Really irritated with this girls mother.

[Balloonhearts]

More of a vent than anything.

I work at a riding school who do weekend pony clubs in the summer, and a longer one over the holidays.

We match the riders to their ponies based on height, weight and experience/temperament.

One of my group is very overweight. Three stone heavier than her mother said she is on her form. She cannot ride the pony assigned to her or any of the ponies. She needs a horse. Which would have been fine if we knew when she booked.

Now I'm desperately trying to find a suitable mount before the 3 o clock hack so I don't have to tell this sweet girl that she is unable to go on the hack due to her weight.

WHY do people do this? Just be honest ffs! If we had the right numbers, she would have been given one of the horses but now there is no one suitable left.

you sound lovely OP.

I recall taking my then six year old daughter to her first riding lesson at a local stables. They only asked the age and experience of the child, nothing about weight or height. The pony they assigned to her was a Shetland called peanuts, my daughter was exceptionally tall for her age. The instructor was looking around for this six year old to ride peanuts, they ended up finding her another pony, if we’d put her on peanuts her feet would have been six inches off the ground.

I guess I’m reading the OP without a side eyed slant. Actions speak louder than words to me and the OP went out of her way to make the lovely girl happy.

Hear hear. Me too.

It’s the subject of the thread because it’s the mother’s fault that they didn’t know her weight in advance. If they had known that they had a short, heavy person coming they would have allocated the horses differently.

The mother knows that she was asked to provide her daughter's weight.

No, you misunderstand.

The subject of the thread was the mother filled the form in wrong but has become the daughter is too fat.

I honestly think that poster is ... Well, I don't know, reading a different thread?!
And if they think this is a 'pile-on'... Well, I wouldn't recommend X :-D

13 STONE IS TOO FAT TO RIDE MOST OF THE HORSES AT THE PLACE.

Yes, but none of us know why she gave the wrong weight, or how important she understood it to be that she gave the correct weight. However, plenty of people have happily assumed it's because of her shame of her overweight daughter. No-one knows that.

Go for it @YorkshireWelsh! 😃 lovely time of year too, to re discover the joys of riding 🥰🐎 This thread has inspired me to start a little savings pot for lessons!

I think OP’s post about what to look for in a place, ie watching the ponies/ horses and seeing how they are and how they react to people is really helpful. Thanks OP!

Any other tips for adult learners who adore these gorgeous beasts but are v rusty in the saddle? x

But the OP, in her very first post, says it would not have been a problem at all if she knew the girl's weight from the outset. The weight is not the problem.

Mother was lucky - I know riding schools where the limit is 13 st - regardless of the rider's experience. I don't think I know any that go up as far as you do (17st).
13,14, 17 stone - experienced or not - Inexperience will make the horse less comfortable and less able to balance themselves well. Experienced riders - there's no magic wand that makes an experienced rider weigh less in the saddle than they do on the scales and 17st is pushing it for a large percentage of horses.

Which is why parents are asked to fill in the forms prior to the lessons. And one would assume the forms would be filled in correctly.

yes, it was not knowing the girls weight. Everyone knows that. The problem would have been pretty much the same if the child had been a big muscular boy who was much heavier than his parent had said. It would still have been a headache for the OP and would still have required her to yomp in the heat to pull an old horse out of retirement and ride him bareback.

I thought this poster was just doing a copy and paste of all the awful comments to highlight what an unkind thread they feel it is?

Is it weird do you think, to contact a local stables and offer to volunteer helping out with mucking out or grooming / feeds etc?

I can’t afford lessons atm but miss horses/ ponies and enjoy time around them so much. Could do with a friend who has one (owned or loaned) so could hang with them! 😅

Not in the slightest. I have a friend who does that in exchange for her lessons. Many will bite your hand off for a bit of extra help.

Yes. Of course. You would hope they were.

But people don't always fill in forms correctly.. Sometimes they make mistakes, or their reading is not great, or they have discalculia, or they make their best guess. But according to this thread, none of those things must have happened.

According to this thread, the sweet jolly fat girl has a lying bitch of a mother who is ashamed of her daughter's weight and doesn't give a shit if she cripples a horse. You're all so busy celebrating the OP's self-serving account of the situation that you are ignoring how judgemental you are being about this mum you know nothing about.

(Before anyone presumes, no, I am not the mum of fat kids and I am not fat.)

Thank-you. Someone who can read!

You say everyone knows that. So why are they fixated on how fat the girl is and how cruel and neglectful the mother must be?

If I couldn’t fill a form in correctly I’d ask for help. I’d consider it important seeing as it was for my child, wouldn’t you?

You’re embarrassing yourself and it’s really sad that you can’t see that. So much anger over something that has absolutely no impact on your life whatsoever. Apparently.

Most posters on this thread aren’t. You’re doing selective reading, and amplifying a few posts.

I recommend everyone now go and watch the link to Dexter the Donkey. Thanks whoever posted that.😂

So I didn't hear much of it as owner spoke to mum in the office rather than within earshot of the girls. The mum looked a bit pissy coming out but has still put her name down for the summer club so 🤷‍♀️. We have her correct info now so she'll get an appropriate mount for that. Plus she'll have a few lessons before then so much easier to allocate.

It's the combo of heavy + beginner that's the killer. Plenty of horses to fit her, just a lot of them are...shall we say 'spirited.' A good case could be made for 'lunatics.'

Asked owner what happened and she apparently said that she didn't want her daughter to be given a big mount in case she fell off. She thought smaller was safer so adjusted the weight accordingly.

Probably a good thing she didn't see the size of the horse she came back on yesterday then!

I'm still laughing at the thought of ponies being safer!

🙄

You did well. My daughter has an ex school pony. He got so bored he'd actually up to the point that no one could ride him. Now she competes with him in local shows (and wins). He's only 13.2 but a pocket rocket. She's just about out growing him but currently at 15 she weighs nothing.

I'm too fat to ride him.