Hi am not sure if you have tried any of these, but if not give them a ring and see what they say...

Greentrees farm - Basildon - 01268 545 628
Longwood Equestrian Centre - Basildon - 01268 541 177
Park Lane - Basildon - 01268 710 145

Hope this helps

Hi , I got my partner into riding but he had the same problem.No one would take over 13 stones.They wouldnt even let him on the machanical horse.How ridicoulous!!!!Anyway we found a great BHS stables an he rode a couple of their large horses,a clydsdale x and an ex showjumper so keep trying.

[QUOTE=JSR;925627] Sorry but yes a lot riding schools do have a weight limit but it's purely because the majority of horses are lightweight

Weight limits. You will find that some riding centres do impose a limit of around 200lbs or say 90 kilos approx 14 stone. As has been said this is because the majority of riding centres look to children as being the customers.
As a novice rider, you will sit "heavy" on a horse. A riding centre's schoolmaster horses are the key business asset and the horse's back and mouth are the vulnerable part of a horse. There is a secondary issue too, - as a 30 year old adult you call for a slightly different approach by the instructor.

There is no reason why a heavy horse - say a Shire or a Clydesdale, or a
heavy cob with draught horse blood, cannot carry you but not every riding centre will have one as a schoolmaster.

My advice - look up all the addresses of reachable riding centres and go along and introduce yourself in person. Sell yourself as a keen learner. If you are slim and muscular but heavy - then someone should offer to take you on.

In the Brecon Beacons of South Wales there are several trekking centres who will take you out for a ride at the walk. But they don't teach novices they just cater for them.

Keep looking,

B G

at 16 stone i dont think you are too heavy to ride - its just a case of finding the right riding school with couple of weight carrying horses available - the riding school i worked at had a maximum weight limit of 16 stone (unfortunately for you it was in devon!). also the more experienced you get the better you learn to carry yourself and your weight and so you will find you can ride the lighterweight type horses without being detrimental to the horse. i would sooner have a 14 stone experienced rider on my 15hh middleweight horse than a 10stone novice!

riding schools shouldnt be condemmed for having weight restrictions though - of course one hour a day carrying 16 stone may not be tough on a horse - but many can work up to 4 hours a day and thats when it becomes more of an issue - and dont forget if you have your own horse and it works hard one day - if you are like me you give them a day off the next day or do something less tiring - a riding school horse doesnt have this option - its likely to be booked up for another 4 hours of work the next day - and the day after - hence the weight restrictions.

also im going to be controversial here - but someone mentioned that riding schools should cater for larger riders - while i agree they should have some chunkier horses available im afraid i do believe some people do just weigh too much to ride - im sorry if that sounds harsh but this is an animals welfare we are talking about and just because someone of 20 stone wants to ride - is it fair at the expense of the horse - imo - no! lose some weight and then get riding lessons - as i say controversial but thats how i feel!

__________________

@ cutekiaro1
Thank you for taking the time to list those schools and the numbers, I really appreciate it. I haven't had the time yet to give them a ring (too much going on), but I definitely will.

@ merlyn26
Thanks for your reply. However, maybe it's because I'm having a crappy day, but your post seemed, to me anyway, a teensy bit stroppy for no reason. Please don't start talking about animal welfare when I start a thread about horse riding - I'm not exactly talking about fox hunting here. Besides which, I've done plenty for animal welfare, I've no intention on riding a tiny horse to exhaustion then jumping off and laughing evilly.

Lastly, thanks for your opinions regarding people weighing too much. I believe I stated at the outset that I workout regularly, don't drink (no beer gut), don't smoke and am very fit. So why you decided to start on about heavy people I have no idea. 16 stone is nothing, and if the choice is having a 48" chest and 18" arms, or having skinny little Emo arms and a fat gut, I know which I'd prefer.

Like I said, I'm probably reading too much into your post, but your tone got up my nose.

woah! no offence intended! - as i started off my post i did say i didnt think 16 stone was too heavy!!!! i think its great you work out and keep yourself fit - i weigh 10 1/2 stone and people think i weigh only 8 1/2 but like you i am muscular rather than fat - all that mucking out i do i guess!!!!!!

my bit about animal welfare relates to someones earlier post about horses in the past carrying knights in armour and in films two people riding at at time etc (sorry should have specified that better) that got up my nose cos im sure back in the medieval times and when we are talking about blockbuster films looking good - i doubt horse welfare is at the top of the list - and just cos it has happened in the past and by filmmakers doesnt make it ok - ive just read similar threads before when people say everyone should ride no matter how heavy they are and that bugs me cos i dont think everyone should ride - some people are too heavy - you however are not!

__________________

Well, if filmmakers are commiting animal welfare offences, I would have thought someone would tell them wouldn't you? Ponies WERE bred to carry farmers (adult males!) to their animals and yet be kept at a very low cost. Animals in the mediterranean DO carry far heavier loads than we would ever consider appropriate in this country, and they do it day after day after day. And if a lightweight horse is well able to carry 14 stone, on what possible grounds can anyone say that a Clydesdale is not capable of carrying 20 stone? Are we to believe that in the days before anyone realised that being morbidly obese was a killer, noblemen were all below 14 stone? How much did Henry 8th weigh, do you suppose? Do you think most trekking centres abuse their ponies, because if you look at the size of these ponies, and the weights they are carrying, and compare the size of those ponies to the size of a heavyweight hunter, traditional cob, etc, I bet the ponies are carrying far more and over much more demanding terrain too!

Bottom line, when a horse is carrying too much weight it's obvious, isn't it - they sort of spread their legs out when you mount, they are slow when cantering, etc etc. And there is a difference between carrying weight for an hour and carrying weight all day hunting - and yes, the ability of the rider makes a difference too of course. And what about the rule of 30% of the horse's body weight for trail riders in competition?

Liz

I have created for myself some gentle flak on another thread about asking viewers to consider the impact of Newtons Laws on horse riding. Various natural forces ie force, mass, gravity, velocity, weight are at work when riding a horse. It is the horse which is taking much of the stress incurred in such activity. The critical areas for the horse are the spine, the knee joints and the ligaments in the lower legs. The critical areas for the human who falls are the spine, the knees, the shoulder, the hands and the head.
So it is important for the levels of stress to be known.

Coincidentally at the same time there are a couple of threads asking as to what is the maximum weight of human which a Welsh pony can carry - as though every pony had the same carrying capability and as though there was no difference in the stresses involved in walking on different terrains or at moving in different paces.

Perhaps as a horse loving nation we Brits should by now have devised, maybe with the help of our French & German neighbours, a formula or a set of tables which could give formal guidance on such matters.

It is important not to overload a horse with weight and equally it is important not to ask the animal to run too fast for too long nor to jump too high. Without a doubt greater effort should be put into teaching riders how to recognize signs of stress in our dumb equine companions.

Even a heavy man is not too heavy to learn to ride - so long as a suitable weight carrying horse is found to teach him. The question remains however , as to how do we determine what is a suitable horse?

B G

But there are guidelines aren't there - 20% of the horse's weight was quoted for US cavalry horses which obviously were doing hard and fast work, 30% has been quoted for fit horses doing sustained work like trail riding. So all you need to know is the horse's body weight - assuming of course that the body weight is not higher than it should be because of flab! Tables for approximate weights would be useful, but then you have breeds that are light but known for being able to carry a lot for their size - Icelandics and Arabs for example.

Liz

Does he look like it's a struggle to carry his blimp of a owner?





I'm 100% in tune with my boy, I've had him since he was a very scared and nervous baby who had been beaten because he was 'naughty' turns out he is blind in one eye so not at all 'naughty' just a very scared horse. My 'dumb' animal communicates much clearer to me than most humans do anyday.

Doesn't seem to worry him much that I'm not far off the weight of the OP.