So I weigh about 17stone. I'm losing weight but a fair bit of it is muscle as I pole dance. Am I too heavy to ride? I'm feeling really worried that I'll be too heavy as one of the riding schools I looked at has a weight limit of 12 stone and if I'm that light I look very gaunt and ill.
Am I too heavy to ride?
- Thread starter Nica
- Start date
If I'm honest I think you're going to struggle to find a school that will take you at that weight. As long as you can handle being told no I would suggest ringing round all the schools in your area and talking to them, it may be that you'll find one that if you talk to them in person will allow you to do short lessons, or at least give you a reasonable target weight to aim for.
The reason you look gaunt when you start to diet is that the body sheds weight first from the parts which are not essential for survival. So one loses from ones face long before one gets slimmer in the legs and arms. But as you continue to lose weight that will sort itself out.
It has been a 12 stone limit at the UK BHS recognised RSs I used. But there is a reason for this. RSs keep horses that will work for the majority of their clients who are usually female and usually young.
But there are some riding centres with heavy horses. OH and I went to a heavy horse centre for driving lessons but I dont know what the weight limit would be for those horses when ridden.
You would need to look on the BHS website and ask. And google.
At the time I looked at this it was 2018 and the centenary of the end of the FWW so there was quite a bit of re-enactment going on and heavy horses were needed to pull museum army vehicles while carrying a male rider on their backs. But if you look at the pics of the first world war, you will see that the horses used were not what we think of as heavy horses at all. Heavy horses were used mostly for delivering heavy goods like coal and beer and for agricultural work.
Riding schools wont care what is muscle or what is fat. Most people (my GP said) should try to hold their weight somewhere near the midpoint of their BMI weight band. Not that I have succeeded. But you wont know that you will look gaunt and ill unless you try? If you get help from your GP or pay Slimming world it might be good and riding a horse can be your great reward.
Being over weight is the big risk factor in Covid so I would aim for 12 stone as a start. You will benefit in the end.
It has been a 12 stone limit at the UK BHS recognised RSs I used. But there is a reason for this. RSs keep horses that will work for the majority of their clients who are usually female and usually young.
But there are some riding centres with heavy horses. OH and I went to a heavy horse centre for driving lessons but I dont know what the weight limit would be for those horses when ridden.
You would need to look on the BHS website and ask. And google.
At the time I looked at this it was 2018 and the centenary of the end of the FWW so there was quite a bit of re-enactment going on and heavy horses were needed to pull museum army vehicles while carrying a male rider on their backs. But if you look at the pics of the first world war, you will see that the horses used were not what we think of as heavy horses at all. Heavy horses were used mostly for delivering heavy goods like coal and beer and for agricultural work.
Riding schools wont care what is muscle or what is fat. Most people (my GP said) should try to hold their weight somewhere near the midpoint of their BMI weight band. Not that I have succeeded. But you wont know that you will look gaunt and ill unless you try? If you get help from your GP or pay Slimming world it might be good and riding a horse can be your great reward.
Being over weight is the big risk factor in Covid so I would aim for 12 stone as a start. You will benefit in the end.
To add. I have lost a considerable amount of weight. I mainly did it for my horse. Him being really ill was the catalyst for me as I realised that even if I still had him and if I was bow to ride again he wasn’t physically up to a heavy weight when he wa first allowed to be ridden again. But I very VERY much needed to do it for myself too. I can’t believe how much different I feel in the saddle. Everything from getting on (it is now easy to stretch to get on if he is not standing 100% perfect) to being more secure when he spins. It has taken a year but when I look at a photos of myself on my horse I don’t shudder so much and try not to look. My horse also, although he could happily carry my weight, is so much happier, straighter and stronger. It has been hard as I also have an eating disorder which is making its feelings known very loudly but by doing it for my horse it has made it easier. So do it with the aim of getting to ride when you get to a suitable weight.
So what I mean is, it can be done!
So what I mean is, it can be done!
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I can't get down to 12 stone as my bone mass is too high. Advised by a medical professional not just me wanting to be fat. I'm already actively losing weight as mentioned. I can probably get down to 13/14. I'm just wanting to start learning but if 12 is the max everywhere I'll never get there.
I could probably get down to 13/14 part of my issue is I'm 5'10 with big breasts and very wide hips.
I've contacted all the schools asking for a maximum weight. I know of one school that has a 19hh Percheron. So I was hoping they might accept me. I'm open to buying my own heavy set horse but I need to know if I actually enjoy riding or not before making a large investment.
Ironically a 19hhPercheron may well have a lower weight limit than a good 15.2 cob, many heavy horses don't actually have the conformation to be good weight carriers plus their feet and joints are already carrying so much of their own weight that there's no excess capacity.
There's a catch 22 where a balanced sensitive rider can make it easier for a horse to carry them, particularly if it's their own horse that is doing far fewer hours than a school horse BUT you don't get to be that sort of rider without lessons. Also riding schools have to protect their horses since they usually have a significant workload and often at least some unskilled riders, hence the lower weight limit. And they're businesses, it makes no sense to keep a horse that isn't suitable for a wide range of riders.
There's a catch 22 where a balanced sensitive rider can make it easier for a horse to carry them, particularly if it's their own horse that is doing far fewer hours than a school horse BUT you don't get to be that sort of rider without lessons. Also riding schools have to protect their horses since they usually have a significant workload and often at least some unskilled riders, hence the lower weight limit. And they're businesses, it makes no sense to keep a horse that isn't suitable for a wide range of riders.
It would be doable if I hadn't been told by a medical professional it wasn't. I'm happy to lose weight but will not put my health on the line to learn to ride. I don't need snide comments regarding my weight when most of my mass is muscle anyway.
BMIs can be horribly misleading though, for example many professional sportsmen are considerably over their BMI range and yet no-one would say they were unhealthy. That said I can't see pole dancing building up so much bulk muscle that it should be a problem. many people who do it are very slim and wiry just like dancers from other disciplines.
I understand that which is why I want to take lessons. I'll lose more weight before I start if need be. I'm trying to be responsible as I wouldn't want to hurt a horse but I've seen many people much larger than myself riding.
I have very heavy legs as that's the bulk of my muscle. I'm built a little like a rugby player in the legs.
But probably not in riding schools. And to be brutally honest I can't say, in all my years of riding, that I've seen many people that are much heavier than 17stone riding. Apart from anything else at that point it starts becoming very difficult to fit a saddle to horse and rider even if on paper the horse can carry the weight, and many true weight carries are relatively short through the back which reduces the length of saddle they can carry. Out of interest are you in the UK?
Yes I live in the UK I know the weight limits are less than the USA. I'll speak to the local schools and find out what weight they will need me down to in order to ride. Thanks for your help.
Obviously I've no clue where you are but these are just some round me as an example, I think there may be options depending on where you are and how many riding schools there are. Especially as you sound like a fit individual, rather than overweight. 
I’m not sure what snide comments. I certainly didn’t mean that. I was trying to say it in an supportive, you can do this way.
So ok, the answer to your question. Yes you are too heavy to ride at a riding school. If you are happy with where you are, which is fine, then I think you need to rule out riding. If you are muscle or fat then your weight is the weight the horse carries regardless. Equally it dosnt matter if it is your legs that carry the weight or where you carry your weight.
So ok, the answer to your question. Yes you are too heavy to ride at a riding school. If you are happy with where you are, which is fine, then I think you need to rule out riding. If you are muscle or fat then your weight is the weight the horse carries regardless. Equally it dosnt matter if it is your legs that carry the weight or where you carry your weight.
Yes they really can, even for just tall individuals, like the op. At 5ft 6 I can be up to 12 stone something and still be a healthy BMI, my boyfriend who is 6ft 8 can only be up to 16, doesn't quite seem right to me!! He got to 15stone once and certainly did look gaunt, as low as 12stone is recommended healthy at that height. Which I must add is also fine for some tall people, just not all!
You get dancers of all shapes and with varying amounts of muscle.
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