Am i to heavy for my horse?

Question

i have a 15.2hh tb x arab i weigh just under 9 stone sometimes i feel i am to heavy for her with her being to fine and when my friends ask to ride her i get really worried ?

Answer 1

i think you shall be fine on your horse (i always feel the same on my horse - shes a 15.2 thoroughbred and i weigh around 8 1/2 stone and i always feel to heavy even though im not! lol)

good luck and have fun riding!

p.s not offence to sandra^^^^ but dont listen to what she has said- a horse 15.3 and under is not a pony- 14.2 and under is a pony and 14.3 and over is a horse!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

If your horse is 15.2 and in good shape she should not have a problem carrying you.

“how much weight can a horse carry?” you often hear a response similar to “it depends on the breed of the horse, its conditioning and conformation, how far and how long you will be traveling, the horse’s bone structure, the type of weight the horse will carry (for example live [rider] or dead weight [gear]), weight distribution” and so on. So with this sound advice from your fellow horsemen, surely you now have a much better idea of how much weight your horse can carry. No? Of course not. Though your colleagues are correct in stating all the above factors, you are still left in the dark without any guideline on how much weight a horse can carry. Can my horse only carry 80 pounds, or is he capable of carrying 300 pounds?

Fortunately some very smart horsemen over the years have come up with a few methods for us to calculate a starting point to help determine how much weight a horse can carry. One very simple guide is to take the horse’s weight and divide by six to give you the total weight, including rider and tack, the horse can carry. Given this, a 1200 pound horse could carry up to 200 pounds.

Another quick and popular method is to use the 20% rule. You take 20% of your horse’s body weight and the result is the amount of total weight your horse can carry. For example, a 1,000 pound horse should easily carry 200 pounds of rider and tack. The 20% rule typically applies to competitive or otherwise “hard” riding. For pleasure riding, many use a 30% rule, so this 1,000 pound horse could carry 300 pounds for shorter pleasure rides

Answer 3

Any Piccy !?

Answer 4

Horses can hold more than double your weight. Their legs and necks and whole bodies are very strong. You are just fine riding your horse and if your horse is in good shape then you will be just fine.

Answer 5

your horse is a pony. under 15.3 hands is a pony. haha. and no you should be fine

Answer 6

If I remember right a stone is 15 pounds?  That would put you at 135 lbs. if my figures are correct.  No you are not too large for a 15.2 hand horse.

Ha ha.  Found a conversion calculator that said 126 pounds so you are definitely not too heavy.

Answer 7

Your horse would be fine carring you. It all depends on the condition. If she is a little lean you should get some weight on her be4 you ride her agen. Otherwise, she and rider shall be fine.Just dont ride for hours and hours at a time

Answer 8

Whenever this question comes up, I always wonder how those knights in shining armour ever kept their horses sound long enough to do any jousting, much less go into battle and not just have their horses falling down all over the place.  Just a thought.  Maybe there were really just skinny little boys inside of those big metal suits????????????????????????

Answer 9

"A horse’s body isn’t really designed to carry extra weight, but it can by virtue of its suspension-bridge features.

How much weight can a horse carry? This will depend on several factors including the horse’s weight, bone, conformation, breed, condition, type of riding, rider’s skill, and type of saddle used.

An often quoted thumb rule is that a horse can carry 20% of his weight. This would mean a 1200 pound horse could carry 240 pounds which would include rider plus tack. Horses with denser, larger bone might be able to carry more than the 20%. Bone is determined by measuring the circumference of the foreleg just below the knee. Average is about 8 ½ inches for a 1200 pound riding horse. If a horse has lighter bone, he would likely be able to carry less than 20%. If he has heavier bone, he would likely be able to carry more than 20%. Horses with short strong backs, short strong loins and tight coupling tend to be able to carry more weight than average. That’s why Icelandic, Arabian and some Quarter Horses are suited to carry higher weights. A horse in peak condition will be able to support weight better than a thin, poorly conditioned horse. A horse used for walking and posting trot work might be able to carry more weight than a horse that is used for galloping or jumping. But even that depends on the skill of the rider. A skilled rider sits in balance and moves in harmony with the horse. A loose, crooked or imbalanced rider continually throws the horse off balance and thus makes his work more difficult. Therefore a skilled rider might be able to ride a smaller horse while a novice rider might require a larger, more solid horse to compensate for the erratic movements of the rider. Finally, the type of saddle can affect the weight carrying capacity of a horse’s back. A rider’s weight as well as the weight of the saddle itself, is distributed on the horse’s back by the bearing surface of an English saddle’s panels or the tree of a Western saddle. An average English saddle has a bearing surface of about 120 square inches and an average Western saddle has a bearing surface of about 180 inches. So when using a Western saddle, a rider’s weight will be borne by an area that is 1 ½ times the size of the bearing surface of an English saddle. When comparing, you will also need to take into consideration that a Western saddle might weigh 15-40 pounds while an English saddle would weigh between 10-20 pounds.

Because the back ligaments weaken with age and use, we need to fit saddles well and learn to ride effectively in order to preserve our horses’ comfort and usefulness."

"Cherry Hill"

Answer 10

At your weight, you would only be too heavy for tiny ponies.

It's your right to not let your friends ride her, if it worries you.

Answer 11

Not at all!!! Horses have carried men throughout all of history, and men typically weigh more than women. It makes me sad that so many women are so self-conscious about whether or not they are too heavy for an able-bodied horse. I understand that not every horse is suitable to every man or woman depending on the build of both the horse and the rider. All the information that's important to keep in mind has already been mentioned here and it's good to know. Now go out and ride your horse and have fun and don't think twice about it!!!