250 POUNDS!!!

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Weight numbers are a funny thing. I can't think of how many celebrity juice rags I have seen where the front is emblazoned with "THIS CELEBRITY TOPSI happen to think I would look pretty fantastic at 250lbs - not that I don't look pretty fantastic right now at 291lbs. I sometimes play this guessing game with people when we are talking about weight. I will tell them I won't be insulted, but I want them to guess how much I weigh, and no guess will hurt my feelings. They usually guess in thelow ballpark. I usually get 230-250lbs, and then shock people by revealing that I weigh closer to 300lbs.I guess the point is that people get so obsessed with numbers. I have never understood it. I see people who are on the "fluffy" side (I'll say 180-200lbs) get all in a panic, calculating and figuring to see if they are over the 1/3rd or 1/4 "rule" for their horses, and panicking if they are coming close to 250lbs.The fact of the matter is that it is hard to paint every rider with the same brush based on the numerical figure of their weight - equally so, you can't paint every horse with the same brush based on the numerical figure of their weight. The 1/3rd or 1/4 "rule" is a nice guideline to follow but realistically, it doesn't work that way forhorse. Further, people are often guesstimating with a horse's weight, particularly when they are just guessing by sight or using a weight tape.I have mentioned her weight before, but how many people, if I didn't tell you that I had her body weighed (pre-necropsy, sadly), would believe that this mare, in pasture condition was 1290lbs? A weight tape would have measured her at much less, I am certain. So I would hesitate to use a 1/3rd or 1/4 rule (or a 20% rule or whatever other rule they have out there) unless I knew my numbers for certain. 1200lbs can look as different from horse to horse as 250lbs looks from rider to rider.The immediate thought, going by the rule of rider's weight compared to horse's weight, is that anyone over 300lbs probably needs a draft horse. The reality is that often, full drafts are just not suitable.full drafts would be perfect, but not every draft is cut out to carry that much weight, particularly if they are show hitch bred.There are two really really, significant, important factors in choosing a horse for a plus sized rider, in my opinion (and remember, I'm not an expert, I'm just trying to give advice to get people in the saddle!) -- 1.2.Spindly little legs probably won't hold up to much work withsize of rider, so those horses are best to avoid in the first place for anyone! However, when I am talking about "good bone", I'm not necessarily talking about the fat legged draft horse. Many stock horses have excellent bone and fantastic feet and are completely suitable, when coupled with a short back and general overall fitness for a plus sized rider.A short back carries weight better than a long back will. Many hitch bred draft horses (ones bred specifically for the high-stepping harness action that happens in the world of showing draft horses in hand) have long backs. I am not going to comment onI think they are bred to have long backs, because this isn't that kind of blog - but the truth of it is that many have long backs, thus making them unsuitable for a heavy rider.There are many, many, MANY other factors that I also think are extremely important - including but not limited to fitness of horse AND rider, skill level of rider (good, light seat?), age of horse, skill level of horse, fit of tack (for both horse and rider) and a variety of other things.Many plus sized riders (myself included in recent years) find themselves more comfortable on a draft or draft cross as a mount. It is true that these horses can meet the bone and back requirements, as well as often are large enough and have backs large enough to carry a larger seat size saddle that a plus sized rider would require - however, other breeds can, too. As I mentioned in another entry,last horse was an APHA mare who carried me with no problems at all.I know there are others out there riding "non drafts" as plus sized riders and if you are one, I would be really interested to see pictures and would love to be able to post them on the blog! I am going to begin a feature entry, I think, where I share photos and the story of plus sized riders once a week (Fridays, maybe?) - so if you are interested in seeing your pictures up and having everyone oooh and ahhh over how pretty you are, drop a line to seeking(dot)sendiri(at)gmail(dot)com!