the old weight of rider to horse debate...whats to much

hollyandivy123 said:
https://good-horse.com/tools/calculator-much-weight-can-horse-carry/

now this is an interesting tool 450kg horse can carry 13st?
Click to expand...

Without looking at the link 13 st is 18% of 450kg (roughly) and the upper limit is said to be 20% of the horse's weight, so yes a 450 kg horse could carry 13 stone.

ETA - after looking at link 13st leaves leeway for the saddle too which it says is minimum 6kg.

That calculator doesn't make any provision for a horse weighing more because it's fat/unfit which would reduce its ability to carry weight though.
 
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According to that Mont (17hh TBxSec DxShire - approx 700kg) can carry 21 stone. There's no way I'd put that much on him. I feel guilty because Im the heaviest I've ever been at the moment (not too heavy but I still feel bad) but you could put more than one and a half of me on him according to that!

It says Arch (16.3 IDx - approx 670kg) could carry 20 stone. He's probably better equipped to carry more weight than M as he's shorter backed and has more bone rather than a very long body on spindly little legs. Arch only weighs less as he's about 6" shorter in the body so it goes to show that weight alone is not a good indicator.
 
If it assumes a default 6 kg for the saddle, it appears to work to a 20 % fraction to come to 13 stone
(Ie what Chinchilla said!)
I’ve never worked out before what my horse ‘should’ be able to carry - 14 stone by the 20% rule. No way would I allow thatj (he is fit and muscular and a sturdy built)
 
According to that my boy could carry about 20stone... Just goes to show that the 20% rule isn't going to work for every horse and you need to work it out on the horse infront of you. No way would I put that weight on my boy. He's a solid 16.2hh German warmblood (heavier boned than the more athletic WBs) but he's long in the back and I wouldn't go near that weight.
 
Ok, so in my amateur opinion, based solely on my knowledge of human performance, surely this partly depends on what you're asking the horse to do? I can carry a third of my bodyweight or thereabouts on a steady hike for a number of miles. Ask me to run the 400m hurdles under similar conditions and the results would not be pretty, and training to do this would cause me to break down in new and exciting ways. Extrapolating this, wouldn't the weight that we regard as acceptable on a horse in good condition be different for hacking out on the buckle compared to schooling or particularly jumping / xc?
 
My 16.2hh well built TB could carry 18st which never in a million would I put on her! I'm under 3/4s of that weight and I'm on a diet because I think I'm too heavy for her! She's long in the back and just categorically would not cope.
 
Re horse weight calculator and the default 6kg saddle weight....Unless it's a lightweight synthetic saddle it's not going to be 6kg in total. My small pony 16 inch leather one is 7.5kg including stirrups, girth and numnah. Then you have to add the weight of the riding attire, hat, boots, clothing and that can easily add another 2 to 3 kg. All in all then you really need to add at least 10kg to rider weight before calculating and that can mean a very different result. Also depend how strong and well muscled up back is of course.
 
My 18" Ideal event saddle complete with numnah, stirrups and girth weighs 1.5 stone. The bridle, summer riding wear, jodh boots, half chaps, hit air vest and crash hat adds another stone.

That's 2.5 stone to be accounted for in assessing my riding weight.
 
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