How Big is Too Big to Ride?

That, my friends, is a delicate question about a not so delicate issue (or at least not so delicate riders). I can tell you from experience that it's about a zillion times easier to ride a horse when you are slim and fit than it is to ride when you are overweight and fit--or, even worse, overweight and unfit. We can all defend it all we want, but truth is--our size and fitness contributes to how we ride and certainly how we balance ourselves on a horse. I DO think there's a difference between a 5'5" 200 pound rider and a 6' 200 pound rider--the six foot rider is probably more fit. Granted, the other rider just might be a better rider, but if they both have the same level of riding skills, the fitter rider is going to have an easier time of balancing and making the necessary adjustments while riding. You can see from my pics that I am not a delicate rider. Knowing this, I bought a giant, very strong horse with a huge barrel, broad back, big butt, and legs like tree trunks. I bought him off a picture and a video, and he had exactly three things to recommend him: 1) he was purty, 2) even as a 3-year-old, his legs were huge showing very "good bone," and 3) he had a decent flatwalk.

But I used to weigh even MORE than it shows in the picture (although I am currently LESS, which is nice). I worried about it every single time I rode. Satin is only 15 hands and is strong as an ox (I know this for a fact, because she hauled my lard-butt around a lot of mountains), but I worried about her all the time, because I know I exceeded the 20% rule with her. That's why I've been a fanatic about proper saddle fitting, getting the saddle fitter to reflock the saddles, having chiropractic care and massage. I have noticed that as the weight is coming off, I worry less about these issues--probably for good reason. I have also noticed my riding getting better, but I ain't there yet. What is there? Well, I don't think I'll ever had the raw courage and even the skill and reflexes that I did at 20, but I believe if I could weigh just about what I did at 20, I'd be a pretty strong rider. I'm working on it. I've lost 50 pounds in the past year and need to lose 50 more.

No matter what, I think you have to consider the health and well-being of the horse. I used to own one that I really was too big for, even though he was 16.2. But he was narrow-chested, small-barrelled--even slab-sided, with very long legs and a long back and neck. I should NOT have been riding that horse at the weight I was. I look back at pictures and I can't stand what I see. I won't put myself or another horse in that situation again--if I re-gain the weight (oh, please, no!) I will have to assess the situation and either buy a horse that I can ride or stop riding altogether. Perhaps take up driving? I don't know.