What is the most a person can weight while riding a horse?

Question

I've heard that it is bad for people over a certain weight to ride a horse. I guess it hurts the animal's back or something.

Answer 1

When deciding this, so much has to be taken into consideration:
How old is the horse? If old, does he have arthritis, other medical problems?
If he's young, are his joints set yet? (I prefer not to ride too much before they are 3, and if a person is heavier, not before 4).
Does he have a short back? The shorter the back, the more he can carry.
What breed is the horse? Percherons and Belgians can carry more weight than quarter horses etc, and mustangs are generally sturdier too.
How well does the individual ride? If someone is slightly heavier but knows how to balance their weight well, it will be easier on the horse, compared to a rider that may just sit there, not giving the horse any help.
Most important, most horses can carry about 20% of their own weight comfortably (tack and rider) which varies on the size of the horse. The smaller the horse, the more percentage of their weight they can carry, the bigger the horse, the less percentage of weight they can carry.
For example, an 800# horse could most likely carry 180ish pounds of weight, where as a 2000# horse could only carry about 350#.

Answer 2

like other people have said it depends on age of horse, weight of person and size and maturity of the horse.

As a general statement, young horses can struggle with the weight of a larger rider. However some can manage it. It also depends on the type and how much riding is to be done. The capabilities of a horse to carry a larger rider can only be determined by the horse's body language being observed. Generally if the rider it too heavy for the horse you will see the horses body language showing that it's having some difficutly or if the horse seems to be unable to perform as well as say with a lighter rider astride them when a larger person is riding then there could be an issue.

Then there are soem breeds of horse which can manage the heavier person quite well. Some warmbloods have been known to and thats solely because of their build. But alos shetland ponies while small can carry HUGE amounts of weigth because they are so strong but then realistically most people know when they should stop riding them .

But generally horses who are young, or getting older can have more of an issue with carrying heavy riders. On another note; sometimes hevainess has nothing to do with it very tall people on a horse where their sizes are out of proportion can cause problems for the horse as wlel, because the horse goes constantly off balance. Alot fo the time it depends on the individual horse.

Answer 3

It really depends on the horse, and its height and build. For instance, a 17hh Throughbred that was light boned, while big enough for a tall person, might not be able to handle someone whom weighted 300lbs, and also depends on the activity. Same goes for a horse about 14.3 with heavy, stout build. Some stables that rent out horses for trail rides have a restriction on weight, and its not only the build and height that go into how much a horse can carry, its what they'll be used for, and how much or intense the activity.

Answer 4

Depends on the age, height, and weight like everyone else as said. I feel bad for those skinny horses that get those heavy set people on them. I mean come on now would you want someone that heavy on your back. I'm just saying people should think before they get on a horse if they are heavy set. Horses have feelings to you know.

Answer 5

It depends not only on the SIZE of the horse, but also the age of the horse.....like a race horse, they are usually only 2 years old and therefore not fully developed, so the smaller the jockey the better....But a big Clydesdale, that could handle a 300 pound person...see how that works!?!

Answer 6

It depends on the horse's size, age, and the horse, itself. You wouldn't want to put a 250lb person on a 2 year old mini!!! You know what I mean? And yes, this could hurt their backs, but stretching some old horses, especiallyy after a hard ride will help them a lot. Just do stretches on their legs like you would do to yourself. ON YOUR LEGS!!!!

Answer 7

i don't know the weigh limit but a really heavy person could always ride a draft horse. Knight in armor used to ride them, plus the horses would have armor of their own.

Answer 8

it depends on the age and size of the horse, not the person

Answer 9

I am sure it depends on the horse... but my very obese aunt got on a horse.. he threw her.. busted her up bad... I think it was self defense on the horses part...

Answer 10

well it depends on both size of horse and rider. the average horse can carry a third of it's wieght. but be sure to include wieght of saddle and other gear.