Who cares if you are too heavy?

I care :o

I've put on about 6lb whilst off with broken leg... :o
Now am getting back to doing stuff properly in the last week & am back at work this week.
Out of interest I took the bathroom scales to the yard last Sunday to see what I am with all riding gear on & all tack in my arms....

I was horrified! :eek: 1stone 2lb heavier then standing on the scales with nowt on at home :rolleyes::o:eek:

I'm still not riding more than a few mins as leg v painful if going out of a walk, and I also have nobody to ride with at present and am not keen on taking new horse out on my own with wonky leg at present.
 
I have never been a lightweight since my teens for a few years my weight hovered around the 17 - 18stone mark and I am ashamed to admit I was very much underhorsed with my mare Holly! I am doing something about and although I am about to purchase a 6yr old and although he is more than capable of carrying my now officially 15st 2lb assets I still aim to lose another 4stone 2lbs to reach a healthy BMI and weight for my height.

Here are some pics of me at different weights on different horses!

This is my on my beautiful Billy (RIP handsome :( ) weight 14 1/2 stone. 15.3hh Clyde x Welsh.
481750_10151128829857167_1529098217_n.jpg

me on Billy at around 13 1/2 - 14stone
164870_489035237166_7432563_n.jpg


Me on my 15hh Welsh Part Bred Mare Holly - IRO 17 1/2stone - No excuses I am utterly disgusted everytime I see this photo and think what I put that poor horse through!
227076_10150172083562167_5768745_n.jpg


Me on 14.2hh Grace.. Probably around the 18 - 18 1.2 stone mark.
376245_10150399454877167_2115660593_n.jpg


At my heaviest weight last may I was 19stone - Thankfully had given up riding by then, but for comparison (and because I think he is handsome) this is me on 15.3hh Friesian Cross Midnight - 15 1/2stone :)

563382_10151237885272167_1787106841_n.jpg


379343_10151232618052167_1955547668_n.jpg
 
Brave of you to post those pics SG as you admit you were too heavy at times. Massive congrats on your weight loss so far though, you must feel fantastic.

Billy was an absolute beauty! :o
 
Thank you, Billy was a legend x I rode him from he was 4, bought him aged 11 and he sadly left us in 2011 when the arthitis got too much for him :( He was a typcial riding school plod when I bought him but the turn around to the horse you see in the pics above was swift and he was a popular boy. Miss him lots and I have came to the conclusion I will never find another like him. Midnight is very different in that he is very forward going and alert to his surrounds but like Billy he sane, safe and willing x
 
SavingGrace said:
I have never been a lightweight since my teens for a few years my weight hovered around the 17 - 18stone mark and I am ashamed to admit I was very much underhorsed with my mare Holly! I am doing something about and although I am about to purchase a 6yr old and although he is more than capable of carrying my now officially 15st 2lb assets I still aim to lose another 4stone 2lbs to reach a healthy BMI and weight for my height.

Here are some pics of me at different weights on different horses!

This is my on my beautiful Billy (RIP handsome :( ) weight 14 1/2 stone. 15.3hh Clyde x Welsh.
481750_10151128829857167_1529098217_n.jpg

me on Billy at around 13 1/2 - 14stone
164870_489035237166_7432563_n.jpg


Me on my 15hh Welsh Part Bred Mare Holly - IRO 17 1/2stone - No excuses I am utterly disgusted everytime I see this photo and think what I put that poor horse through!
227076_10150172083562167_5768745_n.jpg


Me on 14.2hh Grace.. Probably around the 18 - 18 1.2 stone mark.
376245_10150399454877167_2115660593_n.jpg


At my heaviest weight last may I was 19stone - Thankfully had given up riding by then, but for comparison (and because I think he is handsome) this is me on 15.3hh Friesian Cross Midnight - 15 1/2stone :)

563382_10151237885272167_1787106841_n.jpg


379343_10151232618052167_1955547668_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Billy looked absolutely gorgeous. Sorry to hear he is no longer with us.....fabulous stamp of a horse!
 
Goldenstar said:
Personally I can't think when I last saw someone under horsed except in a picture over horsed on the other hand is much more common.
Click to expand...

Ditto, like my sister, who weighs in at about 8 and a half stone and is 5ft 2, and has a 17.1hh Cavalier, a 16.3hh hunter and her smallie 16.1hh harlequin mare. She's like a cherry on the top of a bun. You should hear them creak when I sit up, at 12 stone, they dont know what's hit them. x
 
Wagtail said:
Or muscle bound cowboys weighing in at 17 stone riding in three stone saddles on 14hh quarter horses.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should come over here and ride out with the guys who ride all day every day for a living still.

No they are not overly sentimental about their horses, but they do not want to be damaging them either, remember they are tools of the trade, not toys to be played with when they want.

They break them at two, ride them on the range and in the feedlots, have big guys on small horses with heavy saddles, and they ride them into their twenties.

No not every horse stays sound, but not all break down either, I have no idea of the stats, but it sure doesn't pay to be having to keep replacing horses. It takes a while to get a horse properly trained for ranch work, you don't abuse an expensive commodity.
 
I expect a lot get the bullet too. Never to be seen again. After all they have the guns so no need to get the vet. I expect the real death toll is pretty huge. And I don't expect they will keep a horse on box rest for very long. Too expensive in feed and time.
 
Wagtail said:
I expect a lot get the bullet too. Never to be seen again. After all they have the guns so no need to get the vet. I expect the real death toll is pretty huge. And I don't expect they will keep a horse on box rest for very long. Too expensive in feed and time.
Click to expand...


You expect and assume but you don't know, I can as well expect that their horses last longer and have better care then those who are just pulled in every couple of weeks and get thrashed around a course of jumps.

You are full of assumptions and have a closed mind to anything that doesn't fit into the world as you know it. I had to come here live here and see it and I still wonder, NOW do you get why I find this subject fascinating. I grew up with the same assumptions that you have. Now I'm living in a different place and seeing a different side of it, THAT'S what makes me ask the questions.
 
Big Ben said:
You expect and assume but you don't know, I can as well expect that their horses last longer and have better care then those who are just pulled in every couple of weeks and get thrashed around a course of jumps.

You are full of assumptions and have a closed mind to anything that doesn't fit into the world as you know it. I had to come here live here and see it and I still wonder, NOW do you get why I find this subject fascinating. I grew up with the same assumptions that you have. Now I'm living in a different place and seeing a different side of it, THAT'S what makes me ask the questions.
Click to expand...

You are quite right BB. Yes, I used the word 'expect' because it is my personal belief and not based on fact, else I would have stated fact.

Yes, I have a very closed mind when it comes to animal welfare. There are no compromises there, nor should there be. Just as exposure to violence can numb people to it, so can exposure to other abuses. Overloading a horse is abuse and I am very closed minded about that. Yes.
 
Wagtail said:
You are quite right BB. Yes, I used the word 'expect' because it is my personal belief and not based on fact, else I would have stated fact.

Yes, I have a very closed mind when it comes to animal welfare. There are no compromises there, nor should there be. Just as exposure to violence can numb people to it, so can exposure to other abuses. Overloading a horse is abuse and I am very closed minded about that. Yes.
Click to expand...

I quite agree with this, I am quite sure that when Anna Sewell was writing Black Beauty, people had the same argument about horses being the tools of the trade, so their way was to maximise their return.

To expect a horse to carry too much weight, is a welfare issue. I do not care if people are overweight, in general, I care if they are asking a horse to carry too much weight, for that horse. I find the constant attempts to justify asking horses to carry more weight than they should quite saddening.
 
So, at 5ft 11, 15 1/2 stone (its shifting slowly), am i too heavy for my rising 5 15.1 irish cob? Who I broke in myself at 3. As having spoken to the Physio and my riding instructor, they have both seen me ride, and both are certain that im by no means doing him any harm. We hack, school, attempt to jump, and hunted in december. maybe someone should tell him that im too big, as he certainly doesnt think so! :rolleyes: I have also ridden for my friends, ranging from a 14hh cob to a 15.2hh TB all of which had improved greatly with my riding without any complaints.

everyone is different, lets keep it that way ;)
 
YorksG said:
To expect a horse to carry too much weight, is a welfare issue. I do not care if people are overweight, in general, I care if they are asking a horse to carry too much weight, for that horse. I find the constant attempts to justify asking horses to carry more weight than they should quite saddening.
Click to expand...

Let me be 100% Crystal clear at this point I am not here talking about overweight people, my discussion point here is purely about fit, but large cowboys, top side of 6', heavily muscled. Cowboy hat, denim jeans, white shirt *leaves discussion for cold shower*

Just because you guys decide that they are overburdening their horses doesn't make it so, YOU say it's wrong, but just because you believe it doesn't make those guys cruel. The QH's they ride were bred for work, the horses that didn't make the grade weren't bred, simple as that. I'm sure that back in the day when horses were cheaper than saddles things were tougher, but it is is different world here.
 
Wagtail said:
Some people seem to doubt that people underhorse themselves. We have a recent thread about a lovely lady on this forum who has recued an undernourished QH. She said at the beginning that she got him to ride herself. Now this lady is 23 stone and he is 15 hh with 7 1/2 inches of bone. I don't know if it's a wind up or not. I really am not sure. I do wonder if she is pulling our legs a little...
Click to expand...

Waves at Wagtail, hope you aren't talking about me, 23 stone? that will be 322 pounds, nope not me, heaviest ever weight was 316 pounds, back in 2009.

Your guesstimate is either way off, or you are talking about someone else, if that is so, then as you were.
 
To be honest, the working cowboys around my area don't ride small quarter horses, they mostly have Alberta stock bloodline quarter horses and they are huge beasts! Most are well over 16hh and built like brick outhouses. Trained ranch horses are worth a fortune and it takes a lot of time for them to be finished (as we call them) therefore they don't tend to risk injury or damage to them (outwith pure accidents).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top