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.

James has semi recovered. He's doing quality control now, tasting every haynet made. I would show you him but I'm not sure if his owner would like me posting photos of him, so I will refrain.

Girls are going to be giving cool baths after they finish the pole games. Then later if there is time, we might do another hack when it's cooler.

Thank you, @Balloonhearts OP.

I know nothing about horses, other than stories from my late husband - he worked on estates and on his grandparents' croft and used to worry terribly about horse welfare.

His first job at the age of 15 was in forestry in the west of Scotland where horses would be used to drag tree trunks out. He'd talk about it and shake his head.

Thank you for protecting those precious horses whilst simultaneously looking our for the welfare of your pupils.

I bet you are a joy at parties. Or funerals. Or anything. 🙅😬

@Balloonhearts you sound lovely and have made me wish I could join your hacks!

Well done for saving the day, and no, you haven't been at all unreasonable.

Ah it sounds like you’re having lots of fun after the stress of yesterday and bless James, he can’t hold a grudge when there’s tasty hay to munch!

Is the little sassy pony on duty today? It must be hard figuring out the pole distances when you have different size ponies/ horses and different stride lengths. I don’t think I ever did it right and always clonked away over the poles!

Unashamedly still here for any horse chat going… 😁

OP I am a soppy old git but this has restored my faith in human nature.
I have a lump in my throat.

You really are a good egg.

x

I was a pony-mad child of parents who couldn't afford lessons. I read about them instead, over and over again, learning everything I could. I even practiced plaiting and stitching the mane on my Sindy horse.
Eventually DM arranged for me to spend an afternoon with some friends of friends of friends who had a field near Gatwick.
They had a retired ex-police horse, brown, who apparently just stood there and wouldn't blink if a bomb went off. The idea was that I could just sit on his back and he'd wander around the field if he felt like it.
I checked his saddle, checked the stirrup length, checked the bridle, everything I'd learned in my books. Mounting was tricky as I was 8 and he was too big for me.
Then everyone else started practicing on the jumps and I was left to it.
Except my horse suddenly decided he wanted to join in. He started trotting, great! I got the hang of it almost immediately. Then a canter, then a gallop straight towards a jump at the far end of the field. How I didn't fall off I'll never know, but I lost both stirrups and ended up with my arms around his neck. Panic ensued. I had to dismount immediately and DM never let ride again. 😭
I loved it. It didn't put me off and I have ridden as an adult beginner a few times since - but that was my one and only jump.
And you'll never guess what his name was - Major Tom!

No, she's having the day off, she's up the back atm, I can't see her but I'm sure she'll come in filthy.

Little ones struggling a bit as she only started to get her rising trot this morning but she's bumping about, fighting the good fight with a smile and her pony isn't bothered, more interested in eating the eggs so its all good.

No way! Really? He's got a name twin! That's adorable.

More of a great-uncle than a twin as this was 1980.

Obviously passed on the love of jumping. MT got his name from that (ground control to major tom) as he does these skipped strides and just leaos from way back and flies over with feet to spare. Scares the life out of you!

what a lovely lady you sound to put this child first xx

Op, you are a hero! No child should have to face the consequences of their parent being a dickhead, and you've managed this situation beautifully. Well done.

How can you possibly know that?

What the actual chuff is wrong with you? It's a lovely thread and things worked out in the end for the girl and the animals.
Of course OP knew MT was in his field, it wasn't a case of 'remembering' him! He had been out of work for 4 years so it was a big risk for OP to take him out (thank goodness MT is as much of a trooper as OP!).
Honestly, I don't understand why you would be so negative on such a nice thread!

With everything going on in the world right now, this thread has been the loveliest antidote and the OP's account has made me howl with laughter. You sound such a lovely person and so diplomatic.

Yes, what a lovely kind thread this is...

"13 stone at that age!"

"it’s sad really but blimey surely the mother realises"

"At her age... It can't be easy for her, kids that age can be vicious."

"Maybe mum thinks that’s her weight, guess she is in for a shock tomorrow when she picks up. Perhaps it will be the start of some changes so the girl loses some weight, as 13 stone at 5ft ish is very overweight. But that’s up to her"

"I don't understand all this tip toeing around fat people."

"It's more than overweight, especially at such a young age. It's very obese and the mother needs to get on top of this."

"(this bitch mother owes me big)"

Haha love it! I rode one like this once, he was a peach and did the big leaps from way back, flying over the top like he was jumping a 6 ft fence or something! 😂 Lovely. Ahh miss it, when money less tight would love to look into adult lessons and get back in the saddle 🐴 ❤️

The OP said it's on the form.

Oh for the laugh emoji.

Props for ponying when riding bareback - I'm glad you all returned safely!

Yeah, rising trot v bouncy before you get the hang of it. I felt sorry for the boys learning, rather ouch for them! 😬🙈 heehee eating the eggs! 😂

This happened to me but height wise once
its a long story but I got the chance to ride out with someone very exciting on their own horses
i was only 10 but when I turned up they had tacked up a little 13.2hh pony for me - I’m now 5ft 10 so even back then I was tall!
he said “bloody hell you are tall!” And they had to do a scramble around to find me a 15.2

If someone of only about 5ft is 13 stone, then it's very obvious. (Plus we've been told that the children were weighed.) At 13st and my adult height of 5ft 9, I was chubby. (Different for someone who does a lot of weight training, of course.)

A mother who doesn't realise that her child is overweight is in denial at the very least.

When I was in Reception, I was referred to a specialist because of flat feet and knock knees. The specialist was the only medic who had the guts to tell my mother that I was obese. I've seen pictures of myself - I'm clearly morbidly obese in them.

Mum later told me that she had been in tears when she left - she told me that she'd said "But I thought that it was just puppy fat!"

The specialist had told her "There's no such thing as puppy fat..."

After that, my diet was watched and a combination of that and natural growth meant that I was a healthy weight within three years. The cause of the obesity was that both my parents were over-feeding me.

Dad was on shift work and would give me a side plate of his food when he got home - on top of what I'd already eaten. (He'd starved during the war. He thought that he was being kind.)

Mum had had bad miscarriages and had used sweets as a way to cope with me.

I later put on weight as an adult and I'm in the process of losing it again. I'm currently edging from "obese" to "overweight" on the NHS BMI chart. I've no doubt that my specialist saved me from myriad health issues by giving my mum the straight talking that was needed. (Yes, she told Dad what had been said and he complied with the diet. Nothing drastic - but the extra food stopped, as did the sweets and cakes.)

I honestly think that we need to return to the days of health checks at secondary school - but there's no doubt that folk nowadays would complain of "weight shaming", whether over or under.

Bring back the dental check-ups while we're at it.

Be kind to that girl - I was 13 and 13 stone. I had to move to horses from ponies at a young age and it was quite sad. I understand your frustration though, mum maybe doesn’t know much about horses and thinks they will be fine with that weight and probably a bit of denial about how heavy her daughter actually is. We can all be guilty of that….

@MasterBeth

Yes, what a lovely kind thread this is...

"13 stone at that age!" We gain weight with age. To be 13 stone in early teens isn't good as it's hard to reverse. This is a fact.

"it’s sad really but blimey surely the mother realises" - a statement of (assumed) fact. It is sad to be that overweight at that age and the parents should be realising.

"At her age... It can't be easy for her, kids that age can be vicious." This is sympathetic.

"Maybe mum thinks that’s her weight, guess she is in for a shock tomorrow when she picks up. Perhaps it will be the start of some changes so the girl loses some weight, as 13 stone at 5ft ish is very overweight. But that’s up to her"
If a parent is in denial about their child's welfare, a wake up call would be the best thing so they can encourage exercise, limit screen/non active time, not have cupboards full of junk food/that kids are encouraged to graze on. This is fairly obviously in the child's best interest.

"I don't understand all this tip toeing around fat people." Some people would put the overweight person's feelings above the horses ... At back-breaking cost to the horses. And those of us who are 13 stone are fat. What would you call it, big boned?

"It's more than overweight, especially at such a young age. It's very obese and the mother needs to get on top of this."

Putting in a typical height of a teenager with that weight on this tool quite clearly agrees it is well overweight. https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/calculate-bmi-for-children-teenagers
To not get on top of it puts the child at risk.

"(this bitch mother owes me big)" Not nice but was tongue in cheek.

A bit rich of you to call everyone unkind when you are spewing bile all over it.
Unwatching the thread now due to your posts. A shame as I was enjoying the shennigans of a pony stable in the sunshine!