Weight limit?

[Germgirl]

Hello horsey MN people. This is my first post here, (tack room), I'd like some opinions please if you don't mind.
I learnt to ride at age 3 & had horses & ponies from age 9, I spent every spare second till I was 18 at the stables. Then life, and boys, and money hassles got in the way & I have up riding. One of my biggest regrets that.
Anyway, I ballooned in weight & I'm now ridiculously fat. Which is.a shame because for the first time in ages I have the money & time to get back to riding.
I'm waiting for a gastric bypass & once that's been done I will hopefully lose a fair bit of weight.
One of my goals is to start riding again, but what weight should I get down to before I start? I'll obviously need to start on a big old cob or heavy horse cross or something, but I don't want to hurt the poor thing!
Is 15st too heavy for a chunky horse? That was the weight I had in my head to get down to before going for some lessons again, but is that too heavy?

'have up riding' = 'gave up riding' obv.

A lot of riding schools have weight and height limits, its usually on their website if they do. I have recently seen 13st and 15st as weight limits at riding schools, so I would recommend looking at your local schools for a definite weight to aim for.

Ah. Thank you, I didn't think of that! We didn't have the internet last time I was on board a horse!

My local one has a 12st limit. I think it's mainly for children.
I shall look further afield if & when I start to shrink.

It really depends on the riding school. The two RS i worked at had a 16 stone limit but both had a couple of shires. This was in the east midlands, if you're anywhere near there i'd be happy to PM details, this was a few years ago but they may still have large horses.

Thanks Flock. I'm in SE London though!

Timbertops in swanley is a lovely riding school. They are very friendly, non judgemental and have a few larger ladies ride there as they have a few nice chunky horses. Give them a call. My daughter rides there and everyone is so nice.

Thank you Minx, I will make a note of that one. It's all pie in the sky at the moment as I'm way too big but if & when I shrink I really want to get back into riding. I do miss it.
Thanks again.

Hiya. My yard doesn't have a set weight limit. It varies according to the ability of the rider. So a beginner would need to be lighter than an experienced rider. I rode for ten years as a child, stopped for around ten and then started again and have been riding for around 6 years. The owner was happy for me to ride at around 16 stones (they have a fair few large, chunky horses) although I have recently given up for a bit after gaining weight and not feeling happy to ride at this weight. It's a shame really as riding was really helping to keep the weight off.

So in essence, you can find flexible yards if you look around. My yard is in North East London/Essex if wanted the details.
Good luck with the weight. It's horrible being too heavy to do what you love xx

Late to this thread but I'm just back from a 120 mile trail ride in Scotland over 7 days, mainly Highlands and Highland crosses.
They said on their web site:
"Due to the tough nature of our trails and the distances covered per day, we have a maximum weight limit of 16 stone (230 lbs or 105 kilos) however, we only have a couple of horses that are capable of carrying this weight over the steep hills and rough terrain at present - although this may change in the future. For some of our smaller horses and ponies, 14 stone (200lbs or 90kilos) is the maximum weight and any of our trail horses and ponies will carry 12 stone easily." Hope that helps.

I know the problem all too well... I'm a whopping 13 stone at the moment but also quite tall (6 ft)... I'm actually not overly "fat" (I wear a size 12 - 14)... but I'm a heavy bugger(ess) and my height somewhat dictates a bigger (min. 16H) and well balanced horse. Fortunately my share mare is some 17h and knows how to carry herself.
Just keep on looking, there are many stables out there and I'm sure there'll be a horse for you somewhere once you feel ready for it. :)

I bet you'll find the weight drops off even more once you start riding - it's HARD!