Lessons for plus size riders

[OhMoreDrama]

I used to ride as a kid and I'm really missing it now - my boys go riding and I'd love to join them!

I'm just under 18st but tall with it - 5'10!! I used to be a lot slimmer but stated on anti anxiety meds and they made me put on loads of weight even though I was eating less.

Do you think any riding school could cater for me? I only really want to plod about and maybe hack out occasionally.

It also has to be said that heavier people who can ride well are a lot lighter on a horse than someone a stone or two lighter that is a novice and not balanced .

Why would she be crashing about? I ride lightly regardless of my weight because my core is strong, I'm experienced and exercise

Please don't consider getting on a horse at your weight.

JFC some of these responses are just so horrible! She's just asking a question. No need to be so harsh - people on here just love being unnecessarily mean.

I think you might find more luck if you could do some kind of horse share with an appropriate horse for your weight and private lessons?

I have seen some schools with a weight limit of 12 stone! And some are totally flexible with larger riders but not when they are beginners - there is a school near me who could accommodate up to 18 stone but only if you could confidently ride and not flop about in the saddle.

Good luck, I would love to ride again but I am too big following weight gain from illness. One day though!

Changing meds is entirely possible if one brand is casing excessive weight gain.
CBT and yoga breathing &c was done by a local hospital for people with “ Anxiety “- Simply because drugs can have unpleasant side effects.

Diazepam was pushed onto nervy people in the past- That it is now a controlled drug after being doled out for so long shows how nasty these drugs can be.

Why did you put anxiety in quote marks?

It is very real unfortunately and yoga does sod all to help!

I'd love to change what I take but unfortunately it's the thing that works best and lets me function.

The weight is the same. More experience doesn't equal a lighter load. It might be slightly easier for the horse to carry but it's still the same weight.

Op i put on 3 stone when i went on sertraline too. It was impossible to lose until i came off it. I'm still losing it now. Could you try another medication?

I feel personally i wont get back on a horse until I'm 13st or below.

Not all schools overload their horses. The two I usually ride are fit strong sports horses as well as being large, 17 and 18hh respectively. I'm currently a little under 16 stone and tall. Neither of them struggle to carry me. I'd probably not get on anything under 16.2 though.

The smaller of them I have jumped on and he needed no persuading. Jumped the tiny little cross pole like it was a 5ft double.

The larger of them barely notices I'm up there until I insist he stops eating the grass.

They have light workloads generally, no more than 3 half hour lessons a day, 1 day off a week and one day a week they are only taken hacking and they are seen regularly by the back lady. Always a clean bill of health.

A 13 stone weight limit pretty much rules out a lot of healthy weight men and I see plenty of men riding horses with no trouble.

The weight might be the same but it definitely does matter if the person is balanced or flopping about like a sack of spuds , but I’m talking about people who are 14/15 stone not 16+ .

@oakleaffy

for fuck sake!! Will people stop being so fucking patronising & nasty!!

she's on medication, she's ALREADY doing her best to lose weight. She doesn't need incentives/motivation.

just stop !!

@OhMoreDrama

im really sorry you've had so many nasty replies, it's one of the nastiest threads I've read.

A few years ago I wanted to start riding again. They all had different limits, but all of them said they could increase it a bit for experienced riders who didn't 'sit like a sack of spuds'.

unfortunately I was in an accident and ended up having a few body parts replaced including the entire shoulder joint & no longer have the confidence to start riding again as I don't want to have to go through that again!!

best wishes that your body adjusts to the medication and you'll be able to lose the weight & ride again🤞🏼🤞🏼

OP… forget the riding. At least for a while. But a couple of the previous suggestions about you maybe going down to the yard and helping out on the ground, doing some chores and spending time with the horses, grooming them and just being around them will help your well-being massively.

I’ve owned horses for over 25 years and a lot of the time - the riding isn’t important to me. Just going to the yard and pottering about even in the winter always sends me home feeling ten times better than I did when I arrived - even if I’ve had the day from hell, I’ve got a banging headache and it’s pissing down outside! Horses are amazing therapy but you don’t necessarily have to ride to obtain it. I think you’d love it - it’s great exercise and you’d learn so much about them and how to care for them. I’m sure your sons riding school would jump at the chance of some help - give it some consideration?

Oh this thread reminds me of livery yards. I don't think they mean to be rude and obnoxious, but horsey people do tend to be on the blunt side. If you ask them if you are too heavy to ride, and they think you are, you will get told. Try not to take it personally. And do think about carriage driving, its a good option.

@OhMoreDrama says they're already doing that.

@Nellieinthebarn there's blunt and then there is cruel - many of the posts here are cruel and nasty.

I'd query the setraline, maybe change? though the people I know on it haven't had weight gain.
I always feeling sorry for the horses with large riders, very selfish.

Psychotropic medication induced weight gain is awful and very real. There are some people on here that don’t understand that. It’s crap having to chose between your mental health and physical health. It’s not as straightforward as asking to change medication as not everything works for someone. It can be genuinely dangerous to mess around with meds.

I'm reading a lot of rubbish on this post. My horse is just over 700kg which means as per the 20% guidance including tack the guideline suggests over 20 stone. Hes very fit and not over weight and is extremely well put together.

OP I do something called School Master lessons on my horse. He's very popular so we limit them during his competition season but he is so safe and well schooled that people have come on in leaps and bounds. He has taken several riders to their first dressage competitions. It's not cheap however, I charge £65 for around 45 minutes but he is fabulous to ride! Based in Derbyshire if you're near by.

Ok, sticking my neck out here because you seem to be taking anyone who has been honest as insulting, but I think you’re too heavy to ride at the moment. I’m a qualified riding instructor, I have horses of my own and I haven’t ridden for a few years now because I am simply too heavy. I am not as heavy as you, but still very overweight. My biggest horse is a 17h hunter type and I still wouldn’t inflict my weight on him. I was a pretty good rider - did affiliated Eventing and dressage…. A good rider should consider the horse and its welfare above all imo. And just because there are often plenty of dumpy men out hunting doesn’t make it right. And a draught horse type has its strength in its backside usually, not necessarily it’s back..

I would love to ride again, but I just know that I have to sort out my weight problem first. I know it’s not easy. I know people telling you this probably make you feel humiliated. Sorry.

There's no denying that and nobody said she should immediately go onto a new medication. But if the side effect of weight gain is affecting her, another medication might suit her better which will enable her to lose weight and therefore be able to ride a horse, because morally there's not really any way for her to ride at the weight she's at now. Just because a horse could physically carry an 18 stone rider, and because some people do ride at that weight, it doesn't mean they should, for the sake of the health of the horse. Therefore if she wants to ride, looking at transitioning safely onto other medications which won't affect her weight is a worthwhile consideration. Or she will have to accept that she's not able to ride at the moment.

OP please don't take this the wrong way, I'm trying to be helpful and suggesting something you might have missed and PP don't seem to have pointed out, but... how sure are you that you're counting your calories accurately? You specifically say 1,300 daily, but to maintain 250 lbs at that intake seems beyond impossible. Medication has an effect but not to that level. Might you be having e.g. more sugary drinks than you realise without knowing how much is in them? That's a mistake I made at first.

I don't feel humiliated. I'm not embarrassed by my weight - fed up with it, yes, but it's something out of my control.

Having a light or heavy seat is by the by. The weight is still the same however well you ride. OP I really wish you luck with the weight loss and hope you can get in the saddle but you are looking at needing to loose at least 4st.

Horses backs really aren't as strong as people think and I don't agree with the 20% rule that gets quoted. There are a few accounts on Instagram featuring very heavy riders and all the comments are positive and any comments pointing out the strain on the horse are swiftly deleted. Another example of the "be kind" attitude even when it's not right. What about be kind to the horses.

Yes I'm sure. I use a tracking app and weigh everything I make.

Oh love I feel your pain, I piled on weight on Sertraline too, I had to stop riding for a bit as it wasn't fair on my old boy and he's a great chunky Clydesdale cross.

I don't know if it's an option for you but I switched to Citalopram and the difference was night and day - and I was actually able to lose the Sertraline weight fairly speedily.

It's bloody rubbish feeling limited by your weight so you have my sympathy.