This last year, my horse has been my only source of activity. I truely believe that she has kept me alive. Just like a previous poster was saying, the going out into the pasture, grooming, tacking and then riding is a lot of work for me at 300lbs! But well worth it. I hate to think of where I would be were it not for riding. I am sure I am not the easiest to tote around, but my horse has never shown any behavior to indicate that it is a problem. She is 16.1h and probably about 1400-1500 lbs and very drafty. THICK bones. I am confident that she is OK. We have a very loving relationship and I would never do anything that I thought was harming her or making her seriously uncomfortable. By the way, I ride huntseat and use a four step stepladder to mount! (Or the tailgate of a truck, or a picnic table...etc... Lizzie

By the way, Lisa, I bought my mare from a Friesian farm in Texas and they have always said that if I ever want to breed her, I can have a good deal on their Friesian stud! Tempting...... Lizzie

Hi Everyone, I am new to the site but I fully agree with previous people. Lets find out who all is watching this board. Lets set up a chat time or something just so we can get an idea of who is out here. So leave a short post and a time that works for you......yes of course as horse owners scheduals dont always work but its worth a try....lol. Many Happy Whinneys, Nicole *~*Whoever said money doesn't buy happiness, NEVER knew where to buy the right horse*~*

First off Hi. Im new to the site and I just had my surgery on Aug 15th. But as to weight and riding I am only 22 but I have been horse crazy my whole life. I rode from the age of 3 till 15. When I got into High School and Track & Field ended up taking my free time. But I know part of it was I knew my weight was getting to be much. I was roughly 270-290 throughout HS. And most stables around here were all Arabian. Pretty as can be but far to short for my height and weight. So I havent really been on a horse since maybe my senior year, friend was having training issues that she knew I could correct. But anyways I bought my first horse in January 2004. A 16.1HH 1200lb Red Bay Thoroughbred Mare off the track but the catch with her is she is a rescue. When I got her she had severly pidgeon toed front feet (they still are just not as bad cause of a awsome farrier). Well when I bought her I weighed probably 350 but gained more. I always told myself I will not get on her till I loose the weight. Im not gonna make her go through discomfort because I want to ride. Plus she isnt lame now and I dont want her to become lame. Well when it comes to weight carriage I go by the 20-30% rule. Depending on breed, bone and weight of horse. In the case of my mare I give her a 15 percent rule. Normally I would base her on the 25% because of her big bone structure and very hardy nature but its thoes legs. 5 years on the track can cause serious wear on the legs especially ones that were never corrected. And thus I really never will ride her. I carry a very large bone structure and muscle mass on top of being obese. And I should always fall in the relm of weighing 210-230....less than that I would look very sickly. And I dont want my mare carring over 160 tops. I love her to pieces and want her around as long as possible. Luckily I got my eyes on a Percheron/TB cross I could get for free. And by the time I would be ready to ride it would be old enough to being training. But have to see how the chips fall. Sorry this was so long. Nicole

My last ride wasn't much to talk about, just me and Teddy trotting around the ring trying to figure out the most recent odd thing that I'm doing. For some reason I keep dropping my chin, then the rest of my upper body follows and I end up putting all my weight on his forehand, which Teddy hates. Once I realized it was my chin and not my shoulders, we corrected it and everyone was happy. My last fun ride was Saturday, when we went out trail riding with an old friend. We took our favorite trail through the woods which has about 10 nice little logs to jump over. Both of our horses love to jump, and they really come to life when we get back into that area. (I just wish I had the courage to take him over some of the larger coops. He does them very well, but I'm just a great big chicken!) We came rode along a cornfield, where T tried to eat all the leaves, and then along the creek back to the barn. There was a lamb laying in the trees along the creek, which was odd since we don't know of anyone in the immediate area who has sheep. A great time was had by all. Thanks for asking, Lisa! Deb