Larger rider on on lightweight horse. Picture inc

10% is redic!

Also very few people know how much their horse actually weighs or should weigh..

I got a bit heavy for my lad (and for me) last summer and did look a bit so.. have lost weight since and still working on it but acquisition of muscle probably hasn't helped! Percentage wise we'd be pushing the higher end I guess but 10% would mean only a 7 stone person could ride something of his sort of size (14.2 chunky welsh D) he'd soon take advantage of that!
 
DragonSlayer said:
Why do you feel the need to post pictures of you and your horse to justify you riding them?
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I didn't post my pic to justify riding him, whether I am to heavy for him or not, I feel like I am at the moment, so just get on now and again. One day I will be having a good blast on him on the stubble fields, or he will be galloping off without me :)

I posted more to show that it is possible to get the weight off if you really want to, I'm getting there. Haven't really got any pics of me riding when I was really overweight, this is the only one I can find.
Me on the right.
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Looking at the 2 photos now, I don't think I look that much smaller! There is about 3st between pics!
 
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At a show last month my non horsey OH was watching a short but extremely fat lady getting on her TB, we had already seen her puffing round in the in hand class so could see she was unfit. As she heaved herself on there were 3 people trying to holding the horse still, his ears were back and his tail was twitching. as she thumped down into he saddle his back dropped and his head went up. My OH said 'that woman is way too heavy for that horse, surely? He doesn't look happy'. I have no idea what she weighed, what the horse weighed or what the percentage ratio was, but if a non rider can see it why couldn't the owner? I wonder if some of the obese riders are in denial? Perhaps its a mental issue as well as a physical one. I would also like to reiterate what others have said, the issue is with seriously obese people, not those who are a stone or two over their ideal.
 
I believe the OP is concerned that the rider is too heavy for the horse not too heavy in regards to anything else? Correct me if I'm wrong OP! It is very possible to be too heavy for a horse without being overweight from a medical point of view!
 
Please also bear in mind that people can be overweight due to glandular or other endocrine issues and will find it almost impossible to lose the weight.
I'm not saying they should be riding but the comments along the lines of"just lose weight" are not very helpful in those circumstances. My mother, auntie, three out of 4 grandparents and now my sister were all obese through thyroid problems and I have seen how all their efforts to lose weight came to nothing. It isn't always possible to lose weight through diet and exercise.
None of them ride by the way :)
 
Magicmillbrook said:
At a show last month my non horsey OH was watching a short but extremely fat lady getting on her TB, we had already seen her puffing round in the in hand class so could see she was unfit. As she heaved herself on there were 3 people trying to holding the horse still, his ears were back and his tail was twitching. as she thumped down into he saddle his back dropped and his head went up. My OH said 'that woman is way too heavy for that horse, surely? He doesn't look happy'. I have no idea what she weighed, what the horse weighed or what the percentage ratio was, but if a non rider can see it why couldn't the owner? I wonder if some of the obese riders are in denial? Perhaps its a mental issue as well as a physical one. I would also like to reiterate what others have said, the issue is with seriously obese people, not those who are a stone or two over their ideal.
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If a horse is in obvious discomfort like this, and needs to be held down to allow the rider to mount, it is cruelty, no less, in my eyes.
The thing is, this isn't uncommon, but for some reason we close our eyes and say and do nothing, for fear of giving offence. : (
 
In a way I hate these threads. I weigh a lot. I also exercise a lot. So when people say "eat less, move more" I physically can't move any more than I already do. Am very conscious of which horses I get on, and I'm over the weight limit for the majority of riding schools
I have lost some weight by low carving but have very much hit either a plateau or my natural weight. Built wih huge wrists and shoulders and massive amounts of muscle. My bone structure alone will never be smaller than a 12/14
This is me at the minute (after weight loss) and riding pics are in my sig (before and during)

http://instagram.com/p/ooDLC5NdyP/
 
Magicmillbrook said:
I would also like to reiterate what others have said, the issue is with seriously obese people, not those who are a stone or two over their ideal.
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However, that is contradictory. Someone at 5ft 1inch, and 14.5 stone, isn't just overweight or obese, they are "severely" "clinically" or "morbidly" obese. However, there are many horses who can carry this weight just fine. And there are many who are in this obese category who are quite fit! If that person loses 2 stone, they will no longer be obese.

Then we start tho whole BMI is pants debate :p ( I quite agree, I prefer the WH ratio personally ;) )

But yes, with regards to the TB in your example, if the horse was telling her it wasn't right, she should have been listening.
 
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As someone said, this issue will only continue due to the fact as a nation we are getting unhealthily overweight (riding and non-riding people). It just seems to get accepted as the norm.
 
See, this is why I love HHO, we're just brilliant at recycling the same topic over and over again!

Auslander said:
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Funny, I always thought you were taller :p

Auslander said:
My son is 6"0 and built like a brick outhouse, and I can (just) give him a piggy back (although, I can't cope with him mounting from the ground, which backs up my thing about always using a mounting block!). If he sits there making no effort to support himself, I can't move with him on my back. If he sits tall and uses his core to hold himself, I can move under him. He feels different when he's making an effort to carry himself - still heavy, but easier to carry. i know this because I just carried out an experiment. I may have given myself a hernia though...
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And this is also why I love HHO! People undergoing traumas to prove a point and really checking!

As a relevant aside, weigh your saddle: I was horrified to find my allegedly lightweight one weighs a stone with stirrups. :eek:

I don't ride now, I'm way too heavy for the cob boy. I'm sticking with the 20% max for even walking.
 
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I think the % weight ratio thingy isn't the most reliable source to go by! Having watched the videos of the two morbidly obese people though (One on the cob and the more sickening one on the chestnut) it has really laid funny with me. Makes me feel sick. I'm not one for weight bashing but why do they feel like they need to put a horse through that? The girl on the cob rode 'lighter' but I still believe she shouldn't be riding her horse until she loses some weight. As lovely as she may be in person. Sorry :(

When I clicked those videos on youtube, underneath there were links to other videos one looked like a morbidly obese woman squashing a white Shetland. Didn't even click that, id be too outraged.
 
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