? Yes. I know some people think I'm fat but I know my weight, I know what suits me, and I match myself to horses appropriately. And I don't feel guilty riding said horse, because I know that she's more than capable of carrying me comfortably.
 
No you are not fat. I weigh the same as you and am a lot shorter. I'm a 12 on the hips, 14 at the bust and 16 at the waist!!!!lol The joy of becoming old. I've ridden everything from 14hh cobs to 16.2 TBs and I've never felt any of them have struggled to carry me.
AlwaysWorried said:
It can also be interesting to note that different people 'suit' different weights better.

I'm 5'7" and weight 10st 2lb - and have been told that I'm fat, offered diet leaflets etc. But I have a square build with broad shoulders and wide hips. I could, and have, lost weight but find that my energy levels plummet if I get below 9st 10lb. So I'm happy with where I am.

Would I ride a lightweight 12hh pony? Definitely not. But the 15hh TB/cob at the riding school? Yes. I know some people think I'm fat but I know my weight, I know what suits me, and I match myself to horses appropriately. And I don't feel guilty riding said horse, because I know that she's more than capable of carrying me comfortably.
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oldie48 said:
Mark Todd rode Charisma at the Olympics, Badminton, Burghley and at pretty much every 3* and 4* star event in the UK, winning many on his dressage score. Charisma was, according to Wikipedia, 14.3 and at eventing fitness would probably have weighed in between 400kg - 450kg. Toddy is 6' 2.5" and weighs 82kg, with the saddle he'd be over the 20% but was still able to perform at the highest level. Charisma stayed sound and lived to 30. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't think about our weight but it's not the only consideration surely?
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Oldie 48 The Tevis Study would bear out what you are saying.

In addition, I would add that I find some of the comments on here unnecessarily judgemental .
 
Cortez said:
Oh gods, not again............Lots of inaccuracies in there, but in general I would say that most people worry too much about the amount of weight their horses can carry comfortably. Equally there are a lot of people who are, quite simply, too fat to ride. So take a realistic view of your weight and ride a suitable horse. If you are too heavy and want to ride, lose the weight.
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Have not read the entire thread, but totally agree with this :)
 
I am 5ft 10 ins and 11 stone. I have a very long back and my chiropractor told me I would be 6ft 4ins if my legs had been the right length. I do find that my weight above the saddle makes a big difference am only a size twelve for jeans but 18 for tops - too much powerlifting as a teenager. I find that lightweight horses are affected by me particularly if the are short in the neck/shoulder. I tend to have large 17hh or over middleweights and also jumped an 18hh shirextb ( approx 800 kgs). I did have a 15.2hh irish cross that rode much bigger , huge stride and unaffected by me. I believe that if your weight affects your horse's stride that you are too heavy. Saddle fit makes a big difference too. If the biggest saddle that fits the horse does not accommodate the rider then they are too big. TB's always seem to be able to carry more weight than crosses though. To jump big tracks 1.50 plus I do believe that the rider should be no more than 12 to 13% of the horse's weight.
 
The study on 20% carrying capability is not a line that must be met it was research done to understand the impacts of weight on the horse's body mechanisms. The horses were a group of Arabs and the research done over 10 years. It was finally completed in 2013. It stated that horses that carried 25% of their body weight (this includes everything on their backs- so saddle included which in some cases was nearly a stone) showed elevated heart rates, found it harder to return to resting heart rate had greater degree of lameness over the 10 years and scintigraphy showed some degeneration of cartilage. It was reduced at 20% and reduced further at 15% - the study I read did not test 10% riders as there were none available that were light enough. I'm not allowed to link the research because it was privately funded and the findings were not openly released when the research concluded in 2013.

Ps I hate the term fuller filly. I always find those who are worried if they are too heavy probably are but are just looking for someone to pat them on the back and tell them not to worry!
 
The point above about saddles is a very pertinent one .
The conformation of the horses back is very important to it weight carrying ability and is often not considered when buying also the horse age and physical development is important .
H is our youngest ID I would not have let MrGS hunt him as a five yo he was too weak and needed to furnish up, so he went out to see hounds with another rider .
After a summer of development work he went into his six yo winter much stronger and found more stamina and strength over the winter I was happy to hand him over to MrGS in January in a couple more years he will be a horse who will carry a large man but if a large man had bought him at five I think it's likely he would risk lameness by eight.
I do lots of work with the IDs to develop their backs for hunting I really believe it's one of the key things that keeps horses sound long term .
 
I think what is sad is when you see seriously overweight children who are desperate to ride and are top heavy, find balance difficult, and often fall because they are just not whippy.
 
And one thing that I've always wondered: if a horse is overweight, should we be including that in how much we put on it? By which I mean, reduce the acceptable riders' weight by the amount of extra fat the horse is carrying?
 
AlwaysWorried said:
And one thing that I've always wondered: if a horse is overweight, should we be including that in how much we put on it? By which I mean, reduce the acceptable riders' weight by the amount of extra fat the horse is carrying?
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Exactly. Many horses are more than 100kg overweight. What many people think is 'good condition' is actually very fat.
 
AlwaysWorried said:
And one thing that I've always wondered: if a horse is overweight, should we be including that in how much we put on it? By which I mean, reduce the acceptable riders' weight by the amount of extra fat the horse is carrying?
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Which is exactly why Charisma could carry Mark Todd. At eventing fitness, the horse weighed probably a minimum of fifty kilos less than a normal leisure horse. So before you begin to calculate Mark's weight, you need to deduct fifty kilos, making him as light as a small female, and his superb balance made up for the fact the weight was on him and not distributed around the horse. Anyone remember him riding most of Badminton with no stirrups because one broke, so he rode with neither?
 
Wagtail said:
Exactly. Many horses are more than 100kg overweight. What many people think is 'good condition' is actually very fat.
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Currently me and my horse are in "show condition" lol - ie. Both of us are unfit, carrying more weight than We'd like but you can still feel our ribs :p
But I'm on a diet (Christmas indulgence lingering plus currently spending 90% of my day sitting at a desk studying) and it will take time for me to loose weight - and I won't be competing unti we are both fit and fab! I do hack him 3-4 times a week but we are both fit enough for that and I'm not that heavy that I'm bursting out of my jods so we are grand ;) horse just has to start proper work everyday to start loosing weight - he gets same amount of hay when out of work as when in!!
Currently mr fattie:
image.jpg1_zpszkfroaoo.jpg


And what he is like when 1* fit (and at the event he could go all day and we were a bit fast!!)
image_zps48da9a4b.jpg


He could carry a lot more weight in the second pic than he could in the first (even though first pic he has filled his frame finally lol) so I think it's important to remember that a fat horse can carry less rider weight - ie. It's not all about rider weight!

When I worked on safari many of the riders were not light - and the horses carried at least 5k extra dead weight in saddle bags - but they were very fit horses who could go all day and had enough muscle to support them.
 
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only_me said:
Currently me and my horse are in "show condition" lol - ie. Both of us are unfit, carrying more weight than We'd like but you can still feel our ribs :p
But I'm on a diet (Christmas indulgence lingering plus currently spending 90% of my day sitting at a desk studying) and it will take time for me to loose weight - and I won't be competing unti we are both fit and fab! I do hack him 3-4 times a week but we are both fit and I'm not that heavy that I'm bursting out of my jods so we are grand ;) horse just has to start proper work everyday to start loosing weight - he gets same amount of hay when out of work as when in!!
Currently mr fattie:
image.jpg1_zpszkfroaoo.jpg


And what he is like when 1* fit (and at the event he could go all day and we were a bit fast!!)
image_zps48da9a4b.jpg


He could carry a lot more weight in the second pic than he could in the first (even though first pic he has filled his frame finally lol) so I think it's important to remember that a fat horse can carry less rider weight - ie. It's not all about rider weight!

When I worked on safari many of the riders were not light - and the horses carried at least 5k extra dead weight in saddle bags - but they were very fit horses who could go all day and had enough muscle to support them.
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He's beautiful. Loves the mud too! Yes, many people would look at the first picture and think he's a perfect weight. But he's probably 40 - 50kg overweight there. The second picture shows a very lean and fit horse.
 
I haven't read through all this, but I think a lot depends on horse/discipline/ how the rider rides. I have seen some 'average' weight people ride a lot heavier than a larger person. I don't weigh myself, I think weight is an innacurate way to decide who is thin/fat because it can depend on so many things. I have a friend who is the same frame/shape as me but is 5'9 and I am 5'4. I am 9st She is 11, but to look at we are the 'same' So you cannot judge what a horse can carry on weight alone, however I have seen some people riding who are far to fat (sorry) to be riding, I have no idea what they would weigh! But they didn't ride very 'light' either. It is unfair for people to 'ride horses to get fit' People should get to some form of fitness before taking up riding.
 
I am overweight and currently on a diet to lose some, as is my horse prior to going out in the field on the spring grazing.

People do tend to worry about what weight horses will carry and look at their overall height instead of their bone and body mass which gives a clearer understanding. And as we know, a heavy rider can be 'lighter in seat' than someone two stone lighter who bounces all over the place.
 
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