# was told i was to heavy to ride



## EnglishGirl144

so i posted in horse talk about how i was going to go see this barn, well nobody over 150 lbs can ride at their barn. I was SHOCKED!! I'm 175 lbs. has anybody else been denied?
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## Jewelsb

Wow maybe they have very small horses?
I've never heard of that. 175 is not even heavy.
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## Iseul

I'm almost 220lbs and I've never been denied anywhere..I tried getting my dad to ride at one of the dude ranches and he was 300+ and they said they could get him on a few of their horses..so I'd be kind of upset.

175 is NOT heavy. My friend's QH/halfie pony hauled our asses around hell and back and he was only 750lbs and 14.2hh. He moved better with us riding him than the 85lb lease he had riding his pony.


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## Silent one

That seems kind of unusual. But let me ask, what kind of barn and riding was going on? Were these lesson or rental horses that are used all day long? If so, then placing a weight limit seems reasonable to me, if the horses are putting in some long hours.


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## EvilHorseOfDoom

The place where I went endurance riding, they did have a weight limit for the little Arabs (I think 80kg so about your weight) but they also had a stocky old QH and were training up a big AndyxTB and used those for bigger riders.


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## EnglishGirl144

it was a hunter jumper barn. I asked about my weight and he said she doesnt want anybody over 150 lbs because of balance
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## farmpony84

That's just crazy talk. I know that it is very common for a dude ranch to have a maximum weight requirement but that is becuase their horses carry riders for several hours a day and they want to save their backs. I rode at a dude ranch a while ago and my neice went with us, she's a pretty heft girl and this ranch actually had a few horses that they reserved for heavier folks, they were big stout animals with thick legs and pan sized feet.

But for a regular hunt barn to have a weight limit of 150 seems pretty steep. 150 knocks a lot of taller THIN folks out of the running at that place!


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## tinyliny

So, I guess virtually NO males can ride there, less they are tweens.

I have heard that in the UK they have such limits, which in the US would be seen as too strict. Party becuase practically everyone in the US is fat . I know , not EVERYONE, but a lot of us are, and certainly by world standards.

but, 150, for thoroughbreds? that does seem a bit restrictive. Come on over here. We have big horses for big people! And, I' would be thrilled to weigh 175!


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## Sharpie

150?? Wow. That's a bit low for... well... a lot of people to be allowed to ride. Certainly none of the roper, rodeo or cowboy types I know. Guess I'd better go tell them to get off their horses.


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## flytobecat

Like Tiny said that eliminates the boys. Are their horses smallish and fine boned? That might account for the weight limit. I always think of large TBs and warm bloods being jumpers, I'm sure they can carry more than 150 lbs.


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## Silent one

In their defense, to a point I can understand their concern. Not necessarily at 175 pounds though. But many overweight people do have some issues with balance on horseback. Now before ya'll jump me I know there are overweight riders who ride well, and many who can probably outride me. However, we give a lot of "rides" at our church where we walk the horses and let people who have never rode before ride the horses. I have noticed that the heavier people who are not experienced riders do have more trouble with balance than the more slender folks.

And just for the record, I have lost a lot of weight but used to be extremely overweight. And it did affect my balance. I kept riding, and I never really noticed until I lost some weight, and then it was obvious to me that my overall balance was much better. So I'm not knocking anyone or anything!


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## Saddlebag

One of my boarders was round as a barrel and watching her ride was scary. Large fat deposits on the inside of her knees pushed her lower legs out. She looked like the letter A when she rode. Her balance was poor which destroyed her confidence.


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## flytobecat

Silent one said:


> In their defense, to a point I can understand their concern. Not necessarily at 175 pounds though. But many overweight people do have some issues with balance on horseback. Now before ya'll jump me I know there are overweight riders who ride well, and many who can probably outride me. However, we give a lot of "rides" at our church where we walk the horses and let people who have never rode before ride the horses. I have noticed that the heavier people who are not experienced riders do have more trouble with balance than the more slender folks.


I would assume that anyone trying to ride hunter jumper would already have a really good seat, but I guess you never know.


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## Silent one

flytobecat said:


> I would assume that anyone trying to ride hunter jumper would already have a really good seat, but I guess you never know.


I don't know. I would think so too, but maybe they give lessons to people who aren't ready to jump yet too? Maybe all levels? Just trying to figure out what their reasoning might be.


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## tinyliny

Silent one said:


> In their defense, to a point I can understand their concern. Not necessarily at 175 pounds though. But many overweight people do have some issues with balance on horseback. Now before ya'll jump me I know there are overweight riders who ride well, and many who can probably outride me. However, we give a lot of "rides" at our church where we walk the horses and let people who have never rode before ride the horses. I have noticed that the heavier people who are not experienced riders do have more trouble with balance than the more slender folks.
> 
> And just for the record, I have lost a lot of weight but used to be extremely overweight. And it did affect my balance. I kept riding, and I never really noticed until I lost some weight, and then it was obvious to me that my overall balance was much better. So I'm not knocking anyone or anything!


 
there is no denying the truth of this. I agree completely.


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## Oldhorselady

I guess a lot of men won't be riding there. A man can ride weighing near 200 lbs and it be normal....but a woman, who is curvy because of weight gain over 150 lbs can't.:?


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## paintedpastures

I can understand a weight restriction to a point for some of the reasons already posted but WOW,I think the restriction of 150lb pretty strict though:shock:As other posters have said that restricting alot of men or taller riders who actually may be ideal weight! I maybe could under stand them wanting say less than 200lbs. It is a hunter /jumper barn & probably don't think those horses should be jumping with excess weight strain:-(. Personally I haven't seen alot of heavier riders doing jumping as you may see in other disciplines:-|


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## EnglishGirl144

i was asking for directions and told him I'm 175 lbs and he was like well my wife doesnt like anybody over 150 for balance reasons and he told me hed give me a call back and he never did. I was astounded!
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## Palomine

It could also be that they have had to pay the vet bills/chiro and massage costs from having overweight riders, and have decided to save money by limiting the weights.

Could also have been sued by overweight rider that got hurt, and during trial it was brought out how the person was overweight, the owners knew it and still got them on horse, so it was their fault got hurt.

I too see people that are grossly overweight on horses, but they get mad as heck if you point out that due to their belly apron, you can't see the pommel of the saddle, and the cantle looks as if they are having a wedgie.

Being overweight does not erase the principles of saddle fitting.

The decision is theirs to make. I'm sure they came to it by some hard lessons learned.


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## Oldhorselady

Also, is ANY horse really MADE to be ridden?

I understand that maybe the person didn't have appropriate saddle sizes to accomodate bigger riders maybe? But a bigger saddle would not only be used for just a 'fat' person, but just a larger built person that is normal.


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## afatgirlafathorse

Oldhorselady said:


> Also, is ANY horse really MADE to be ridden?
> 
> I understand that maybe the person didn't have appropriate saddle sizes to accomodate bigger riders maybe? But a bigger saddle would not only be used for just a 'fat' person, but just a larger built person that is normal.


Heck, a taller person, even. I am almost 6' tall and have a very long point of hip to point of knee. I currently ride in a 19" Duett which is a wee smidgeon small on me and have about 75lbs left to lose before I am at my ideal weight (which, btw, would still be too fat for this barn! LOL) and I don't anticipate shrinking out of it simply due to the length of my legs.


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## mishap

I am 6'1" and 150 lbs and I would be very dumbfounded if anyone said not to ride. My mare is 15 hands on a tall day and she is fine. We kind of look like the mutt and jeff team but I'm ok with that.
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## Golden Horse

Palomine said:


> I too see people that are grossly overweight on horses, but they get mad as heck if you point out that due to their belly apron, you can't see the pommel of the saddle, and the cantle looks as if they are having a wedgie.
> 
> .


Well of course they would get 'mad as heck' if you pointed that out, like they probably didn't know.:twisted:

The topic of this discussion was a weight limit of 150 pounds, and I have no idea how short you would have to be to have a belly apron and a lard **** at 150 pounds.

It is a scarily low number, and it would knock out so many riders.


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## kitten_Val

Silent one said:


> In their defense, to a point I can understand their concern. Not necessarily at 175 pounds though. But many overweight people do have some issues with balance on horseback.


Silent, but for those who are tall 150 can be even under-weight, or at least definitely a norm. How come balance even come in place then? :? I'm not arguing with you BTW, just appalled by what the trainer said. The "overweight" comes NOT just from weight, but from weight + height + bone structure combination to be judged.


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## skittlesfirehawk

I've seen before a barn around here the limit is 160


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## Silent one

kitten_Val said:


> Silent, but for those who are tall 150 can be even under-weight, or at least definitely a norm. How come balance even come in place then? :? I'm not arguing with you BTW, just appalled by what the trainer said. The "overweight" comes NOT just from weight, but from weight + height + bone structure combination to be judged.


Oh I agree with you totally. I am tall myself and weigh 146 pounds, so I'm not that far from "over the limit" myself. I'm just trying to reason out what their thoughts might be or why they have set a limit, trying to "see" from someone else's perspective.


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## srh1

I understand weight limits. I've tried to evade the subject when an overweight friend of mine asked about riding my horses. She knew I had friends ride with me sometimes so it was hard to avoid the subject. 

But she had no experience and I only have 2 horses I sometimes let beginner friends ride. A 13hh pony and a 28yro TB mare with a sway back... Even if she was younger I wouldn't have let my friend ride her because I knew there'd be a personality clash there and it wouldn't have ended well. The TB is reasonably calm, but sensitive so I'm choosy in a couple ways who I let ride her.

It was awkward though! Trying to evade the question because it's not that I think she was too heavy to ride, I just didn't have a suitable horse. 

150 though? The 13hh pony can carry 150 without an issue, though she's never done it for too long. And my 28yro TB carries more than that on trails on a regular basis with no trouble.

The more advanced students shouldn't be having issues that severe with balance, and the beginner students that do shouldn't be doing anything where the balance is going to affect the horse that much!

That just cuts out so many healthy, fit people... 

Weight limits are tricky though because so much does depend on the riders balance and skill, as well as how fit they are.


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## Susan Crumrine

I weigh too much to ride there. I weigh 160....
I guess I better sell my horses because I cannot balance properly.

Gosh, the right horse, tack and thoughtful, shorter riding sessions and anyone should be able to ride.


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## JoesMom

I took dressage lessons from a woman who didn't like anyone over 140 riding her horses. She did take into account riding experience as part of the equation though. I do know she had a couple horses that were an absolute no unless you made the weight limit. No, there were not many men who rode there and those that did were small in stature.


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## afatgirlafathorse

Susan Crumrine said:


> I weigh too much to ride there. I weigh 160....
> I guess I better sell my horses because I cannot balance properly.
> 
> *Gosh, the right horse, tack and thoughtful, shorter riding sessions and anyone should be able to ride.*


 
This is the whole basis behind my blog. Then again, I was told on the FB Fanpage that my "whole story smacks of self-indulgence" this week. LOL Oh well, my mare joyfully shoves her head into the bridle when we are gearing up to go for a ride and I have ridden her at varying weights decreasing from 325 (now to 250).


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## Iseul

Just another point on my part..I'd never be able to ride there unless I was well under-weight. While I weigh 215lbs right now and am a little overweight, I will never be under 175 (probably 185) without looking sickly, just because of my bone structure and muscle mass. If I weighed 150, I would have barely any muscle and wouldn't be comfortable handling a horse that didn't listen because I'd probably be dragged around and not get anything done.
I'm 5'7", yet I'm at least 80% muscle, if not more. While I was exercising and trying to lose weight with horses at 180lbs and 5'3", I lost fat and gained muscle, upping my weight to 220, and I've been sticking at 215 for over a year now.
Weight has nothing to do with balance, fat, etc. It's all about the total body, not the weight that the body's at. While I weigh 215, I have a friend that weighs 125 or so and she has much less balance, next to no muscle (compared to me), etc. I'm more fit than she is, yet I weigh how much more than her?
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## graceunderpressure

WOW! It's interesting the assumptions that are made. I can understand if they are all fine boned little horses, but it does almost start to feel like an elitism thing. But I'm taking it too personally, I admit. 

I've honestly never had a balance issue. My horse is stocky, and we're a good fit, but I always feel a little self conscious what people might think of me. That said, once I started riding her, everyone told me they'd never seen her look so good and so fit! If it IS an elitism thing, that's a real shame. Like several others have said, if a balance issue exists then that is something easily taught.


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## ohmyitschelle

EnglishGirl144 said:


> it was a hunter jumper barn. I asked about my weight and he said she doesnt want anybody over 150 lbs because of balance
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Balance? 

I know of some people who are tiny and have worse balance than myself. Not all plus size riders have poor balance - if anything, we're so darn persistent on improving ourselves and working our butts off to battle the bulge that I've met many well balanced riders who weigh considerably more than other riders! 

With beginners, they do tend to grip and lean forward so I can understand some weight limitations, but not 150lbs! And again, with correct guidance, weight, height, size etc can be easily worked with using a correctly matching horse. However since this is a hunter jumper barn, I'd be assuming the rider already is well established in the basics and looking to specialise and not for learning basics so this weight limit doesn't sit right with me personally. 

Not only is this limiting size - it's also as some have mention ruling out taller people who are heavier due to height, not "extra weight". And this rule not taking into account riding experience in the slightest. Personally, I'd be glad to avoid this barn and find a more suitable place that doesn't have judgemental stipulations that single out one rider from the next.


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## EnglishGirl144

I have found a new barn! she is excited to work with me and the horse im riding is a qh mare thats 15.3 hh. its a dressage barn and most of the horses are over 15.2 hh that she uses for adults 
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## afatgirlafathorse

That's awesome!


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## ohmyitschelle

That's great news congrats!!


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## mnl764

Dont drink the kool-aid. 150 is a limit that is way to low.....200-250 is average. 

Unless they have old dilapidated horses there really isn't a valid reason at all. Balance...blah blah blah...if the rider is unbalanced it probably means its a new rider and wont be doing much more than a brisk walk.

Horses are perfectly capable of packing around a good sized person without issue...even if they had ponies I would still say 175 would be reasonable. Ponies are stout and can handle the extra weight.


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## afatgirlafathorse

Awesome!


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## eclipseranch

EnglishGirl144 said:


> it was a hunter jumper barn. I asked about my weight and he said she doesnt want anybody over 150 lbs because of balance
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


quite honestly, i don't think I would want to ride there anyway because it sounds like they are a bit clueless...the weight of the rider=balance 
dang I could have saved all those dollars on my professional training bills since I'm 115 lbs.


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## PhelanVelvel

Yeahhh...this thread is relevant to me... This new barn I'm at...I didn't notice until afterward that in the riding contract it saying you can't be over 200 pounds. That's all well and good for me, but my boyfriend...no way. >_< We both filled out the contracts and handed them in and the owner didn't say anything about it...is it just some formality to keep people who are EXTREMELY heavy from trying to get by? Or does my boyfriend just not look like he's 240 because he's tall? Either way, I think it's a bit silly. Aren't a lot of guys over 200? There are a few horses there over 15 hands, one 17 hands. I feel kind of discouraged because everyone is nice there, and I've been putting in volunteer work, but I have a feeling my friend might not be able to ride there because, while she isn't heavier than my boyfriend, she looks it because of her body shape. Ergh. >_< Would hate to ride there for a while, have my friend decide she wants to take lessons, then have her turned down based on her weight.


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