Can stables weigh my daughter rather than accept my word?

[TheQuaintLemonDuck]

Are stables entitled to weigh my daughter rather than just take my word for it?

If she's a growing child she's almost certainly a different weight to 6 months ago.

Poor horse. If she is too heavy for him now maybe that will give her the wake up call she needs.

Animal welfare comes first though.

Yes, of course they can, and will - what on earth is wrong with weighing someone - you stand on a pair of scales, job done, hardly a big strain!!!

Yes, they really do exist.
I know a woman who is 20 stone that has ridden a lot of fine horses and thoroughbreds over the years.

I hate to think how many horses backs the selfish woman has completely wrecked for life for those poor horses 😡

@TheQuaintLemonDuck

I agree with this. It's a number on a form. No need to be embarrassed.

And if they insist that all riders be weighed, what's the problem with that? Are they going to weigh them in front of others and then shout out the weight?

Absolutely. I am all for fat liberation but horses are real creatures and I've seen people try and lie to make sure they go their ride (unncessarily, once they told the truth a bigger horse was found). You can meet the requirements when you stand on the scales when you make the plans but food, water rentention, clothes, lymphoedema and goodness knows what else can change the weight you are. Safety is more important than people's feelings.

For clarity, overweight adults can ride. They just have to ride an appropriately sized horse.

If OPs daughter is 17 and has put on weight lately, it's very likely that she needs a horse, not a pony. It's a shame, there are small horses and ponies I'd love to ride but I'm over their limit, so I can't.

There's no problem with this. You've told them how much she weighs, they're double checking. It will come up as the same, so the only reason you'd need to worry is if you'd lied.

Dd used to be a regular at pony camp. Girls always wanted the same horses. It just doesn’t always work out. First, they are young girls and growing. Second, the camp has to balance the cohort of participants with the available horses. Even if your daughter is the right size for her desired pony, she might overlap with several others. If she is taller or heavier than the next camper, they are likely going to put her on the bigger pony. They will also move the more experienced campers to the less docile animals.

sometimes it works out that your daughter gets a repeat with a beloved pony. Sometimes she gets a relationship with a new horse and learns new skills. It all works out.

I think its my thread the poster was referring to. Really pissed me off at the time. Its here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5359192-really-irritated-with-this-girls-mother?latest=1

@Balloonhearts
I mean overweight on unsuitable horses

Is the stable entitled To weigh your daughter (or anyone else)?

Yes. They can make practically any rule they deem necessary.

If someone doesn't like it they can go elsewhere, find another hobby or buy their own horse.

Would you think twice about her being weighed for a bungee cord ??????
Potentially could paralyse her if you did

Have the same respect for the bourse / pony

Surely at 17 they don't need Op's permission to weigh her, they'd need the daughter's permission.

She wasn’t talking about her own thread was she. The post she was replying to started off talking about a thread from last year that was from a riding instructors perspective of the same issue

Yes, I remember going riding with Guides many years ago, and we were all asked our weight. We all lied. No one admitted to more than 8 stone. I felt really sorry for the horses when I realised.

As someone who owned and ran a riding school for many years - absolutely YES! The number of lies we were told by people regarding thier or their child's weight and ability never ceased to amaze me. It is completely justified in terms of animal welfare and safety. The rider needs to be weighed in their full riding kit - hat, boots, body protector etc, not the way you would normally weigh people. Riding school horses and ponies work incredibly hard with riders of varying ability and have to have a good temperament. An unbalanced rider that is too heavy can do a lot of harm and may cause the horse to react unpredictably. If this happens repeatedly the horse may well require veterinary or physio treatment.

Well, did you lie and say she was lighter?

I am a short rider, and have put on half a stone recently, so checked with my instructor that I’m ok on the smaller horses I often ride. Their welfare is ahead of everything (and I am trying to lose weight before anyone says it).

Usually the weight limit at riding schools are 13 stone, obvs people lie and you can see they are more,so yes they will weigh someone

I think it would be more embarrassing for her to be know as the girl who injured a pony because of her parents lies tbh

Then clearly your child is borderline too heavy for said pony , they're just been nice, and will weigh her and say , sorry she's too heavy for that size pony

I hope they do check the weight of riders. People filling in forms for clubs are often quite inaccurate or incomplete in my experience of running a group (not horse related).

The only reason I can think of not to, is if your child has an eating disorder and you are doing blind weighing as a therapeutic strategy. Then the stables should know about this.

Otherwise can you let your child know there is a weight cut off, for safety of the pony and if they have grown past this, they will have to change pony, being upfront about it to avoid any "embarrassment" or the stables having to explain it to her.

Everyone should be mindful of their weight on horses. I am 14 stone and 5’9. I have a 16+hh (he’s only 4 so still growing) shire cross. Because he’s still a baby, he is backed but not really ridden. I am very conscious of my weight with him, and still hope to get down to just on the cusp of 13/14 stone before I am riding him regularly.

All the ladies at my livery are, I’d guess, a similar weight to me and a similar height. And they own these 13hh ponies. Oomph! The poor ponies! They are riding for the body composition they used to have 30 years ago, not the body composition they have today. 🙈

But how much your daughter weighs is completely different to what she’ll weigh wearing hat, boots, body protector, clothes, coat etc.