Hi all!

I'm very interested in learning to ride, and have phoned around a few stables and visited some in my area, but am running up against a few brick walls. I'm a 30yr old man, and I weigh about 100kg (16stone). I work out a lot, so most people don't believe me and think I'm closer to 14stone.

Anyhow, my problem is that when stables ask how much I weigh I get an intake of breath and told that they don't train anyone that weight. Short of never working out again, I don't know what to do! I've ridden a horse once and took to it pretty well, so it'd be a shame if this stood in my way.

Is this normal practice?

Sorry but yes alot riding schools do have a weight limit but it's purely because the majority of horses are lightweight so kids can learn to ride, or the adult limit I think is 14 stone. Keep ringing round though because some schools do have heavy weight cobs or clydesdale or shires that are more than able to carry your weight. Where abouts are you?

I learnt to ride at a school where all they had were heavyweight horses if you keep ringing round you will find somewhere

I find that a bit strange!! At 16 stone a MW horse could carry you quite comfortably. Don't give up trying.

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my 14.1 haffy could carry you easily too!!! try some other places

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(formally clare7577)

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All, thanks for your kind words and encouragement. For those who asked, I am in Essex (so you'd think this would be easy, plenty of stables here).

I shall continue my search

Dont take it personally the riding school is just trying to look after their horses! These horses do lesson after lesson all week and carrying the maximum weight takes it out of them! As someone suggested you should probably look for a yard who has more heavy weight breeds that could carry that weight easily! Dont give up keep looking!

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Speaking as someone who is, um, well over the weight limit any riding school would take ...

I think, seriously, that if riding schools don't get their act together over this, eventually they will simply go out of business. Whether they like it or not, the population is getting heavier. Opinions do seem to vary enormously - some private individuals without any apparent axe to grind, and with great expertise in horses, claim that native ponies could carry the weight the OP is quoting and that a heavyweight ought to be able to carry a 25 stone man for a day's hunting. And then there are the riding schools who won't take anyone over 14 stone.

I'd say there is a niche out there for riding schools, trekking centres etc who work on the basis that riders can be heavy and simply buy or (for someone down the line eventually perhaps) breed horses that can carry such people. To say that heavy horses, or perhaps heavy horses crossed with cobs or cobs crossed with mediterranean donkeys, can't take that sort of weight, is surely plain silly. How much did an overfed medieval nobleman in full armour weigh? How much do two people weigh when filmed on a galloping horse in a historical blockbuster? How much weight do the poor donkeys around the mediterranean carry, and for how long, with far inferior food and care than your average riding school horse? Surely the issue is how much carrying of that sort of weight the horse has to do? So, buy the horses, rest them for longer and charge a higher rate for the lessons. There has to be a niche out there for someone, and sooner or later market forces always prevail.

Liz

Hi,

How is your search going? 16stone isnt massively overweight and there are a lot of horses that could carry that weight.

Where in Essex are you? there is a riding school in tilbury called southview, i rode there recently and there is a huge mare there who could carry you easily, in fact she is the horse that most of the blokes ride. Im not sure how good the lessons are though as I have only ever been out on hacks with them. the riding school i used to go to as a child (foxhounds in orsett) had a weight limit of about 18stone when i was there, although things may have changed since then.

I hope you find somewhere!