maisie06
Well-Known Member
I've stopped eating out for this reason - I feel very uncomfortable and that I'm being judged with people thinking "why is that fatty eating out?"
Should there be a weight limit for people at shows (and if so, what and how?!)
- Thread starter Morgan123
- Start date
I've stopped eating out for this reason - I feel very uncomfortable and that I'm being judged with people thinking "why is that fatty eating out?"
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
I think, though not sure, that Tim Spector is looking for subjects for his studies all the time. They seem to involve wearing a blood sugar monitor, eating premade muffins and collecting your own stool samples! Obviously the data goes towards the study but I think participants also get information about how their bodies respond to different foods etc.
Genetics play a part but are not determinative either. The gut microbiome, which is partly inherited, may play a huge part too... but it can be improved.
I think I'm managing to figure out what works for me right now but if I was still struggling I would get myself signed up for one of these studies and fast track myself to some personalised data. Worth a look?
clinkerbuilt
Well-Known Member
not disagreeing with this possibility, but the cited problem in the RCVS report is the taking of the horses' rectal temperatures and saliva samples.
AShetlandBitMeOnce
Well-Known Member
I have to say, I have been thoroughly kicked up the @rse by this thread. I have left the car keys at home and walked 8km today already doing various errands (including picking up a precsription for a stronger painkiller for my hip - hopefully this one touches the pain a litter better), cleared out the cupboards, briefed OH and written my 'why' on the fridge. I wasn't riding due to my weight anyway, but there's no reason other than my hip and a bit of depression that I can't sort my weight out and get me back riding; there's no point dreaming about something when it's wholly achieveable
Flame_
Well-Known Member
Get a job as a postie. You'll lose weight if you do it for any length of time and they pay you instead of you paying out for personal trainers, dieticians, gym memberships etc, or having to shell out for a massive strong horse.
SEL
Well-Known Member
There was a young kid on a programme I watched a few years back who was obese despite his family eating well and all being slim. Might have been one of the Dr Chatterlea ones.
Turns out his gut bacteria was seriously depleted - they thought it was because he was premature and in an incubator for weeks. By the time the producers followed him he was about 8. Once the nutritionists got involved and had him eating a huge variety of fruit, veg, nuts etc his health improved loads.
Fascinating!
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
Another Micheal Moseley book "Clever Guts" is worth a read. It's all very new science really but I suspect it impacts very much on many aspects of health. ( I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was behind a lot of the 'random' nature of how much people suffer with Covid-19, along with blood sugar responses and possibly vitamin D levels. But that's a whole other discussion obviously - I just find these things coming up over and overlapping )
palo1
Well-Known Member
Yes it is quite a compelling read and certainly changed some of my habits and attitudes to food. The Covid thing is interesting as it seems that those folk with a larger element of Neanderthal DNA suffer far more with Covid and are more likely to die than those with less Neanderthal DNA.
motherof2beasts!
Well-Known Member
Yes it should most definitely be capped, just because a horse can doesn’t mean it should , they are stoic and don’t always show they aren’t comfortable. Get sick of seeing “if they weren’t happy you’d know about it”, not necessarily.
my cob in theory could carry 16 stone but would I let him no ! He has a very short back so also can only have a 16 inch saddle.
I think the subject is always emotive but it’s common sense surely …… think with some it verges on being a welfare issue.
Before anyone jumps on to say I don’t understand, I do, I have a very under active thyroid and weights a daily battle. Sadly to be at my target weight breakfast and lunch are protein shakes , which is far from satisfying but keeps my weight stable .
my cob in theory could carry 16 stone but would I let him no ! He has a very short back so also can only have a 16 inch saddle.
I think the subject is always emotive but it’s common sense surely …… think with some it verges on being a welfare issue.
Before anyone jumps on to say I don’t understand, I do, I have a very under active thyroid and weights a daily battle. Sadly to be at my target weight breakfast and lunch are protein shakes , which is far from satisfying but keeps my weight stable .
windand rain
Well-Known Member
The type 2 diabetic reversal diet of 800 calories is doable with care but you do need to weigh everything you eat
Widgeon
Well-Known Member
Not really contributing to the original debate, sorry - but that is SO interesting! I've noticed since I was in my early twenties (I'm 33 now) that my body will gravitate back to more or less 10.5 stone. To get more than a kilo or so below that, I have to eat really very little, or exercise *loads* (it's not worth it). And even at times when my lifestyle is more sedentary (e.g. when I didn't have a horse) I still don't go more than a couple of kilos over. But it's so interesting to hear that that's actually a widely acknowledged phenomenon.
Ali27
Well-Known Member
It really is, what you eat! I’ve always been active, riding 5-6 times a week, schooling, jumping, poo picking, doing 20k plus steps and joining the gym! My weight slowly crept up until I was 10 stone, 8? I’m 5ft 6 so it wasn’t overweight but I’ve dropped down to 9 stone 5 within 4 months by cutting out crap and adding protein! Never went hungry! It was dead easy and I really do think that so many people eat too much rubbish! I didn’t calorie count but ate sensibly!
I really don’t like seeing overweight people riding horses! Not fair at all! I’m sorry if it upsets some people but horses don’t ask to be ridden!
I really don’t like seeing overweight people riding horses! Not fair at all! I’m sorry if it upsets some people but horses don’t ask to be ridden!
Lexi_
Well-Known Member
Just because it works for you doesn’t mean it’s that simple for other people. There are multiple other posts in this thread explaining that.
Also apologies if I sound like a narky witch but must you end every sentence with an exclamation mark? Other punctuation exists.
Ali27
Well-Known Member
Oh I must apologise for the over use of exclamation marks! ??
Seriously though, I knew I had put on some weight and just by cutting out alcohol and junk food, I shifted it easily. It’s quite amazing now when I go to Supermarkets, the amount of junk food, the average person has in their trolley. I’m sure there are more overweight people now than back in the olden days when there was no junk food! Just meat and veg!
Anyway, there is no excuse for an overweight person getting on a horse. I wouldn’t let anyone over the weight of 10 stone get on my cob x who most people would think was a weight carrier. Good job that I shifted the weight otherwise I would have been too big for her!
Lucky Snowball
Well-Known Member
Near me there is a yard with lots of larger ladies. They never compete so weighing at shows would not affect them. Although personally I think they are a little big for their mounts, they only ever wander along slowly and never out of walk. Horses seem happy ambling around.
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
Walking is very hard on the horses back especially if they have weak abdominals and thoracic sling .
Peglo
Well-Known Member
For what it’s worth @southerncomfort i actually think you and @PapaverFollis basically agree on points. Like you, exercise is really important for me. I have a physical job so wasn’t overweight but when I started running, doing physio in the gym and riding more (and basically sitting less) I toned up. But as PF says, I (and probably you) don’t eat to run. We run to eat. So we aren’t having that cereal bar and energy drink before a run. We just go a run and our diet stays the same. But a lot of people up their calorie intake when they exercise because they feel hungrier. Or else they have a good gym session and think they deserve a treat. It’s so good to see there is so many books that have helped with peoples response to food. I will keep a note of them to pass on to some friends who do the crash diets and pile the weight back on and spend so much money on online PT’s who all spew the same crap and when their ‘plan’ has finished they resort straight back to their original bad habits. (Because overhauling your whole diet like that and so extremely in one go will never work!! Everyone’s always miserable on these plans and they hate going to the gym.) sorry that’s my online PT rant over.
Dexter
Well-Known Member
The research shows that the forces when a horse is walking with a heavy rider is significantly less than when trotting and cantering, so if you are pushing the maximum weight then steady walking for short periods is the least damaging thing you can do.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I don't think pressure on the legs when trotting and cantering is a relevant measure here. It doesn't alter the amount a horse is able to carry on its back, which was never designed to carry any extra weight at all.
Obviously trotting and cantering are even worse but that doesn't make walking carrying too heavy (not fat, heavy) a person right.
Ample Prosecco
Still wittering on
At one of the events I did, I was walking the course while the 100 class was running. Towards the end I saw a pony the spitting image of Dolly. So I’m guessing it was a 14.2 Connemara. Being ridden by a very heavy adult rider. She didn’t remotely fit the saddle. I couldn’t believe someone felt it was ok to ask a pony to carry that much weight over a 100 course. He refused a jump and was smacked and then jumped. The woman hit him again on the approach to the next shouting ‘don’t you dare stop you little Sh!t’. I was appalled that she thought it ok to ride in the first place and that any protest by the pony was just viewed as naughty. I did think at the time that she should not have been allowed to ride but wondered how it could be policed. Perhaps they need to have the 20% rule in the rule book and always have a weigh bridge at events. Not to weigh people routinely but at least to pick up the most extreme examples of riders too heavy for their horses.
Dexter
Well-Known Member
Its pressure on the back. Theres a really interesting research paper about it.
link to research
"At walk, the overall force is approximately equivalent to the body mass of the rider (Fruehwirth et al. 2004). At sitting trot, the force values increase to approximately twice the body mass and reach almost 2.5 times the body mass of the rider when cantering."
It does point out that saddle fit may impact but the heavier the rider, the higher the pressure. Figure 5 shows that really well if you dont want to wade through the whole thing. If you must ride, then sticking to short periods of walk massively reduces the pressure applied.
CanteringCarrot
Well-Known Member
This reminds me of 2 summers ago when I was exercising a Connemara pony who is on the smaller side. I was encouraged to jump her and I did pop a few small things with her but I don't want to do any more, and I was so worried about my weight with her. I don't think I was too heavy for her and we actually looked ok (my weight and height), but she was used to only small kids riding her and I just felt weird about it. Idk if a horse should have some time to adapt to a heavier rider or not. Or maybe I think too much.
Either way I wish people were more conscious of this. That makes me so sad (your story above).
My own horse, although he's almost 15.3 is not a weight carrier. I know that if I were to put on weight I'd have to stop riding him. Someone heavier and taller than me rode him once and there was a visible difference. This man was not "fat" or obese at all really, but just too heavy for that horse. So while I like a firm rule of x% in my head, because it's black and white, in reality, it isn't so black and white. There probably are other horses of my horses size and weight that could've carried that heavier rider.
Glitter's fun
Well-Known Member
A friend and I had a similar experience & felt guilty for not saying anything but like you, we didn't see who we could tell at the time. We were at a well known BHS approved riding centre & booked a fast hack that was meant to take in their little xc course on the way round. The girl who led us out was on a very slightly built appaloosa, maybe about 13hh. The girl was absolutely huge, hanging over all the edges of the saddle. The pony kept napping & wouldn't canter. He got beaten up for it. The girl herself was a teenager & had obviously be told to use that pony by someone but there didn't seem to be anyone else around.
[I since found out that the usual manager was on maternity leave at the time and the girl has now been moved to non-riding duties.]
Regandal
Well-Known Member
A good few years ago I was fence judging at a local hunter trial. One of the combinations was a large rider on a cob cross, probably around 15hh. Horse was blowing hard and dripping sweat, rider was red in the face and breathless. I radioed in that the horse was in distress and they were pulled.
The rider and their mother walked back to my fence and gave me a torrent of abuse. Apparently they were both just ‘a bit unfit’. ?
The rider and their mother walked back to my fence and gave me a torrent of abuse. Apparently they were both just ‘a bit unfit’. ?
Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Our very last photo of my darling Bailey minutes before she was pts in June 2021. I stopped riding her 6 months before. She was 710KG and a big boned 17.1hh M/W and easily took my weight. Agree if I'd been schooling or jumping I would have been to heavy. We stopped jumping Oct 2016 and schooling June 2018, i then started putting on weight so we just hacked, our last hacks were 20 mins once or twice a week. I have a video of her on one of these hacks striding out, ears pricked forward. She never struggled carrying me. Or if she did it never showed and hand on heart I've never had anyone ever say i was too heavy for her and trust me there were enough people that would have if they felt i was.
I realise I am probably opening myself open to criticism by showing my photo but I want to share for those that have been upset by this thread.
I realise I am probably opening myself open to criticism by showing my photo but I want to share for those that have been upset by this thread.
Last edited:
Ample Prosecco
Still wittering on
I did wonder whether the fence judge should have addressed it when she was hitting the pony yo make it jump, But Regaldan has demonstrated why that is not a good idea! It needs to be a black and white rule not someone's subjective opinion. And while balanced riders are easier to carry, fat horses would be allowed to carry more which makes little sense etc etc. at least there would be an objective, non judgemtnal way of addressing at least the worst examples of riders unsuitably mounted.
Our local RDA centre has a weight chart on the wall with all horses listed and the balanced and unbalanced weight they are allowed to carry. It's not emotive/judgemtnal thoigh f course I appreciate some riders find it so. But it's just 'this is the limit' and if it is unclear whether a rider is within that limit, then they are weighed.
Birker2020 I'm really talling about horses out competing - eg expected to gallop and jump. Not leisurely strolls round the countryside. There are all sorts of tack and whip rules for competitions that don't apply to leisure riders as they are supposed to be setting a standard and because the demands on the horse are very high.
Our local RDA centre has a weight chart on the wall with all horses listed and the balanced and unbalanced weight they are allowed to carry. It's not emotive/judgemtnal thoigh f course I appreciate some riders find it so. But it's just 'this is the limit' and if it is unclear whether a rider is within that limit, then they are weighed.
Birker2020 I'm really talling about horses out competing - eg expected to gallop and jump. Not leisurely strolls round the countryside. There are all sorts of tack and whip rules for competitions that don't apply to leisure riders as they are supposed to be setting a standard and because the demands on the horse are very high.
Glitter's fun
Well-Known Member
Just interested. Do you remember what difference they use between the two?
Dexter
Well-Known Member
It is absolutely nothing to do with the way you look, what you eat, what you do, or who you are. Someone posted about a tiny 7.5stone person being too heavy for a pony for example.
I dont understand why people are taking things so personally or what posting a photo of a specific combination is meant to achieve. Its a wider discussion about the weight horses are expected to carry and where people draw the line.
Its nothing to do with being fat or thin or how you look
Most people consider just short of 21 stone too much to be on any horses back, and far, far too much for a compromised horse. If you dont then thats your choice. There is no one policing any of this, and as is clearly shown by the following of plus size influencers, people will be very quick to tell you "its fine hun" and horses are wonderful stoic creatures and wont complain.
I suspect over time there will be much more attention drawn to this, more research done and then we might see some sort of backlash, because horse sports are starting to see that now. But until then, there is no absolute definite answer and people can only do what their conscience allows.
Ample Prosecco
Still wittering on
About a stone. I can go and look next time I am up there if you are interested.
maisie06
Well-Known Member
I can Literally starve myself and I won't lose weight, I just get fatter - I haven't dared weigh myself in ages - I'll just think sod it and go on a binge. I think half of it is because I'm very ugly too so food is consolation to my disgusting looking face!! I am seriously considering taking up smoking but it's so expensive!!
Having said all that I would never dream of getting on a horse again, gave that up when my weight started getrting out of control. And I do agree with you about modern diets and a glut of junk food available.