Too heavy to ride?

Not read all the thread apart from the OP, just wanted to say, these debates always get me as aren't an awful lot of huntsmen socking great blokes who must be well on the way to this sort of weight? Yes I know they can ride already blah blah but being able to ride doesn't automatically turn them into some kind of ballerina. I don't get the weight hype thing. Draughts and their crosses can carry a shedload, in fact I distinctly remember a knowledgeable farrier saying about one of our particularly heavyweight hunters many years ago "he could carry a 24 stone man all day". So why the nosebleed every time anyone on here suggests that anyone bigger than a skeleton should ever go near a nag?!
 
at 21st id be surprised if said person could even walk onto the yard yet alone be fit enough to ride...has no-one watched jezza...most obese 20st plus people walk with sticks and need an oxygen mask to get up out of the chair !!! ;) who in the right mind would decide to take up riding if they weigh that much... take a check and join a gym or a sumo wrestle team leave the poor ponies alone !!
 
The Polly & The Ivy said:
beginners should be under 12 1/2 stone to give riding a try? :confused:
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Yes in my eyes they should, but that just my view. I'm a stickler for believing, rider should have decent fitness levels and ideally not be massively overweight. If the person tall for instance but still fit and clearly heavy due to height etc fine,

Each to there own though. :-)
 
horseandshoes77 said:
at 21st id be surprised if said person could even walk onto the yard yet alone be fit enough to ride...has no-one watched jezza...most obese 20st plus people walk with sticks and need an oxygen mask to get up out of the chair !!! ;) who in the right mind would decide to take up riding if they weigh that much... take a check and join a gym or a sumo wrestle team leave the poor ponies alone !!
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Chuckle chuckle :-)
 
Horseandshoes77 I have a feeling you may be kidding BUT just in case..... At 18 stone I still mucked out everyday, walked the dog a couple of miles! Worked full time.... Definitely didn't need oxygen and sticks (well to be fair sometimes the oxygen tank may have helped). Just wanted to make this all about me again....
 
noobs31 said:
Not read all the thread apart from the OP, just wanted to say, these debates always get me as aren't an awful lot of huntsmen socking great blokes who must be well on the way to this sort of weight? Yes I know they can ride already blah blah but being able to ride doesn't automatically turn them into some kind of ballerina. I don't get the weight hype thing. Draughts and their crosses can carry a shedload, in fact I distinctly remember a knowledgeable farrier saying about one of our particularly heavyweight hunters many years ago "he could carry a 24 stone man all day". So why the nosebleed every time anyone on here suggests that anyone bigger than a skeleton should ever go near a nag?!
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There is a difference from scratching your bottom and riving great chunks out of it. In other words there is a happy medium.
 
I have to say HHO is one of the worst forums I frequent in regard to understanding trolling and how trolls work :rolleyes: posters who take threads (and particularly those written by newbies) at face value have it spot on. Taking threads at face value and offering genuine replies is how to deal with trolls, because (from the troll's POV) it is boring (& has the advantage of being helpful to those genuine posters).

The posts that read "aren't schools back yet?" or "stop eating cake" or "yeah come and ride my 13.3 Welsh A" fuel the troll on - they know they are starting to frustrate people and are creating confusion. It also creates discussion & draws attention to the thread (troll jackpot!) & has the disadvantage of being really unhelpful to anyone who may be genuine on the thread.

There is nothing wrong with pointing out when someone is a troll when it's obvious, as with Rileyboy, but this is just turning into a witchhunt; you can't accuse someone of being a troll because they only have 1 post to their name. If an OP disappears halfway through a witchhunty thread then it only goes to show that they are more likely to be genuine - a troll would be on 24/7 revelling in the glory of their own attention seeking (refer to Rileyboy again here). Would you, a genuine poster, hang about to be attacked after asking a question?

Seems to be a cycle HHO follows somewhat: few petty trolls about, no one notices. Petty trolls get bored and leave. Massive troll appears, everyone gets riled up. Massive troll disappears, there's an "I told you so" period where the riled up people attack posts left right & centre. Genuine posters get upset. Newbies are put off joining. Eventually things calm down. Petty trolls return. Cycle repeats...

The short version: be nice to people. Trolls don't like niceness and will go away.

(Disclaimer, the usage of second person in my post is not directed towards any individual, I say these things as a relatively new member (prev. lurker) and yes, I have had to summon up the courage to actually post what I think :p)

And breathe :cool:
 
I'm just as confused noobs, everytime a weight thread comes up people say things along the line of 'you don't need to be a skeleton to ride' or the usual 'why do people think nobody over 9stone should ride', yet I have not seen anyone suggest only the extremely light should ride. Expressing the opinion 21stone is too heavy is a far cry from saying only skeletons should ride.
 
Auld Lang Syne said:
Yes in my eyes they should, but that just my view. I'm a stickler for believing, rider should have decent fitness levels and ideally not be massively overweight. If the person tall for instance but still fit and clearly heavy due to height etc fine,

Each to there own though. :-)
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That'll be everybody over 5ft 10 with a normal bmi that is excluded from riding then, guess we'll stop breeding anything over 16hh :)
 
The Polly & The Ivy said:
That'll be everybody over 5ft 10 with a normal bmi that is excluded from riding then, guess we'll stop breeding anything over 16hh :)
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I'm 5ft 10, size 14 and don't weight over 12.5 stone ..??

And I did say if your tall that's the exception, as long as you not vastly overweight for your height was more my point.
 
My boyfriends 6' & weighs 15stone. He could probably lose a stone before having zero body fat, not that I'd want him to. And he doesn't have stupidly large muscles, he's just built like a brick ****house with the same type of muscles any fit man has. Anything under 14stone would be thin, & at 13stone he'd look seriously ill. By contrast I'm a very different build, I'd be a massive pile of lard at 12stone, unless I achieved it body building.
 
Im 6ft and over 14 stone and a size 16 - 18...

Ive bought a 16hh heavy cob (or thats what she is to make) But then I can ride and feel my seat is lighter than some lighter riders.

But I cant go to a riding school as Im too heavy...

think it depends on horse and rider etc but without knowing them you cant rally make an informed choice.

My husband works in racing and is about 13stone however he isnt too heavy for the fine tbs as he rides very light....

Clearly fine animals are not suitable for me but heavy cobs and hunters are.

Think its all common sense really
 
It is so easy to simply attasck anyone who is heavy. The fact is however that even a light person on the wrong saddle can cripple a horse.I do suspect that a lot of "kissing spines " problems are due to relatively light riders forgetting that the smaller the saddle ,the greater the concentration of weight(and whoever said bareback was ok!) Old fashioned saddles were designed to spread the weight . A light rider on a small saddle on a light horse can be far more damaging than a heavy rider on a big strong horse with a 20 inch plus saddle.
 
Hubby just raised this point

Mens open point to point on tbs (obviously) is 12 stone 7 lb weight but if your carrying a penalty that can take the weight up to 13 stone.....


So if a tb can carry that in a race over jumps for 3 miles then surely cobs and hunters can carry more....

:cool:
 
Springy those men will all be fit , for me about being too heavy for your height due to rolls of fat rather than for instance the poster speaking about OH who weighs 15 stone due to his heigh combine with muscle mass.

I think if you want to ride you should hve a decent fitness level and not be very over weight for height be it a 5ft person 2 stone over weight to a 6ft person being 4

It's all relative.
 
Springy said:
Hubby just raised this point

Mens open point to point on tbs (obviously) is 12 stone 7 lb weight but if your carrying a penalty that can take the weight up to 13 stone.....


So if a tb can carry that in a race over jumps for 3 miles then surely cobs and hunters can carry more....

:cool:
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Yes ,but my experience is that whilst a fit Big TB can carry that weight WHEN RACING FIT you wouldnt want to train him every day with much more than 11st 7.
 
The thing is though, a horse at peak fitness can carry more than something with no topline dragged out for half an hour every fortnight. So people tend to think if a race horse can carry x, my very unfit similar size horse can carry x + a stone or two if I only walk. Although few people would argue a fit cob or hunter can obviously carry a lot more.
Physics prevents anyone 'riding light'. It seems to be the perpetual myth on here. It's physically impossible to be lighter than your actual weight, assuming we all live on a planet with gravity. It actually works the other way, & a bad rider will feel heavier than they are through lack of balance.
 
Springy said:
The ones where my husband works are ridden by him as Ive already said and he is 13 stone....?

He schools them rides them out 6 days a week.....

:D
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I would still think this was far from ideal though maybe if they are older(8yo plus) it wouldnt be such a problem.
 
When I was at uni I was about 12 stone, and I was slim - another half a stone and I'd have looked ill. I'm not stupidly tall either, only 6ft. I'm just not built on a small frame.

I'm considerably more than that now, and really hesitated about starting riding again - in fact it was my weight that would have stopped me. Thankfully I was within limits for the school I used, though the whole issue was cripplingly embarrassing for me at the time and still nearly stopped me!

I've lost weight and have my own horse now - I still have more to lose though I doubt my 'optimum' is the same as it was when I was 20 ;) But the point of all that is that some people ARE built larger, and can't be judged against other people - only on the actual horse expected to carry them. That said, I think over 20st is too much - if I'd have weighed that much I really wouldn't have started riding again, not until I was down to... er... 15, 16 probably.

I think riding is a good goal to get down to that sort of weight, and then actually doing it will help shift some more. TBH, riding at 20st isn't going to be that much fun for the rider either!
 
race9_zps3b0e85e2.jpg


13 stone rider and 12.5 stone rider... hardly struggling :rolleyes:
 
Mike007 said:
I would still think this was far from ideal though maybe if they are older(8yo plus) it wouldnt be such a problem.
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Hmm he breaks them in too and also has his own business breaking..... never had a problem yet.... but he rides light and is very experienced was bought his first pony as a toddler and has always worked with horses.....
 
I think yes she is currently too heavy.

As others have said use it as a goal.

Can she help out at some stables, give her some stable management knowledge, help her loose weight in preparation to riding.
 
noobs31 said:
Then you're a goddam walking miracle. Boob job with helium?
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You jest ?????

5' 10" size 14 under 12.5 stone is feasible in fact it's reasonable.

21 stone is a bit heavy but war horses in ancient history must have carried weight like that with knights in armour so there are horses that can carry heavy weights.
 
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