Would our horses thank us for losing weight?

monkeybum13 said:
I disagree, my horse definitely notices a difference in weight when different people ride her.

If I'm going to spend ages getting my horse's fitness and weight ideal so that she can carry me galloping and jumping for hours I owe it to her to keep my fitness and weight to an ideal level.
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Read my other post after it. What I meant was yes she'll NOTICE it, but she won't change her attitude or be a different horse because of a stone up or down. Hence my piaffe joke :o
I don't think 10 stone is strenuous for a 16.1hh TB? I wouldn't think 11 stone would particularly harm her. And 9 stone certainly wouldn't!
 
JoannaC said:
I would expect those that compete regularly are pretty fit anyway.
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If we're talking eventing then perhaps, although there's still some chunky people doing that imho, given the event. Showing? I'm not sure who I'm more offended by the overweight cobs, or their overweight riders :o Showjumping, some string beans, some with a bit more to them ;) Dressage, ok if you're doing grand prix, but for most this is a housewives pursuit (ime at least!) so there's generally a bit of middle aged spread around....

I'm not saying the above is all bad btw, but I think the only sport you can reliably say the riders are fit is racing :)
 
Of course they would thank you - so would their long term health! I know first hand what a difference two stone can make - huge! Having been four stone down from where I am now I can see a clear change in my mare's work as I have crept up the scale. She won't regularly carry me again until I am back in what I remember to be the 'good' times - where she remained agile and effortless (well as effortless as a heavyweight cob can be :))
 
Showjumping is an interesting one. I suspect that if a horse is at its physical limit heightwise, then a stone either way could make a difference between say brushing a pole & leaving it up, or actually having the pole. But of course that has to be balanced by experience, I'm lighter than nick skelton but of course against his better skill that wouldn't matter. But I bet if I strapped on an extra stone & jumped an average horse at its physical limits there'd be a difference. And even at a lower level when people aren't doing sj to the horses limit, more to there combined schooling/ability limits than jump size limit, I suspect the heights which can be cleared without amazing style would be changed give or take a stone in weight.
 
Iv got a 16.2 cob iv allways been eight stone wet well after getting a craving for pukka pies i put on about stone and half. My cob groaned when i rode and moaned as i was riding him now i know he can carry fourteen stone plus but he got so used to carry eight stone moaned all the way round the school now back to eight stone wet hes stopped moaning and groaning. I think hes getting his own back about me moaning how overweight he is back on your diet again mate bla bla
 
puss said:
Iv got a 16.2 cob iv allways been eight stone wet well after getting a craving for pukka pies i put on about stone and half. My cob groaned when i rode and moaned as i was riding him now i know he can carry fourteen stone plus but he got so used to carry eight stone moaned all the way round the school now back to eight stone wet hes stopped moaning and groaning. I think hes getting his own back about me moaning how overweight he is back on your diet again mate bla bla
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Excuse me ?? :confused:
 
I give due consideration to weight and also constant pressure. But horse did amaze me on these three points:

1. How high he managed to throw me and get me to do a complete somersault at the highest point before I fell back to earth like a bag of wet washing :o
2. He didn't have to warm up, gather himself up or even give it much thought beforehand :cool:
3. How effortless it was for him :)
 
TBH Polo is 17.1 of irish mutt and c.640 kgs, I'm 60kgs (when not pregnant!) so I suspect he barely notices I'm there at all, not sure he'd be at all bothered if I lost a bit but if it gives people motivation to be more healthy - great

I'm was not that fit after having my son and he certainly did notice when I got fitter/ more balanced jumping and I suspect he appreciated that - nothing to do with weight tho.
 
puss said:
Iv got a 16.2 cob iv allways been eight stone wet well after getting a craving for pukka pies i put on about stone and half. My cob groaned when i rode and moaned as i was riding him now i know he can carry fourteen stone plus but he got so used to carry eight stone moaned all the way round the school now back to eight stone wet hes stopped moaning and groaning. I think hes getting his own back about me moaning how overweight he is back on your diet again mate bla bla
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I have a H/W cob that is the same. He is quite capable of carrying a heavy rider but the difference in his enthusiasm and way of going when he has a lightweight rider on his back is very apparent. He never complains about carrying anyone but he just lights up when carrying an 8 or 9 stone rider instead of 13 stone.

With my finely built mare, if I put on half a stone, we both notice the difference. She is well able to carry me but when my weight is down, she moves more freely.
 
I'm 5'11 and was 11.7 stone at my heaviest and since losing weight for my wedding last year I'm 10.4 stone and I feel loads better and generally fitter. Now I feel lighter and more athletic I'm sure Billy appreciates it too, all nearly 17hh of him!
 
I'm a 14 stone guy and I ride a 16'2 Thoroughbred mare and she is pretty slight I would say!

She isnt fit, neither am I so for the foreseeable future we are only walking everywhere anyway.

I ride LONG so i think I look to big on her but its a very distorted view and i ride that way because she is an idiot and I actually like staying on her back when she is farting about trying to escape killer pigeons and lambs!! :rolleyes:

I am determined to lose weight this year and she is my motivation as I want her to be fit and I want to be fit for purpose as well :)

People are far too polite if you ask me. A girl at my yard rides a little pony and she has an arss the size of a truck and i feel sorry for the pony everytime she gets on it :D
 
After seeing photos of me riding, i thought I looked quite big on my boy. When riding him I feel fine, but was quite upsetting to see photos :( He's a fine, 16.2h tb and i'm 5'6, ten stone. Now doing the 5:2 diet and hope by summer, when i want to do more with him that i'll look much better on him :)
 
I think they do. To be fair my horse did not change from me going from 14.5 stones to just over 12 stones 2 years ago, but I noticed it myself. Also, the older they get, the less potential they have for for weight carrying, and at 20 I dont want to push it. My daughters boyfriend loves him to pieces, and pesters me to ride him. However he is 17 stones and 6 foot 6, and the horse is a 14.3 hh MW cob, and I have said no so far.
 
Probably, if for no other reason than a fitter, lighter rider means less weight moving about on their back.

I have lost a stone recently and my instructor says she can see how it has improved my riding and ability to influence my horse - has spurred me on to keep the stone off :D
 
Dumbo said:
After seeing photos of me riding, i thought I looked quite big on my boy. When riding him I feel fine, but was quite upsetting to see photos :( He's a fine, 16.2h tb and i'm 5'6, ten stone. Now doing the 5:2 diet and hope by summer, when i want to do more with him that i'll look much better on him :)
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What's the 5:2 diet!?

I have lost a stone recently and my instructor says she can see how it has improved my riding and ability to influence my horse - has spurred me on to keep the stone off
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Well done! :)
 
I'd like to hope my boy notice when im losing weight.. however he is a man so i dont hold out too much hope :o


I did know a cheeky little horse though who was far better behaved with a rider of around 12-13 stone - than one of around 8 stone. Dont know if it was just a strength thing, or just a difference in the riding abilities. But he was a monster with lighter riders, and a saint with heavier ones :confused:
 
A rider who is overweight is also less able to balance or shift their weight in the saddle (I know this because when I've been at the puddings I don't ride as well as when I've been chomping through the salads). It's not so much their backs I'd be concerned about, it's the joints and their ability to balance. We do enough to inconvenience our horses by being up there, I'd rather minimise the disturbance with my enormous ar*%e by keeping it within bounds :-)
 
Lets look at it a different way if a horse weight 400kg and it's rider is 20% of it's weight, so say 80kg.........which is about 12 stone 7 lbs!

Rider is 80kg, if it were a horse it could carry 16kg which is 2 stone 7lb.

Is it really an accurate way to compare a horse to a human, ie you would notice if you were carrying a hotwater bottle or not?

ps I don't actually know if I dribbling on or not lol
 
Most people heavier than 11 stone would be healthier if they lost a bit but a horse wont know it their jockey drops from 7 to 6 stones and I am sure most people have an optimum weight where they are healthy strong and balanced. Trouble is that threads like this could encourage some of our young girls to go too far as they think they are helping their horse.
I count myself in those that need to lose weight but it isnt easy when you have been fat since you were a small child I eat very little and before you say what you eat I eat very healthy food salads, fresh veg fresh meats and nothing that has been mushed up. I rarely eat sweet things I prefer fruit. According to my calorie counter with everything weighed I eat about 800 calories per day a lot less than most people I am still two stone overweight
 
Dd my point was more that if I can feel the weight of a 200/500ml water bottle in a bag I'd be very surpised if a horse couldn't feel a ten percent weight shift. If anything they are far more tuned into that.

I also think that losing too much weight is detrimental too. In reality the best weight (suitable horse taken into account) is a healthy weight where you have good core strength. Not when you're unfit for having too much weight or not enough. Being light doesn't make an unfit/novice rider better than a fit, average weight, competant rider.
 
windand rain said:
Trouble is that threads like this could encourage some of our young girls to go too far as they think they are helping their horses.
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I'm sorry I certainly didn't start this thread to trouble any young girls on here about their weight, I just thought it was an interesting topic and something I have been thinking bout recently.
 
Just wondered... how does one go about the world telling the cow-boys in europe and america that they should lose a few pounds so that their 15hh quarter horses or andalusians/arabs can benefit? I don't think many would fall below the 12st mark and their horses have to carry them ALL DAY.

Perhaps we should send them all quadbikes instead :D
 
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