Would you tell your friend she's too heavy for her horses?

If she's clearly underhorsed with no 'ifs or buts' about the situation, then yes I'd come out and say it. Not fair on the horses, should have something that can accomodate you comfortably.

But I'm also a complete blunt cow so I wouldn't necessarily take my advice!
 
Not an easy subject. I stopped riding my old girl ( no longer with me :( )when I thought her age and my weight were no longer a good match. I've now lost over a stone and want to lose more, and will once i've had some medical issues dealt with ( medical issues are not the reason for my weight gain, but making it more difficult to lose it ). I am very aware of my limitations and the type of horse I can ride and I'm sure most heavier people are too.
 
I have to say that no, you didn't need to be more specific as for sure if she is reading this then she'd recognise her horses and her description....

Well I guess that's one cat out the bag :eek:
 
Hmm its a very difficult situation, but i used to work at a riding school and we had weight limits for each individual horse depending on their height, type and age. I know there is some way of calculating how much a horse can carry but i am not sure of it exacty. Saying that i also believe many horses could easily carry more than we give them credit for..
 
Wagtail said:
One accepted measure of maximum weight a horse can carry is up to a sixth of their own weight (including tack). That means that most 14.2 hh ponies should not be carrying more than around 11.5 stone.
Click to expand...

Thats the RDA guidelines, for carrying unbalanced people who might not be able to support their own weight etc. I found a study once, but didnt book mark it and cant find it now! But it was a journal article, fully referenced and reviewed etc. It stated that 30% of bodyweight was ok for a fit horse with correctly fitted tack with a balanced rider for light work and 20% for hard work. It suggested knocking this down to 20% for young/old conformationally challenged horses and novice riders.

It also said that bone was a poor indication of weight carrying ability but width across the loins was important.
 
I don't think I could say anything to her. She probably knows in her own mind that she is a bit heavy for her horses, but telling her isn't going to motivate her to lose weight - it might just upset her more which will make her put on more weight. I would leave well alone.
 
Dexter said:
Thats the RDA guidelines, for carrying unbalanced people who might not be able to support their own weight etc. I found a study once, but didnt book mark it and cant find it now! But it was a journal article, fully referenced and reviewed etc. It stated that 30% of bodyweight was ok for a fit horse with correctly fitted tack with a balanced rider for light work and 20% for hard work. It suggested knocking this down to 20% for young/old conformationally challenged horses and novice riders.

It also said that bone was a poor indication of weight carrying ability but width across the loins was important.
Click to expand...

^^^ I did read somewhere that this is what the military use to match rider to horse.
 
Could you maybe take some photos of her riding and then show her... without commenting. It might help her realise she's too large (heavy) for the horse?
 
jsr said:
On the other side of the coin, I wish someone had told me I was too heavy for my lad!!! It was only when I saw photo's from a XC comp that I thought 'jeez who's that fat bird on that poor cob'...and I realised it was me!!!!:o

So 3 1/2 stone later and I have a horse that obviously is ALOT happier to let me get on and I know he's more than capable of carrying my 'normal' weight now.
Click to expand...

That is the result I hope for. Many massive cogratulations
 
I stopped riding my horse for a couple of months while I lost a stone, after seeing a video of myself riding him. I thought I looked okay on him in photos, but when I saw it in motion I realised that he didn't look like he was carrying me as well as I thought he did. I felt awful, but obviously I'm glad I had that wake-up call as we had a lot more fun together once we were both more comfortable. So maybe you could offer to video her riding for training purposes (which was why I'd asked to be videoed, so I could work on my bad habits), and hope that this gives her a gentle nudge?
 
Lurky McLurker said:
I stopped riding my horse for a couple of months while I lost a stone, after seeing a video of myself riding him. I thought I looked okay on him in photos, but when I saw it in motion I realised that he didn't look like he was carrying me as well as I thought he did. I felt awful, but obviously I'm glad I had that wake-up call as we had a lot more fun together once we were both more comfortable. So maybe you could offer to video her riding for training purposes (which was why I'd asked to be videoed, so I could work on my bad habits), and hope that this gives her a gentle nudge?
Click to expand...

That's an excellent idea.
 
Years ago I was at a yard with an extremely overweight person, who'd given her horse such a bad back by thumping around on it that it had to have vet. Even the vet didn't want to tell her she was the cause in case it upset her, so somehow I got nominated! I said, please don't take offence but have you ever considered that you may be a bit heavy for him as he's quite old now. Her response - don't worry, I go to weight watchers! Water off a ducks back! She never did lose weight, horse always had a bad back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top