overweight riders, I take it all back

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bugbee717

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I am overweight and I ride. When threads have been put up I have defended overweight riders, we have a rightto ride , the balance of the rider etc etc.

Well on sunday I went showing and tbh I am still in stock at what I saw, very overweight riders on very fine horses, one girl was galloping around on her horse you could see the poor thing was struggling. The girl must have been close to 18 stone ( trust me I know what 18 stone looks like) her bum was hanging over the saddle. She was taking her very nice horse into a coloured show class, what the hell can she be thinking she looked a mess.

So I take it all back

1. if you want to ride make sure you have a horse that can carry your weight.
2. get someone to take a photo of you on the horse, so you can see what you look like.
3. just because you want to ride dont abuse these wonderful animals with your weight.
 
OOOOOOhhh, HAHA, this will be a popular post!

I am a fat rider - I am over 17st and have actually stopped till I am atleast under 16st(its all boobs!) - although funilly enough, my OH who is fit and healthy and right smack bang in the middle of his BMI and weight range for height is too heavy at just over 14st to have riding lessons!
But I know what you are on about.
There is someone like that up here. Poor horse cant even jump a 1ft jump without struggling, yet she still rides it and no one says anything to her - and it is a fine breed(looks WB x with Fresian or something). She is at least a size 26, so not sure what weight that is. Even if it is a medical condition that has made a person larger, they do need to consider the animal
 
I agree, i have nothing against larger people riding at all!! But please please if you are going to just make sure your horse can carry the weight! There are plenty of horses that can carry larger riders
 
I'm an overweight rider too, currently 14st and working uber hard to get it down before next spring and breaking my boy in. I totally agree, make sure you've got the right horse to take your weight. I am soooo careful about what I ride because I'm worried about hurting the horse and you'll all be seeing pictures when I sit on Harry to make sure I'm not too big lol!
 
kub like you I will be losing weight as I have three youngsters which I want to ride, and I will not put my fat backside any where near them as I dont want to do any damage to them.
My current horse can carry 18 stone.


oh and is 14 stone overweight lol
 
I agree, I am sick of fat ****ers trying to justify that its ok for them to ride their fine TBs and Arabs by saying it how they carry their weight that matters -what total rubbish, if you weigh 15stone thats what your poor horse has to lug about and you should at least get a heavy cob, a QH or a Shire X to carry you! !
My husband is 16st and he thinks he is going to ride my 15.hh Gypsy cob, well I told him he's got another think coming!
I am 11st and constantly battle with my weight I cant eat bread or potatoes, like a drink but have to be moderate all the time , and my new young horse is a very substantial 16.2hh heavyweight /ID/Cob.
I accept that I do not have the right to injure him with my weight so I am still aiming to be about 10st 7lb which is what I was in my 20s, I am 54 now but not any taller so why should I be any heavier?
 
BobbyMondeo said:
I agree, i have nothing against larger people riding at all!! But please please if you are going to just make sure your horse can carry the weight! There are plenty of horses that can carry larger riders
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Same here. I'm a larger rider so well understand the issues.
 
Thanks indiat, cannot wait to ride him :D But I will hehe

Bugbee717 - that's what the doctors tell me... lol. Plus I just don't want to do anything that might hurt harry in any way so the weight needs to come off a bit. Should be interesting as I've always been big but would be nice if I didn't wobble quite so much... hehe! :D
 
Another larger rider here, and I so agree! My chap can easily carry my weight, but I am slimming down for him at the moment to make both our lives easier. Our tack takes my ass with ease, so nothing presses on him because of overhang - this distresses me when I see this! I will actually comment now if I see a horse struggling to carry someone - since I am big myself I feel I can comment without getting told I am prejudiced.
 
Kub said:
why do so many people who ar FAT describe themselves as BIG ? Its a form of DENIAL.
I am FAT I am 11stone- and 5 ft 8 inches with a BMI of about 26 !!
If I can grab lumps of fat on my body as I can, then that is what it is, for goodness sake, its FAT.
Until you face up to the fact that you are carrying excess fat you will always have some sneaky justification for it!
You are not BIG you are FAT - deal with It!
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please remember, large ladies, and i mean LARGE, can ride light- an old boss of mine years back always rode out a racehorse which had no probs. at all carrying her, then a farming chap i know of tidy weight, ridden all his life,is a very heavy rider- so weight itself doesn't always follow.
 
WishfulThinker said:
OOOOOOhhh, HAHA, this will be a popular post!

I am a fat rider - I am over 17st and have actually stopped till I am atleast under 16st(its all boobs!) - although funilly enough, my OH who is fit and healthy and right smack bang in the middle of his BMI and weight range for height is too heavy at just over 14st to have riding lessons!
But I know what you are on about.
There is someone like that up here. Poor horse cant even jump a 1ft jump without struggling, yet she still rides it and no one says anything to her - and it is a fine breed(looks WB x with Fresian or something). She is at least a size 26, so not sure what weight that is. Even if it is a medical condition that has made a person larger, they do need to consider the animal
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Blimey - do they make size 26 jodphurs ????
 
Storminateacup said:
why do so many people who ar FAT describe themselves as BIG ? Its a form of DENIAL.
I am FAT I am 11stone- and 5 ft 8 inches with a BMI of about 26 !!
If I can grab lumps of fat on my body as I can, then that is what it is, for goodness sake, its FAT.
Until you face up to the fact that you are carrying excess fat you will always have some sneaky justification for it!
You are not BIG you are FAT - deal with It!
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Your not fat, 11stone on 5'8" is a healthy BMI of 23 according to the NHS!!!
 
Perhaps us larger ladies don't call ourselves FAT because it might just make us feel ok enough about ourselves so we can stop comfort eating. I call myself fat among friends, but didn't feel like doing it on a public forum.

*ducks behind parapet with a kitkat* :-)
 
rosiefronfelen said:
please remember, large ladies, and i mean LARGE, can ride light- an old boss of mine years back always rode out a racehorse which had no probs. at all carrying her, then a farming chap i know of tidy weight, ridden all his life,is a very heavy rider- so weight itself doesn't always follow.
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I agree that heavy riders can ride light i.e. not thumping down in the saddle and being able to support their weight through core muscles etc, however no matter how light they might ride the horse is still carrying an additional X many stone on their back, in a place where they aren't really designed to carry any weight.

Riding is great exercise and so would always recommend it as a way to lose weight and get fit but I do think that people should think a bit more about the type of horse they are choosing to ride if a little on the heavy side. There are plenty weight carrying horses out there and therefore I don't think it is acceptable when you dosee the heavier people riding 15hh Arabs for example as I have witnessed before, no matter how light they ride
 
I am overweight but I am not fat. I am 5'9 and between 12'7 and 13' depending on the time of the month! My BMI is over the ideal range but I don't look fat. My backside is larger than I would like as is my tummy. I am a 16 bottom and a 14 top. So there are big people who are not fat.
 
carefreegirl said:
Blimey - do they make size 26 jodphurs ????
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I also laugh when i see all the new companies that now specialise in riding clothing for the "larger rider"...surely that gap was in the market because no-one wants/needs to see size 26 jodphurs :eek: :eek:

Completely agree though - if your horse can take it then great, but if you can't see any saddle in the pic of your poor TB struggling over an XC fence, you shouldn't be jumping and you need a chunkier horse!
 
lexiedhb said:
Ahahahahahahahahahahaahahahaha do you really think that only heavy cobs/QH or shire X's can carry 15 stone or over???????? GET A GRIP
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So are you saying that fine TB and Arabs should be subjected to carry fat lumps around?
Very funny - NOT.
I go on horses bone size and what the maximum weights for the respective bone sizes are. True a willing TB may carry a 15 -16st st person all day out hunting but is it really kind to do this?
My new horse has 10 inches of bone at 16.2hh and really could carry my fat 16st hubby all day. (when fit and matured).
One has to define the question when asking finer horse to carry heavy weights, Is it feasable, maybe yes, but ultimately, - is it really fair?
 
Arabs can carry far heavier weights than some cobs. Just because a horse is heavyweight itself doesn't mean it can carry more weight. Not that i'm condoning excessive weight carrying on any horse but just pointing out that arabs are renowned for their strong backs and weight carrying ability so not to be compared to the thoroughbred.
 
no it is not fair and that is my point, get the right horse to suit you.

As a fat person I am the first person to say, I am not getting on that, as it is not fair or right on the horse.
I also think this should apply to large children on small ponies, one of my little ponies can carry up to 8 stone and I will not put anything heavier on him.
 
Letslip said:
I agree that heavy riders can ride light i.e. not thumping down in the saddle and being able to support their weight through core muscles etc, however no matter how light they might ride the horse is still carrying an additional X many stone on their back, in a place where they aren't really designed to carry any weight.

Riding is great exercise and so would always recommend it as a way to lose weight and get fit but I do think that people should think a bit more about the type of horse they are choosing to ride if a little on the heavy side. There are plenty weight carrying horses out there and therefore I don't think it is acceptable when you dosee the heavier people riding 15hh Arabs for example as I have witnessed before, no matter how light they ride
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i was talking of a 17.1 NH horse,and riding short, not arabs.
 
So what about all the native ponies that were used by the working farmer before the invention of the quadbike??

I think there is a lot more harm done to horses and ponies by folk never riding or working them as they need to be to keep them healthy and fit. To many don't have a job at all and far to many are just over faffed, over fed and cuddled up like they have been pulled out of a toybox, such as you would a little Barbies' pink pony. That IMO just ain't good at all. So yes if your massively overweight be sensible and get yourself a big boned animal, but if your not and for the horses sake, please lets talk good sense here and bring on the short plump rider.
 
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els imo yes all horses and ponies should have a job, and not just stand in a field eating, I have a number of native ponies, like hell would I let my oh ride them, just because that is what they used to do, it does not make it right.

If a person is fat or too big in height/weight they should not ride the animal, it is cruel and unfair. it does not matter what age, sex the said rider is.
 
This shouldn't have anything to do with people being fat or whatever, people's weight is their business. But asking a horse to carry more weight than it is capable of is a welfare issue. I wouldn't ride a 13.2 because I'd be too heavy for it, hence I have a 16.1. end of. If you are heavy, ride a horse capable of carrying you with ease, they do exist.


In our area there is a lady who is quite big, probably over 16 stone, and she competes (BD elementary) on a fine boned tb who obviously struggles with her. I saw her at a few competitions last year and every time noticed that the horse was lathered in sweat and labouring for breath, legs shaking, looking awful in the warmup and after the test. Finally one of the organizers at a popular BD venue spoke to her frankly, and actually asked her not to compete there anymore because she found it upsetting to see. Harsh, but it did need saying. I hope that this lady got the point because I haven't seen her out since. What really upset me was that she had a "trainer" in tow who seemed oblivious to the unsuitability of horse and rider.
 
halfstep that is nice to hear, we have become people that will not tell other people what we think. I am not talking about sticking your nose in, just having a voice if you see something which is wrong, why has that become such a bad thing to do.
 
I have to say most of you would class me as obese, and tell me I shouldn't me riding my lightweight 15.3hh arab x trotter....hmmm!!

I'm 5'4, and weigh 11st12. I ride very lightly, and my horse definatly doesn't struggle with me! I definatly don't look like I weigh this much. I'm a very fit person; cycle upto 100km a week, ride 2/3 horses a day and swim for about an hour a day. I wear a size 10/12 on top! So personally I don't think I'm fat, but I bet alot of people would tell me I'm too 'fat' to ride my boy!!

So basically what I wanted to say is that you don't neccessarily have to be very slim to ride, yes some horses can carry more weight than others, but imho to a certain extent balance is more important than how little the person weighs!
 
elsbells said:
So what about all the native ponies that were used by the working farmer before the invention of the quadbike??

I think there is a lot more harm done to horses and ponies by folk never riding or working them as they need to be to keep them healthy and fit. To many don't have a job at all and far to many are just over faffed, over fed and cuddled up like they have been pulled out of a toybox, such as you would a little Barbies' pink pony. That IMO just ain't good at all. So yes if your massively overweight be sensible and get yourself a big boned animal, but if your not and for the horses sake, please lets talk good sense here and bring on the short plump rider.
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alot of the older farmers around here still use their ponies,the ponies arent particularly big for ease of lobbing a ewe over the front and getting on and off-one old lady that came to us to retirewas happily into her 30s when we had her put down, she was only 13.3 but a stocky welshie and she carried my OHs cousin for years shepherding on the hills.
 
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