Horse Shoeing and Barn Suckage

[Lace Neil Singer]

At the stable where I used to ride, there were a few "weight carriers", including one half Shire. Honestly, whatever your size, you can ride. I was a lot bigger than I am now when I rode, due to suffering from compulsive eating disorder, and I never had any trouble.

Fox; I certainly couldn't vault. XD Think you need to do that on a pony rather than a horse. I needed a mounting block to get on Bill, not so much cuz he was big, but cuz he wouldn't stay still! The last thing you need when hooking a foot in a stirrup is for the horse to walk off... Whereas if you're in the air after hopping on from a block, you can land in the saddle relatively easily.

[Saydrah]

Most horses can comfortably carry 20% of their body weight if they are in good shape and are not going uphill- it drops to more like 10-15% if you want them to work super hard or do endurance races and such. A good seat and balance- which is achieved through hard work in and out of the saddle on improving your core strength- does a lot more to help the horse than just having a slightly lighter rider. A very well balanced 300 lbs would bother most horses less than 200 pounds bouncing all over the place and swaying like a sack of potatoes.

Moral of the story: Work on your core strength and find a dude ranch with a few draft horses. You'll do fine!

[Shabo]

I completely agree. Draft horses can take your weight, no problem.

And if you are still really concerned about it, work on strengthening your leg muscles first. When you are riding a trot, you can either sit it (which is really hard to get used to at first... I still have yet to master it!) or you can post to it, which is the stand up-sit down method you see English riders do. By strengthening your leg muscles, you can prevent yourself from just plopping down on the horse's back when you "sit", potentially hurting them and yourself.

[Lace Neil Singer]

By strengthening your leg muscles, you can prevent yourself from just plopping down on the horse's back when you "sit", potentially hurting them and yourself.

Urgh... I always hated it when I saw people doing that. It's understandable for a beginner, but someone who's gotten as far as intermediate classes should have stopped doing that. My instructor used to get people to do a lot of riding without stirrups and bareback riding to improve the seat and legs.

[Shabo]

My legs are hurting just thinking about stirrup-less lessons...

[Tria]

I'm sorry to hear that Tria. I can't imagine life without horses...

There is good news for you, though. I couldn't afford lessons either for a few years. So, I found an instructor that was willing to let me do work in exchange for lessons. Maybe you could find a barn that will let you do that, too.

None nearby, and I don't drive. But hey, at least I care enough to not plop my fat ass down on them.

[DesignFox]

None nearby, and I don't drive.

Well, I will send good thoughts your way that an opportunity will present itself for for. (either you'll get to drive, find someone you can buddy up with that will drive...new barn nearby...anything) :keeps fingers crossed:

[Lace Neil Singer]

My legs are hurting just thinking about stirrup-less lessons...

They were very hard, yes. XD But certainly good for strengthening leg muscles.

[Argabarga]

My legs are hurting just thinking about stirrup-less lessons...

Yeah, thinking about it just made my ankles numb.....

I've been out of it for about 14 years too, and count me among the ones waiting for the day I can get back in. I miss it more than I ever thought I would.

I never did much showing, because that never really appealed to me, and to be honest, being like the only guy in sight made me feel uncomfortably in the spotlight. (what is it with that? no offense, but it seems like most guys I knew growing up wouldn't even go near a horse)

I always enjoyed just hanging around, I wasn't one of the snob kids either, trust me, the same dented old truck that brought in the hay was the one towing the trailer on show day

I learned on a pony who did have a habit of trying to remove you if she didn't feel like being ridden that day. Once I got good enough that she couldn't dump me, she resorted to going close to low tree branches to try and brush me off. That only worked once.

[InsanityInc]

Reading this makes me realize how lucky I was at the stable I used to ride at. The instructor would only have 1 person at a time riding in a particular ring, and she always switched which horse you were riding. She had 4, and I rode all but the 3 year old colt. 2 of the ones I rode were show horses. The third, well, she WAS, but had a bad experience at a show and spooked at loud any noise afterwards.
.....But she (the horse) did teach me how to hang on at unexpected movements.

[Tria]

I never did much showing, because that never really appealed to me, and to be honest, being like the only guy in sight made me feel uncomfortably in the spotlight. (what is it with that? no offense, but it seems like most guys I knew growing up wouldn't even go near a horse)

One word: Jealousy. *Ducks*

[DesignFox]

I never did much showing, because that never really appealed to me, and to be honest, being like the only guy in sight made me feel uncomfortably in the spotlight. (what is it with that? no offense, but it seems like most guys I knew growing up wouldn't even go near a horse)

Gee, most of the girls around here would loooove to have guy rider around. Although, I guess things are different when you're a kid and the opposite gender still has "cooties"...

Other than my instructor's son, I don't personally know any men that ride. And try as I might, I can't get my BF up on a horse- he has no interest at all.