On 6/3/07, Karen Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > There are a lot of factors to consider. How big is your husband? How long > does he ride? Is he a good rider? Will you be able to easily find a > suitable saddle for him that will work on an Icelandic? What kind of > footing will you ride on, and at what gaits?
Listen to Karen on this! What she is saying is so true! I am no lightweight but my husband is very heavy, at least 250. He has a stocky short horse with a short back that he had no problem with til he got as heavy as he is now, and his horse doesnt seem to mind really, he just gets worn out way way earlier than other horses on the ride and when my husband would mount him he would HAVE to take steps to balance and you would see him stagger. So my husband isn't riding him til he loses weight, which is sad, he loves his horse! But if you were going to have any silly rule like that, I think if I went by my Fox and my husband riding him, you could say a horse can carry 1/5 its weight. Because Fox weighs about 1300 and is 17.hh or maybe a little less and he seems to not notice there is a big man on him in any way. Also his back is long enough to hold the 18.5 inch heavy 30 pound saddle my husband rides in. But the 1/3 rule is bull. Have someone video when the person gets on the horse, if the back dips, the rear end sways and goes down a little, the horse HAS to take steps to get balance, then the rider is too heavy for that horse! period! and even if he CAN carry the rider a couple of hours, it is probably doing harm to him structurally... I remember one time someone on a ride made a comment about my husbands horse stepping while he mounted and my husband said "I know I need to work on that," thats when I couldnt bite my tongue anymore and on the way home I told my husband I could see signs he was too heavy for Traveller now! And he said he knew, he had been suspecting it. It was a sad day but I was proud of him for doing the right thing! but now he loves Fox and has two horses instead of one :) Janice -- yipie tie yie yo
