Weight of rider to try out a pony?

[gailt]

We are selling my daughters pony, he is 13hh and weighs 285kg. My daughter is 8 stone but my eldest daughter is 9 1/2 stone, she has sat on him.. but the main question is, someone is coming to view him as a potential first pony...which he is! so they dont want to see him with the child ridden.
They are bringing a competant rider to try him out on their behalf, fair enough, but this rider is about 11 stone and 5 ft 3..she has apparantly got degrees in equine stuff and is a dressage rider, should i be concerned about that sort of weight on him for a try out?

this is him with an 8 stone rider 4ft 10. Pony doesnt have the dimply bum anymore..lol

 

[Tia]

No I'm sorry but there is no way I would allow a 75kg person ride a 285kg pony, no matter how nice a rider they happen to be. This rider is unlikely to cause any damage to the pony for the short time they are trying him out, but it isn't something I would allow.

 

[Blizzard]

I agree with Tia, a lightweight adult, talking 7-8 stone, yes, but not 11 stones!

 

[happyhack]

I wouldnt let them.
A) they could hurt poor pony
B) they probab;y wont get a true outlook of the pony (dont know ifthat makes sense-hope you know what i mean!!)

 

[JessPickle]

would say no personally the weight limit of that kind of pony at the RS i work at is 7-8 stone dependent on breed etc

 

[gailt]

thanks guys, my gut instinct is telling me no, but i wanted to check i wasnt being over protective..lol..

 

[gailt]

I suppose the next obvious question, is how do i tell them that without offending..lol

 

[Tia]

You tell them that you are selling the pony as a CHILDS pony therefore the fairest way to have him trialed is by being ridden by a child.....and just as a quick add-on at the end, mention that because you have the pony's welfare at heart, the lady is heavier than you would feel comfortable putting on your pony, so sorry, but no she can't ride.

 

[spike123]

I do sometimes ride my sons pony as he can't ride after school due to it being dark and as the weather hasn't been great she hasn't been able to do much at weekends either.His pony is 13hh and poss NF x welsh.She has a little more bone than your pony but I do no more than walk her as I wouldn't feel comfortable asking her to do more.Other than that I lunge her.I weigh 10stone and am 5'6 tall.

 

[alicedove]

Exactly, spike's weight is not too bad for the pony as described, I weigh 10st7 and have ridden our 13.3 quite a lot, it was pretty okay with my weight but I wouldn't go much further than that.

I think with your pony goldenboy, the rider will make the pony suffer and not move properly.

Can't they accept your children riding him for them?

I would be open and honest and if it was me being told that, I would accept if pretty happily. Don't be worried, it is your pony and they will probably accept what you say fine.

Not only that but it means you are honest, caring, you value the life of that pony and make the pony seem more desirable therefore.

 

[Smash]

[ QUOTE ]
.. but the main question is, someone is coming to view him as a potential first pony...which he is! so they dont want to see him with the child ridden.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eh? Why not? Surely it's a far more accurate test of suitability than a so-called 'dressage' rider?

No idea what her having degrees has to do with it - she is not an authority on your pony.

As for how you tell her - well, you put it straight. It's perfectly standard for a riding school to place weight limits on riders regarding certain horses, so I think you need to get past that feeling that any comment on weight whatsoever is rude and offensive. It's very relevant here and you have every right to state that a weight limit for your pony.

 

[WishfulThinker]

I used to ride a 13.2hh Haflinger X arab when I was 11stone! She carried me very happily (as happily as she could for a moody horrible mare!) She was soo strong that anyone lighter couldnt really hold her. but she did have a lot of bone and would say that she was built a fair bit more than pony in the OP.

I feel this will start this whole weight/size debate again! So please lets all remember that natives used to carry GROWN MEN in day of old!

 

[Tia]

Oh for goodness sake - a blooming Haflinger weighs a SIGHT MORE than 285kgs. Do you people not read and filter the information the poster has kindly taken the time to give us?

 

[WishfulThinker]

Well given that it was about half the body mass of my boy I have now who is 552kg @15.1hh and a Shire X, it can't be THAT much more than 285kg! Plus it was crossed with a fine boned arab!

Ans surely, if the pony was 13hh and weighted more it would be MORE unfair to put extra weight on it as it would be struggling already?

 

[Tia]

Just out of interest, would you allow a 22 stone person ride your horse?

 

[Blizzard]

But arabs have a higher bone density making them able to carry more weight I think, plus Haffies are slightly more robust than the pony in this post.


There is no way I would let someone of 11 stone ride the pony, and if it is a childs pony, I dont see why the potential buyers dont want it to be riden by a child, bizarre!

 

[WishfulThinker]

Well it has been calculated he can carry that. If they can ride then yes I would - but not every day and not doing hard work.

If he was around say 50 0years ago he woul dhave carrie dmore!

 

[Smash]

[ QUOTE ]

I feel this will start this whole weight/size debate again!

[/ QUOTE ]

You're doing a pretty good job of ensuring that.

 

[Tia]

[ QUOTE ]
Well it has been calculated he can carry that.

[/ QUOTE ]

How did you calculate that your horse can carry 300lbs; 22 stone; 150kgs?

 

[mememe]

i have a 12hh welsh a he probably isnt as heavy as ur pony but not far of an the absolut most i will let him take is 8stone and even then only for a little while!

 

[Skhosu]

No, that seems a strange request and my query would be are they going to use this instructor to school the pony regularly?

 

[Tia]

That would be my concern too TSH.

 

[Donkeymad]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel this will start this whole weight/size debate again! So please lets all remember that natives used to carry GROWN MEN in day of old!



[/ QUOTE ]

In Days of Old - people were smaller, shorter and usually very lean.

 

[JessPickle]

See pickle could technically carry a hell of a lot of weight, but I would still rather limit it. It is the same principle here isnt it! pickle could take 22 stone, but I would rather mx him at 16. With this pony it probably could manage 11stone at a push, but would rather limit at 9 stone

 

[trundle]

If this is intended to be a child's first pony, why don't they want to see it ridden by a child? Putting a large heavy competent adult rider on it is NOT going to give anyone an accurate picture of what this pony is like as a child's riding pony !

Oh and with regard to the days of old / natives carrying grown men stuff; a)people were less well-nourished and were shorter and lighter, and b) ponies went to The Great Pasture In The Sky a lot earlier than they do these days. Even 20 years ago, most horses and ponies were well and truly past it at 13, now they go on for much longer.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Exactly. When viewing the pony we are loaning I took my son with me. Friend rode her, I rode her and son rode her. We're talking a 13.1hh stocky NF. It makes perfect sense to me to get a pony that little bit more able to carry me because son only rides at weekends during the winter. Getting a 12.2hh would have been better technically for HIM because he's only 7, but then I couldnt have exercised it. I *could* ride a 12.2hh but wouldnt out of principle.

 

[kerilli]

no, too heavy imo. i'm 5'10" and 10 stone, and i would not ride a 13hh pony for a try-out.
i did ride a very naughty 13.2 after it had just very naughtily bucked a friend's daughter off, and suffice to say that after carting me around for 5 minutes it didn't want to buck any more, but i reckoned it deserved a bit of punishment. there wasn't anyone else competent about, otherwise i wouldn't have, and she wouldn't get back on it till she was assured it wouldn't do it again...

 

[WishfulThinker]

nother quick and popular method is to use the 20% rule. You take 20% of your horse’s body weight and the result is the amount of total weight your horse can carry. For example, a 1,000 pound horse should easily carry 200 pounds of rider and tack. The 20% rule typically applies to competitive or otherwise “hard” riding. For pleasure riding, many use a 30% rule, so this 1,000 pound horse could carry 300 pounds for shorter pleasure rides.

horse: 1216
20% = 243.2
30% = 364.8

OR

Measuring a horse’s cannon bone is used by some in determining the approximate weight a horse can carry. A measurement is taken around the circumference of the foreleg, just below the knee. Add together the weight of the horse plus the rider and tack, and divide this sum by the cannon bone circumference measurement. Then divide that result by two. A number between 75 and 85 is good. If the number is over 85, you probably need a larger horse. Using this method, I measure the circumference of the horse’s cannon bone and get 7.5 inches. The body weight of the horse is 1,150 pounds and the rider and gear weigh 235 pounds for a total combined weight of 1,350 pounds. Divide 1,350 (total combined weight) by 7.5 (cannon bone) and I get roughly 185. Divide 185 in half and my final resulting number is 93. Using this calculating method, I either need to lighten my gear or get a larger horse to get the number down to around 85.

Horse: 1216lbs
me as rider: 168
Tack: 10
= 1394
/10 (his cannon measurement in inches) = 139.4
/2= 69.5

Plus the fact that he has had me when i was 17stone on his back for on a year and he was happy as larry, and physically fine!

 

[Tia]

Yep I know the 20% rule - that was what I was judging this pony/rider combination on.

Pony
285kgs = 627 lbs

Rider
11 stones = 154 lbs

20% of 627 lbs = 125 lbs = 8 and a half stones
30% of 627 lbs = 188 lbs = 13 and a half stones

A difference of 5 stones if you go by your 20% Vs. 30%. Wouldn't you say that was a pretty useless means of calculation?

I have a trail riding farm and to give a top end weight for any of my horses I use the usual 20% rule and the maximum weight limit I have overall is 250 lbs (almost 18 stones) which is actually much more than a lot of riding facilities will offer.

As previously said, if this pony was my pony then there is no way I would allow an 11 stone person ride it - obviously Beau, you don't have such careful restrictions on your horse and that is up to you.

 

[brighteyes]

No I wouldn't. End of.