From: Julie
Dear Jessica, I hope you answer this because I don't want to get on this horse until you say I can. First, I need you to tell me how much weight a horse can carry on its back. I have heard three different ways to figure this and they all get different results. I don't know what to believe, maybe they are all wrong. Second, I need to know whether I am being crazy or not for not getting on my horse that I have owned for almost three years. My husband and my best friend are telling me "Go ahead" but I just don't know.
My problem is that I have been on a diet my entire life and I walk a lot for exercise every day, and I don't eat too much but I am still very heavy. I don't want to say how much I weigh here even though I'm using another name, that's how bad I feel about my weight. I will say that I am not quite up to 300 pounds but I am a lot more than 250 pounds.
My horse is half Quarter Horse and half Morgan, and the man who sold him to me said that he would be a perfect horse to carry weight. I don't know how he could know that because Dandy was only two years old when I bought him, and I know from reading you and other horse authorities that two years old is much too young to be ridden by any rider least of all a very heavy one. Don't worry, I didn't ride him. I turned him over to my best friend so that he could live in her big field. She is a trainer who teaches lessons at her barn. Last year, she started Dandy under saddle (he was almost four then) and now he is five and he is just a big baby doll. He is so good with her that she has been using him for some lessons, and he just does everything she asks him to do and he just loves everybody. I want to ride my horse so bad!
Before I bought Dandy, I weighed a little bit more than I do now and my husband took me to a riding stable when we were on vacation, as a special surprise because he knew I loved horses and riding. The stable had a rule about limits on the weight of the rider, the riders could only be up to 185 pounds! Jessica if I weighed 185 pounds I would feel so thin, I would be dancing in the streets! Of course we couldn't go riding that day and I felt so humiliated. When I bought Dandy, I swore to my husband that this time I would lose weight, and I did more exercising, because I wanted to be ready to ride Dandy when he was ready to be my riding horse. Well now Dandy is ready and I'm just not. I am pretty fit and solid. I walk four miles every morning. I also do a Tai Chi tape like you recommend, and I enjoy it a lot and I feel very balanced now. But I have only lost about eleven pounds and I am still so heavy I just don't think I have the right to get on my horse or any horse.
My husband says "Honey he's a horse, just ride him" but I know a lot more than he does about horses and their backs and how they can get hurt. My trainer says that I won't hurt Dandy if I ride him for a little while every other day because he is older now and more mature and he is "built like a tank" (her actual words). He is 15 hands now and I don't think he will get any taller since he has been the same height for more than a year now. Jessica, that is all I want, even fifteen minutes on my horse would just mean the whole world to me, and riding him every other day would be a wonderful miracle that would give me such joy. It would be fine if all we ever did was walk. But I keep thinking about how horses suffer when they have to carry heavy riders, and I can't make myself get on Dandy.
It probably isn't even fair to ask you this question since you can't see me or Dandy and you just have to go by the numbers I guess, but what do you think I should do?
Your biggest (ha ha, joke) fan, Julie (not my real name)
First of all, there's no such thing as an average horse - there are 1200-pound horses that couldn't possibly carry 200 pounds, and there are 850-pound horses that routinely carry 250 pounds or more. Second, there's the rider's skill level to take into account - a horse can have a hard time coping with a light but unbalanced and/or inconsiderate rider, whereas a horse can comfortably carry much more weight if the weight comes in the form of a good, balanced rider. Third, there are all the usual issues of saddle fit and proper hoof care, fitness and conditioning, weather conditions, and terrain.
If you were going to design a horse to carry weight, you would want that horse to have a strong, sturdy body, good bone (in terms of both circumference and density), legs set on well to provide support, a short, strong back, a wide loin and a deep body. THIS is the type of horse that's usually described as "built like a tank" or "built like a truck". If that describes your Dandy, then I say you should listen to your husband and your trainer, and go out and ride your horse. The "fifteen minutes, every other day" isn't a bad idea at all. Limit yourself to short, slow rides on good footing until you and your trainer (and, of course, Dandy) are all sure that Dandy is comfortable carrying you. As long as he shows no signs of discomfort or fatigue, believe that he's fine. If he begins to hollow his back or take short steps or duck sideways when you lead him to the mounting block, believe that he's getting sore. He won't lie to you.
Oh, and here are three more things to think about.
First: Riding horses carry their own weight, the weight of the rider, and the weight of the tack. But there's more to this than simple addition. Two riders with different abilities and skill levels may weigh the same amount, but a horse might find it easy to carry one and very difficult to carry the other. Rider ability, fitness, balance, coordination, and attentiveness to the horse are all very important.
Second: Tack comes in all sorts of sizes, materials, and weights, but here again, there's more to the picture than simple addition. A horse carrying a 265-pound cowboy and a 35-pound saddle is carrying 300 pounds. A horse carrying that same cowboy with a 15-pound synthetic saddle would be carrying only 280 pounds... but this isn't a maths question, so what we want to know is HOW COMFORTABLE IS THE HORSE? The lightest saddle you can find may not be the best-fitting saddle you can find, so beware of thinking only in terms of numbers of pounds! If the heavier saddle distributes the rider's weight more effectively and doesn't interfere with the horse's spine or shoulders, the rider should go on using the heavier saddle.
Third: Riding horses carry their own weight... I know, this was part of my first point above, but it's important. I know that you're worried that your own weight is pushing the upper limit of the amount your horse can safely carry, even for short periods of time. But consider this: If a horse is carrying too much fat, it's carrying extra weight every single minute of the day, every day of the week. Be careful not to let Dandy become overweight. Old-style Quarter Horses and old-style Morgans both tend to gain weight easily, and since Dandy is a "tank", I'm guessing that he may have gotten the "easy keeper gene" from both sides of his family. When you ride him, he is carrying your weight and the weight of the tack during the ride, and then that weight is GONE. Carrying an additional 300 pounds at a walk for fifteen minutes out of forty-eight hours is not likely to damage a sturdy, well-built "tank" of a horse. But carrying an extra 200 or 300 pounds on his OWN body, day in and day out, WILL cause damage.
I think you should take the advice your trainer has given you. She's had the horse in her field and in her care - and in her training program - for almost three years. Dandy DOES sound like an ideal weight-carrying horse. You trusted your friend enough to have her keep and train Dandy for you - now trust her when she says that he's ready for you to ride for short periods. She KNOWS the horse. Begin by taking the precautions you've described - they're sensible and they'll make you feel better. Look after your horse, ride him sensibly, pay attention to his reactions, and I think he will remain sound and happy and look after YOU.
One more thing: If you're walking four miles every day AND doing Tai Chi, I can promise you that a lot of regular HORSE-SENSE readers are saying to themselves "Gosh, I wish I were that fit!" In fact, I'm saying it to myself, right now. ;-)
Jessica
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