Would you want somone a similar weight to yourself to back your horse?

[alpha1]

Would you want somone a similar weight to yourself to back your horse?

...or does it not really matter, will your horse accept any difference in weight without too much fuss?

I know there are a lot of weight debates at the moment and im not looking to start one on how heavy a person should be to ride/not ride, I have a youngster that will soon be ready for backing.

Thanks guys!

 

[zoelouisem]

hi, No, i dont think it matters as long as the ground work and backing is dont correctly the horse should accept the a weight vary in the rider.

 

[xloopylozzax]

my thoughts on this is they either accept the rider or they dont- weight has nothing to do with it (providing saddle fit is good, and neither rider thumps down on the saddle when mounting).

i wouldnt go to the limits of weight the horse should carry though when first backing, because they arent as strong when coming into work.

we had a 16yr old stallion broken to ride by a woman who was 8 stone at a guess wet through. when he came home he was ridden by my dad who was easily 16 stone with no problems because he had built some muscle to be able to carry him

in answer to your second question, it doesnt make a scrap of difference for either of my horses what the riders weight is never even crossed my mind before

 

[skewbald_again]

in the dark ages of my youth, we always backed horses with lightweight jockeys, because by definition, they have not built up any muscle. So we youngsters, 8stone nothing soaking wet, always did all the backing.
I personally think it made sense, but there again, I'm a dinosaur and virtually every opinion I hold is totally out of fashion!

 

[Storminateacup]

This is a reassuring post as my newly backed horse is being ridden by a young lass who is only about 10 stone. I am 11st 3lb, so i was worried that when I get on him, soon, I may alarm him with the change in weight, but I guess I ve got a further 4 weeks to lose some yet. Still I am glad most of you think its likely to be insignificant.

 

[alpha1]

I also find this reassuring! However there is a greater weight variation with me than Storminateacup. I am very tall so naturally weigh more than the average person but im hoping it wont make much difference as suggested above.

Thanks for replies!

 

[wilsha]

well as long as they werent majorly skinny and the pony couldnt even feel them lol or they were so heavy that the pony couldnt take the weight then no as long as they were a good rider and experienced i woudnt mind

 

[horsecrazy25]

As long as horse or pony happy i wouldn't mind x

 

[Abbeygale]

This is a reassuring post as my newly backed horse is being ridden by a young lass who is only about 10 stone. I am 11st 3lb, so i was worried that when I get on him, soon, I may alarm him with the change in weight, but I guess I ve got a further 4 weeks to lose some yet. Still I am glad most of you think its likely to be insignificant.

After seeing the lovely pics of your chap, he is such a nice strapping lad, that I'm sure he won't even notice you up there!

The girl who backed my little arab is a seriously tiny tiny little person (with little legs too!! ) and I was worried that he would be a bit worried by my being heavier, and having much longer legs than her. However, it seems that I worried for nothing - he just carried on as though everything was completely normal the first time I got on him.

 

[Kallibear]

I backed toby myself as he was 5.5yrs and basically fully grown and mature. Piper has been sat on by my tiny (6st) mum, not because I think I'm heavy for him as a type, but he's still a baby and therefore unfit and unmuscled. I've since sat on him but I won't be riding him until he's more mature because I'm 'big' on him until he's mature.

I don't think the horse is upset by a difference in weight, it's more about them being immature and weak. I don't think the weight difference between 'small rider' and normal rider is enough to make a difference, unless you happened to have your 3st child on first If your weight IS difference massively different (i.e 10st+) then maybe you should be considering you should be riding the horse at all!