What kind of horses can I ride....

[Nativepony96]

I’m not commenting on weight / height / size of pony issue. I just wanted to say unless you change your lifestyle dieting won’t work, it just makes you miserable. Eat less exercise more works but only if you do both sensibly. You really have to want to do it. We cut out bread, biscuits, cake, sweets, chips. We have never eaten fast food, eaten out a lot or been drinkers / pub goers so these things weren’t a problem. We also had smaller portions of meals. We find we don’t need as much food as we thought we did & can now have a piece of chocolate without eating the whole bar! You still need the occasional treat just not the whole lot in one go. It wasn’t easy but we feel good about ourselves now.

I appreciate your reply ?
I have changed my lifestyle greatly, keep to a strictly low Carb diet, drink only water, have cut out alcohol (almost completely) currently walk a minimum of 20k steps a day and try to squeeze in a round of proper exercise like a wee HIIT routine around the kids, dog, horses etc. I'm still working very hard on it and trying my absolute hardest and have been for over a year since having my 2nd child, unfortunately the weight just doesn't shift....the inches do a size 12 is now loose on me but I still weigh far more than I look. Its terribly frustrating but I continue to work on it constantly ?

 

[Nativepony96]

Hi everyone I want to say a huge thank you for all your kind replies.
Its a terribly frustrating situation, I exercise the horse for an organisation (I won't say which one) and the lady who keeps commenting is the lady who runs the team. She wants me to be able to ride the younger smaller cobs (weight limit of 10 stone which I understand) as I'm probably the most experienced rider they have. Every time she see's me it's THE first thing I get asked....not even a 'how are you?' just straight off the bat 'have you lost anymore weight yet???' even when I had emergency open surgery in August that was the first thing she asked me ?
I'm very comfortable in my body (I've always had to work on my weight and I've always been wayyy heavier than I look...im finding a size 12 loose now but the scales never change) and the main reason I've been working so hard on my weight loss is because of the anxiety it's now causing me when riding after all the questioning from this woman. I've even questioned myself about whether I should ever of been riding my own natives over the years. I love the big guy I ride but he really is a big horse, and I've always just preferred smaller native ponies (personal preference)
Seeing your comments has really perked me up and I cannot tell you the relief it has given me. I really have been on the verge of giving up so you guys have filled me with hope, thank you xx

 

[mossycup]

I'm 5.6 and 11 and a 1/2 stone. I can ride a 14.2hh cob or I can ride my 16.2 warmblood x and everything in between

 

[Keith_Beef]

I weigh 90kg, compared to your 73kg.

Several times, I've been put on a horse that I thought was a bit small and light compared to what I normally ride for one hour of lesson, and that slightly built horse has carried me for a whole day: six hours of up and down hills, on tarmac roads and gravel farm tracks, on soft earth paths between fields, and sometimes fording streams and climbing soft river banks...

I think that your lightness in the saddle would contribute a lot, and the horse's condition of fitness would contribute even more, to its ability to carry you.

 

[windand rain]

It is a well known fact that a heavy balanced rider does less harm than an unbalanced 5stone rider. However fairly obviously that doesn't mean they ride lighter they still weigh the same

 

[Frumpoon]

Hi everyone I want to say a huge thank you for all your kind replies.
Its a terribly frustrating situation, I exercise the horse for an organisation (I won't say which one) and the lady who keeps commenting is the lady who runs the team. She wants me to be able to ride the younger smaller cobs (weight limit of 10 stone which I understand) as I'm probably the most experienced rider they have. Every time she see's me it's THE first thing I get asked....not even a 'how are you?' just straight off the bat 'have you lost anymore weight yet???' even when I had emergency open surgery in August that was the first thing she asked me ?
I'm very comfortable in my body (I've always had to work on my weight and I've always been wayyy heavier than I look...im finding a size 12 loose now but the scales never change) and the main reason I've been working so hard on my weight loss is because of the anxiety it's now causing me when riding after all the questioning from this woman. I've even questioned myself about whether I should ever of been riding my own natives over the years. I love the big guy I ride but he really is a big horse, and I've always just preferred smaller native ponies (personal preference)
Seeing your comments has really perked me up and I cannot tell you the relief it has given me. I really have been on the verge of giving up so you guys have filled me with hope, thank you xx

This may not help you but one way of thinking of it might be that she is paying you a back handed compliment?!

Clearly you are the most competent, experienced and desirable rider she has access to and she values your skills so highly that she wants to put you on all her horses.

I don’t think that should influence what you do about it though mind

 

[Bernster]

It doesn’t sound like a very healthy atmosphere for you tbh. You’re doing fab and it sounds like you just might be someone who weighs more than they look. If you’re healthy, fit and eating right, that really is the priority. I’m not, btw, so I admire you!

You could chat about it, explain your situation, and agree that you’ll stay on the horses you can ride at your current weight. To try and stop the anxiety it’s causing you to lose weight to ride the smaller ones.

Or are there other options? I’m heavier than you and have been riding for years, on bigger horses.

 

[Annagain]

Hi everyone I want to say a huge thank you for all your kind replies.
Its a terribly frustrating situation, I exercise the horse for an organisation (I won't say which one) and the lady who keeps commenting is the lady who runs the team. She wants me to be able to ride the younger smaller cobs (weight limit of 10 stone which I understand) as I'm probably the most experienced rider they have. Every time she see's me it's THE first thing I get asked....not even a 'how are you?' just straight off the bat 'have you lost anymore weight yet???' even when I had emergency open surgery in August that was the first thing she asked me ?
I'm very comfortable in my body (I've always had to work on my weight and I've always been wayyy heavier than I look...im finding a size 12 loose now but the scales never change) and the main reason I've been working so hard on my weight loss is because of the anxiety it's now causing me when riding after all the questioning from this woman. I've even questioned myself about whether I should ever of been riding my own natives over the years. I love the big guy I ride but he really is a big horse, and I've always just preferred smaller native ponies (personal preference)
Seeing your comments has really perked me up and I cannot tell you the relief it has given me. I really have been on the verge of giving up so you guys have filled me with hope, thank you xx

I am so angry on your behalf. She has every right to impose a weight limit on the smaller ponies (although 10st for a 14hh cob seems too draconian to me) but she has no right whatsoever to bully you into losing weight to ride them because it suits her. I'd tell her exactly where she can stick her scales and her bullying.

Of course there's a need for a sensible weight limit for welfare reasons but I'm seeing more and more these days that weight is just becoming a giant stick to beat people who aren't even that heavy with. You're the second person in as many weeks to post asking "what type of horse can I ride" having been shamed by somebody into thinking only an Ardennes will carry you when you're a perfectly acceptable weight for riding many types of horse and larger ponies.

If we start making people think 11-12st and a size 10-12 is obese we are going to create a massive problem. Gymnastics, dancing and even boxing have major issues with eating disorders, do we want to go the same way?

 

[9tails]

Its a terribly frustrating situation, I exercise the horse for an organisation (I won't say which one) and the lady who keeps commenting is the lady who runs the team. She wants me to be able to ride the younger smaller cobs (weight limit of 10 stone which I understand) as I'm probably the most experienced rider they have. Every time she see's me it's THE first thing I get asked....not even a 'how are you?' just straight off the bat 'have you lost anymore weight yet???' even when I had emergency open surgery in August that was the first thing she asked me ?

You could do with getting far away from this toxic creature.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I am so angry on your behalf. She has every right to impose a weight limit on the smaller ponies (although 10st for a 14hh cob seems too draconian to me) but she has no right whatsoever to bully you into losing weight to ride them because it suits her. I'd tell her exactly where she can stick her scales and her bullying.

Of course there's a need for a sensible weight limit for welfare reasons but I'm seeing more and more these days that weight is just becoming a giant stick to beat people who aren't even that heavy with. You're the second person in as many weeks to post asking "what type of horse can I ride" having been shamed by somebody into thinking only an Ardennes will carry you when you're a perfectly acceptable weight for riding many types of horse and larger ponies.

If we start making people think 11-12st and a size 10-12 is obese we are going to create a massive problem. Gymnastics, dancing and even boxing have major issues with eating disorders, do we want to go the same way?

I am glad this is being discussed. I am a similar weight to OP and my weight was brought up recently in relation to riding and it's been on my mind a lot.

OP I too would suggest moving on from said person. Considering horse welfare is obviously essential but the way they are speaking to you is totally unacceptable!

 

[smolmaus]

I would venture that if someone is having anxiety about losing weight to the point they are questioning even continuing their sport and giving up... that's already disordered. You don't have to get to the point of being ill for this kind of thing to mess up your relationship with food for life.

Not to mention that being hounded about it is probably fitting some definition of harassment... A stern conversation needs to be had at the very least. If this person can't accept that their behaviour is rude and upsetting then she should feel the consequence of losing your expertise. Also livid on your behalf here.

 

[Annagain]

I am glad this is being discussed. I am a similar weight to OP and my weight was brought up recently in relation to riding and it's been on my mind a lot.

OP I too would suggest moving on from said person. Considering horse welfare is obviously essential but the way they are speaking to you is totally unacceptable!

I've recently lost 3 stone and am about the same weight - not really because of horses (although I do feel happier riding at this weight) as I have big horses who could carry me easily at my heaviest but because I wanted to for me. I was/ am very aware of my weight and would turn down the opportunity to ride friends' horses because I thought I was too heavy for them. When I was looking for a new horse, despite asking if they could carry 14st, I turned up to a few and didn't even get on them as they were clearly too lightweight (I found it hard to tell with some from photos).

But there's a big difference between 14st and 11st and I wouldn't worry now about getting on a 14hh Section D or a well built, well put together cob. I'm nearly 5'7" and more of a cob build myself, I'm never going to be less than I weigh now. I was 10st, literally for two days, when I got married and people have since told me they thought I looked too thin then. Not so much in my wedding dress but in my normal clothes (at the time, size 10 trousers and 12-14 top thanks to the FFs that didn't shrink, now 12 trousers and 14 top, 14 trousers and 14-16 top at my heaviest) in the run up to it. I was determined to get to my target for the wedding and I did, just, but there was no way I could maintain it and lead a happy, healthy normal, life. I'm far more concerned about being a weight where I am both physically and emotionally healthy and, if that means I can't ride certain horses, that's fine but to suggest 11 stone is too heavy for most horses is frankly ridiculous.

 

[Cloball]

You are not a jockey this is not your job, you are healthy and fit. Far more than I right now. You do not need to lose weight for this women.