For all the bigger riders!

loveponies

loveponies

New Member
Apr 21, 2009
194
0
0
:DI started this as ive noticed more bigger riders over 16 stone ect and just wanted to know about exprinces that youve had, like finding a horse or a riding school, and jods are ther some for the bigger rider?:D

Have fun.

Remeber if you own a hw horse put a pic on.
 
Hi.
Fuller fillies is the site for jodhpurs - they are great. Just google the name and you will find the link.
In terms of riding schools, you will need to ring round and be honest about your weight. Some will say no which can be demoralising but I have found a few in my area that are happy to take you no problem. You will be fine if they have any cob type horses who can easily carry the weight for a lesson.
Problems I have encountered are mounting (use the mounting block!), dismounting (hard to get leg over the back of horse without using stirrups) and general aching muscles. However don't be put off as all these things improve as you get used to it.

Good luck - and let us know how you get on.

Alison
 
i noticed on my local rs's website that they now have a weight limit of 14 stones

some of their horses are obvious weight carriers -- i understand that inexperienced people may ride 'jeavier' and they want to protect horses backs -- but -- how do heavier people then learn to ride 'lighter'? and surely the rs can do lessons in their outdoor school that don't overstretch horse or rider to begin with

luckily i started when i was a bairn!


my heavyweight cob--fatherted -- has 11.5 inches of bone, is shortbacked and compact and can carry me easily -- even when i was over 14 stone in weight

here he is (and i'm a couple of stones lighter now)

100_0412.jpg
 
I went to the barn. It really is harder to say no to a person when they are infront of you. Every barn I have went to allowed me in. I was really balanced, light with my hands, willing to work, ect ect so I became many of my first barns favourite student, so they could look through my weight (which ended up being a hidden medical problem), and the barn I am boarding and riding at now has a trainer who is my weight and size with the same medical condition so I am set for life.

I rode several different horses which included:
- 16hh 20 year old standardbred
-15 hh 7 year old arabian
-14.2 hh 16 year old arabian
-15 hh 10 year old Quarter horse
-14 hh 20 year old arabian appaloosa
-16.2 hh 17 year old morgan, warmblood, thoroughbred
-16 hh 7 year old tenesse walker
-15 hh 3 year old quarter horse arabian
-16 hh 20 year old quarter horse

I now ride a 15.1 hh 18 year old Quarter Horse, long backed, but sturdy (whom I own) heres some pictures:

PS I am around 190-200 pounds and 5 ft 7" So I am not sure how much that is in UK standards.

Picture029.jpg


meenglish2.jpg



some showing pictures
P1010115.jpg


IBA_SASSY_TOO.jpg
 
Tuff up.. that first pic of you is great.. nice colours that go well together, and the horse and it's tack too.... but why arent you smiling??
 
that would be my mothers fault..lol for teasing me during the picture. I don't smile. I know I should but because I was soo heavy and had a health issue that wasn't known until last year, I have been bullied to the point of calling the police, so I am a bit of a hard a$$..if you know what I mean. lol.

thanks for the compliment though.. I really love all that tack. And I was looking for a really tall draft type horse but ended up with her and I don't look that awful on her even though she is 15.1 hh. But on the ground she looks around 16 hands because of her attitude, and the way she carries herself.
 
Well I most certainly fall into the larger lady category :(

I've been all weights from 18+ stone down to 10st 3lbs and back up again.

I'm currently sat at about 15.5 stone although I won't get on the scales.

I got the riding bug after a break of about 16 years. We were on holiday and visited a riding centre/farm and were sitting having lunch in the cafe that overlooked the indoor RS. I felt like my heart was going to break as I was just over 17st then and knew I could never hope to ride. My hubby went off to the loo (or so I thought) and came back saying he'd booked me in for a walking hack that afternoon. :eek: I went to the office to check he'd not got my weight wrong. That week I had 3 rides and I asked to untack and put the horse to bed and enjoyed that as much as the riding :D

Hubby made me promise I'd find a RS when I got back. I was very paranoid about my weight and hurting any horse. I went straight on a stavation diet (not good) and dropped about a stone.

Finding a riding school was hard. In the end I knew which riding schools had the silly little 12st weights and were to avoid and walked in off the street in one and asked if they could cater for me. They said yes they had 3 horses that could easilly carry me and were surprised when I declared my weight on the registration form saying I didn't look like I was anywhere close to that weight.

I went for private lessons for a couple of months and 'gave up' again when my RI was asking me to do a whole lap of the scholl stood in my stirups. I couldn't do it, felt fat and a failure and stopped going for 6 months. In the meantime I lost a bit of weight and then joined LighterLife and lost a total of 6.5 stone over that period.

I went back to the RS who didn't recognise me. I had more private lessons, could do a lot more and was more confident and got put on challenging forward going little sec d mare who I immediately fell in love with :D

My RI made the mistake of telling me that she was on working livery and that her owners would be putting her up for sale soon. My RI suggested that our next lesson should be a hack (they didn't do hacks in wet autumn because of the ground) which I was happy to do as I am a happy hacker. I went in front and we had a lovely fast canter up 'the strip' and when we got back to the yard my RI shouted to the grooms that 'T's just cantered Joy up the strip' :eek: In a very surprised and elated voice. I didn't take it in at the time as I just loved that horse :D

I had the office get the owner to call me. I got Joy on 6 weeks working livery loan. She wasn't right as a first horse for me as I wanted a happy hacker and it turned out that apart from being hacked round the RS land she hadn't been hacked out :eek:

So I had to get her hacking out, used to cars and going out solo. Now that's all we do and she loves it :cool:

Since then I piled on about 4.5 stone. If I'd been this weight I wouldn't have thought my mare was up to it but she doesn't seem to notice me. I'm now perpetually worried about my weight and trying to find my motivation to successfully diet long term. The NHS won't help me. I can lose 1.5 stone each time then it all falls apart :(

I will be losing more weight this year. I want to do more long distance hacks and at the moment neither of us are up to this even though we are well within the bounds of what we currently do. That's my motivation :(
 
What a lovely post JC :D

I'm a mod on a forum called 'plusrider' if anyone wants the address pm me, its fab if you need advice or reassurance on any aspects of being a larger than average rider.

I only ride very sporadically and am currently 18st and losing (was 23st+ but the NHS have chosen to help me - one of the lucky ones :o) I am very choosy over what horse I would ride, one RS stated they had a horse that would have been fine with me (I was 19st) at the time and gut instinct told me he wouldn't be so I didn't go back :p

xx
 
I am currently around 17.5 stone and have lost about a stone or more but seem to be stuck at this weight at the moment despite people saying I've lost weight!

I returned to riding this year but didn't actually plan to - I decided to go and buy myself a riding hat to motivate myself to lose weight so I could start riding, except I ended up booking a lesson at the RS where the tack shop was and they didn't even ask me my weight at the time! I can only ride the one horse as I'm so heavy at the moment.

However, we are going on holiday sometime in August where there's local riding and now my motivation is to get down to around 15 stone by then in the hope that that's good enough for their weight limit. After that I want to get down to around 12-13 stone so that I'm no longer limited to the types of horses I ride.

It can be very tough especially if you're surrounded by skinny people who never even seem to exercise! And to anyone thinking, wow fat cow - get down the gym, well at one point I was going swimming (15 mins) 3 times a week, exercise bike (30 mins) 5 times a week, martial arts class (2-2.5 hours) once a week and horse-riding (30 mins) once a week, and trying to eat healthily. All that and still stuck at the same weight :(

As for jods, well I'm 5ft10 so it helps to stretch my weight out which means I'm a size 18 bottom so can just get away with the larger size jods, though can highly recommend the Fuller Fillies as already mentioned x
 
I used to weigh 21st6, that's 300lbs. I couldn't ride as no RS would take me, so I dropped to 15st, 210lbs, then most local RS were happy to take me. I then dropped to 13st, 182lbs but want to get rid of more.

Dublin jods are good and stretchy and long, as are Requisite. Sherwood Forest are my favourite, the zip ones, not the pullons-they're foul looking! Can't find them for sale anywhere currently, tho.:( As for tops, I just buy anything that fits.

My boy has 9.5 inches of bone-not really HW, more of a chunky MW.
DSC000311.jpg
 
Zazabelle said:
After that I want to get down to around 12-13 stone so that I'm no longer limited to the types of horses I ride.
Click to expand...

Just out of interest, but can 12 stone really ride lots of types of horses? As I'm 12 stone and nearly 5ft2 and got told at my last Riding lesson that I was too heavy for the 15.1hh cob I normally ride, So I'm now only allowed on the horses, currently on a 16hh. Which is a bit mad considering I'm only short, but heyho. Being 12 stone is limiting me as I can no longer ride the ponies or the cobs at my RS :o

I have put nearly a stone on after starting the gym, apparently its muscle but I havent had any weight loss, I'm just heavier and look no different!
 
Gemsluvshorsesx said:
Just out of interest, but can 12 stone really ride lots of types of horses? As I'm 12 stone and nearly 5ft2 and got told at my last Riding lesson that I was too heavy for the 15.1hh cob I normally ride, So I'm now only allowed on the horses, currently on a 16hh. Which is a bit mad considering I'm only short, but heyho. Being 12 stone is limiting me as I can no longer ride the ponies or the cobs at my RS :o

I have put nearly a stone on after starting the gym, apparently its muscle but I havent had any weight loss, I'm just heavier and look no different!
Click to expand...

Yes, can ride lots of horses, but can also not ride lots of horses- when I was at my heaviest of nearly 13 stone (a lot for me) I wouldn't ride as I knew the boy I rode wouldn't be up to is- 15.3hh stocky type (no idea on breed) and many other horses wouldn't be up to that weight either....But likewise, many would. Depends on breed and build:)
 
Gemsluvshorsesx said:
Just out of interest, but can 12 stone really ride lots of types of horses? As I'm 12 stone and nearly 5ft2 and got told at my last Riding lesson that I was too heavy for the 15.1hh cob I normally ride, So I'm now only allowed on the horses, currently on a 16hh. Which is a bit mad considering I'm only short, but heyho. Being 12 stone is limiting me as I can no longer ride the ponies or the cobs at my RS :o

I have put nearly a stone on after starting the gym, apparently its muscle but I havent had any weight loss, I'm just heavier and look no different!
Click to expand...

Never heard such rubbish!!:mad:
Honey, I'm the same weight as you 12 stone and 5' 4" but I've been on a cobby type that was 14h something - little sh!t wizzed me around the school like I wasn't even on him - loved him really:p
And I think that 15.1 hh cob should manage you easily - unless he is a lightweight but even so...........

As for the gym - yep - same as me I now do aerobics 3 times a week, swim once a week, ride 1 a week and started training for the 'Race fore Life' but have I lost any weight - have I heck:mad:. Still I feel pretty dam good:cool:
 
Gemsluvshorsesx said:
Just out of interest, but can 12 stone really ride lots of types of horses? As I'm 12 stone and nearly 5ft2 and got told at my last Riding lesson that I was too heavy for the 15.1hh cob I normally ride, So I'm now only allowed on the horses, currently on a 16hh. Which is a bit mad considering I'm only short, but heyho. Being 12 stone is limiting me as I can no longer ride the ponies or the cobs at my RS :o

I have put nearly a stone on after starting the gym, apparently its muscle but I havent had any weight loss, I'm just heavier and look no different!
Click to expand...

My statement was a bit finite - obviously there will still be horses that can't carry someone of 13 stone but my choice would be a heck of a lot wider than it is now :D

As for your RS saying you are too heavy for a 15.1hh cob, surely it must be the lightest weight cob ever! Perhaps a bit of ignorance on the RS part - a lot of people just assume the bigger the horse the more weight it can carry, but having done a lot of research into weight carriers (which is what brought me here to NR in the first place), I know it's just not so. There's so many factors to consider for a weight carrier - certain breeds, amount of bone, length of back etc, etc. Just don't take it too heart - 12 stone isn't really that heavy at all :)
 
Gemsluvshorsesx said:
Thats what I was thinking, I would have imagined a cob to carry me better than a big TB type for example... cobs have more bone etc... oh I don't know, its confusing :o. But its embarassing being told you're too big for a cob! i wouldnt say the horse was that LW. Pretty similar to this actually: http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/11_yrs_10_mths_15_1_hh_bay_welsh_sec_d_gwent/24890 As an example.
Click to expand...


Yep I'd ride him he looks more than capable carrying 12stone.
 
Gemsluvshorsesx said:
Just out of interest, but can 12 stone really ride lots of types of horses? As I'm 12 stone and nearly 5ft2 and got told at my last Riding lesson that I was too heavy for the 15.1hh cob I normally ride, So I'm now only allowed on the horses, currently on a 16hh. Which is a bit mad considering I'm only short, but heyho. Being 12 stone is limiting me as I can no longer ride the ponies or the cobs at my RS :o
Click to expand...

Another one here who thinks this is tut lol

I am not huge, but I am overweight (13 stone and 5ft 7). My lad is a 15.2hh welsh cob with about 8.5 inches of bone and carries me no problem.

018.jpg


031.jpg


021.jpg



There was actually a time when he prefer my mum riding him as she was about half a stone heavier and I think he liked to know he had a rider on his back lol. I'm not sure how much his loaner weighs, but it's much less than me, but I am happy for him to carry me at this weight, and he certainly shows no signs of feeling the weight lol.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom