Weight a minute.

Big Ben

Big Ben

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 October 2012
Messages
914
Location
On the frozen prairies
Visit site
This is a simple and genuine question, it is not asked to justify anything, no hidden agendas.

The simple question is, are this horse and rider a good match, if it was your horse would you be OK with this pairing?

My vote, I am fine with it.

Yes the attire needs work, but lets not go there:wink3:

hiphop.jpg
 
Well, looking at that photo, yes they look ok.
Are you going to tell us that the rider weighs 35 stone and the horse is a yearling?
Kx
 
Yes it looks ok but I bet its not actually, as that guy looks like he weighs a lot - 19 ish stone. Why do these posts become so heated? If you want to ride something regardless of your weight, then buy a motorbike. It is a privilege to ride a horse, not a right and we should do everything we can to ensure the horses welfare is paramount, which includes not riding them if you're overweight. I wouldn't let anyone weighing more than about 11 stone ride my horse and she's a middleweight cob.
 
The person riding has a good position and can obviously carry theirselves in balance and the horse is a good weight carrying type and appears to be supporting them through the back well.
I don't see a problem here, except for making everyone over nine stone paranoid about riding their horses.
 
I would say no, it's not a great pairing, but that is only by eye. That looks like a really big fella up there! My dad is fairly tall at 6.3, but he weighs over 22 stone. You would never ever guess it, he has a slight belly but it really is minimal. He just has the most enormous frame, huge shoulders and limbs! So, I would say that it isn't inconceivable that the rider weighs almost 20 stone. I wouldn't put 20 stone on any horse regularly! If this is a one off 'walk around the school' and I am guessing it may well be due to the riding gear then fair enough.

The horse is clearly a heavy horse so there has been some attempt to match the rider...
 
Looking at how low to the floor his fetlocks look and the possible strain on his tendons, this rider looks to be too heavy for this horse.
 
To be fair showing just one photo surely doesn't tell enough to make a definite judgement. Photos can be deceiving, often it's all about the angle.
 
The fetlocks concern me. And knowing how much my tall and not at all fat husband weighs I suspect this guy weighs a surprising amount. Plus it is a western saddle which will weigh more. The horse appears to have a lot of Clyde/shire blood and neither are particularly good weight carriers for their size.

So while I wouldn't say a definite no based on the photo I would have some concerns.
 
Not going to comment on the pairing but just to add to the "photos can be deceptive" theme - I'm really struggling with an optical illusion (I hope!) with the hind legs - my brain is convinced the off hind is wrapped over the near hock :eek3: I don't think they are, but it's a point that our brains can't be trusted without seeing things first hand
 
The horse is down on his fetlocks, I would say he is carrying far too much weight. Horses are no longer a beast of burden.
 
No, the rider is obviously far too heavy based on the way the horse is moving and the over flexion of the fetlocks. Looks like it is struggling to trot properly to me.
 
It's actually perfectly normal for the fetlocks to have that range of motion while the horse moves.

You need the horse to be standing square, with the weight evenly distributed between it's limbs, with and without the rider, to see if there is a difference.

However - Clydies and Shires aren't really built for weight carrying, as they were bred for pulling. I have no doubt that they can carry a fair weight, but I don't know if in this instance the rider and horse match or not. It's just not possible to tell from one photo and no more information.

ETA - here you go. Welshie carrying no weight, look at the fetlocks on the supporting limbs.

Welsh-Cob.jpg


Also don't forget that when a horse lands after a jump, the fetlock often touches the ground.

9005686180_59387d3396.jpg


The fetlocks need to have this range of movement to absorb shock. if they didn't the bones would fracture.

ETA - I'm not saying that the rider isn't too heavy - just that you cannot judge from the fetlocks.
 
Last edited:
ridiculous to say you can judge by its fetlocks.... if his weight was making the horse collapse on its fetlocks something would be seriously wrong! that is normal fetlock movement. yes I think its a fine pairing-everything in proportion.
 
He looks like a big guy, as others have said he could easily weigh a lot! The horse doesn't look like a fantastic weight carrier to me, I was under the impression (maybe mistaken) that Shires/Clydes aren't built to carry a lot of weight, but to pull it. That may be an outdated opinion though!
 
I think it looks OK ish.
My son is 6'4" and rides my 17hh ISH who doesn't have anywhere near as much substance as that horse. Whether he will be able to soon as he fills out more I don't know, he is 18 now and wide shouldered but lean. If I had to guess his (sons) weight maybe 15 stone.
 
I think there is an optical illusion effect with the photo, as the rider's head has been cut off.
If it was included, I'd say he was too big to do much on the horse. I wouldn't expect to see a horse in normal trot to flex a fetlock to that degree either - that is normally seen in more extreme paces or movement and makes me think the horse is having to compensate a lot for the load it is carrying.
 
Well people didn't understand properly how horses galloped until Muybridge did his photos. Sometimes the truth is not what we expect.

I could google (but ICBA :p) and find photos of horses of different breeds trotting riderless and if the camera catches the right moment, their fetlocks would be that low too. Maybe not a halter bred Quarter horse, but they have very short, upright pasterns.
 
I think it looks ok and the feathers are making the fetlocks look warped!

I think there's a difference between whether it is ok for someone to have a walk trot and maybe a bit of a canter in a school, and whether it is ok to be jumping, galloping, advanced dressage work etc. Some riding school limits are low and out of my range but at a riding school the horses are working for a lot of hours a day and I can therefore see why they don't want them carrying too much weight.
 
This is why I'd have concerns - I still think the degree of flex is too much for a school trot.The surface could be impacting on that too.
 
Faracat said:
Well people didn't understand properly how horses galloped until Muybridge did his photos. Sometimes the truth is not what we expect.

I could google (but ICBA :p) and find photos of horses of different breeds trotting riderless and if the camera catches the right moment, their fetlocks would be that low too. Maybe not a halter bred Quarter horse, but they have very short, upright pasterns.
Click to expand...

Like these:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...HpVrP61p3FYMP0XPW18Y_RSSzHFXx1EkM8-5lPTR1SgeQ

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...AUT9seup6Sk3lGHtV3AicPMTw5T_zWC2oOjEXUoEfZ75g

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...iojZBze-vAbvhdUS-mO7yhvIgqC8XdpHU5hRCHa39iTmA

http://stevebondy.ca/Portfolio/Photography/Pets/slides/TrottingHorse.JPG

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...MJaj--s9I_SUrMW83Y23lNh2JAQUFPhxo0rVP9kyy4Jt2

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...bhoIZMZOve2c8QRcFCA2TachL60mODZahh2X9xb2vY4l9

(posted links so I don't get into trouble)
 
I think what makes a lot of difference is the fact that this rider seems to be in very good balance and weight is distrubuted evenly compared to a slightly thinner rider who sits like a bag of spuds. However I wouldnt want any horse to be carrying that weight on a regular basis, maybe once a week, light work for not more than 20 mins to half an hour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top