How much weight can my horse's hold

[_minihorses4ever_]

Rabitzz is right, the rider would be too heavy for the horse.  Now if the horse was a bit older, maybe it would work.  But at that age things just arent quite done. And like he ( maybe she  sorry) said, LoveCoco has her mind made up anyhow, so I just hope everything works out fine.
   This is going to sound harsh, not tryng to make it so, just stating how I feel. Any horse under 5 or 6 shouldnt be rodeoed on, nor raced ( whole nother story), Cut,  or even reined on. But those horses arent expected to live out healthy fruitfull and ridable lives, they are discarded as tools.  Nothing more.   I live in Central TX and it breaks my heart the amount of damaged horses that people use and use up. My farrier always has a few for sale that were ropers etc that are broke down and are just trail or pasture buddies.   Some do stay sound, but the odds are vastly against that.

    Putting a green rider on a green horse is an invitation to disaster. I belong to a few training lists and the amount of times that people do this, have huge problems and then come on looking for an easy 'fix' is amazing, usually weekly.

    I would find a good trainer that you feel good with and that has the know how to give lessons and go from there.  Bet it would work out even better for all those involved.

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Agreed.

No way should your mom ride the arab. No offense, but she will hurt his back! And if I remember correctly, don't arabs mature slower than other breeds? He will need a lighter rider, and not to be ridden for a while! I don't believe in breaking ANY horse until they are atleast 3- even then light riding. They need time to grow up, and they need a slow, well thought out foundation to become good riding horses.

Just had to add my 2 cents.

Edited to add: I ride english, and have met my share of rude people. But, I have met just as many rude ones at western shows.(More towards the WP ring)

 

[Relic]

l think your mother might be in for a little bit of a harder time riding then the horse. l'll make a bet and say she gives up pretty quick.

JMHO

 

[Leeana]

Rabitfizz:

I post these because i like to hear people's opinions on it. I mean if i had some hardcore info ..i would think agian about it. But the thing is that a professional vet told me that he is fine. He's a quarter horse and since he is 3 ..he is fine.

I know the arab isnt ready yet ..were not sending him off to schooling for about 2 years when he is about 3. He is going to school for ground manners soon though and showing in halter.

Just about everyone i know does barrel or team roping on a 3 or 4 yr old horse. There horses are happy and healthy. I dont see anything wrong w/ that. There horses are very well conditioned. We race 3 year old's and there some of the healithiest horses out there. I know my barral horse is 3.5 yr's old and in as good of condition as he could be.

I also did my reasearch this morning, just to back me up. I read on many different sites that Quarter horses were strong and stern, no matter the height. I beleive and since a vet does as well that he will be fine.

relic:

I highly dought she will give up! My mother is not very likely to do that.

I was hoping for more positive reply's today ..guess that dream is shot!

 

[Marty]

Your mother is way over the weight limit for this baby- you will ruin him.

Leanna, I had a really big long post that I deleted (but some people did read it first) because I didn't want anyone to be insulted and take it wrong and flame me and have everyone here plaster me to the walls here and throw darts at me and boil me in oil for being a meany. This is hard for me because I am overweight myself.

Your mom needs a draft cross or something like that was previously mentioned. That would be so ideal for her. And I do say this in all due respect to you and your mom. There is a horse out there that will be right for your mom but this one isn't it. How are you going to fit a large saddle properly on this horse in the first place at 14.3? You won't. She'll need about a 16 1/2 " saddle. Most have large double skirts and if he's short coupled it's not going to sit on him right. It will clip him on the sides.

Your horse may be fine now but he's going to break down and you proably are not savvy enough to know when he goes "off", until the damage has been done and again, I am not wanting to insult you in any way or trying to be hurtful or disrespectful, but you are being unrealistic. I don't think you told your vet straight up that someone of that weight plans to mount this horse and ride him. I don't believe a vet would condone that. That is nearly 300 lbs on such a young small horse.

Rabbitsfizz is right & I agree 100%. Your mom is just too heavy for this horse. She'll never "find her seat" on him. And that is not easy for me to admit seeing as how I am overweight and a lot of my friends are flat out obese but the truth is that I don't ride my own big, tall, large boned and stout horse anymore due to my weight gain until I dump some serious pounds. I don't hit 200 but I need to dump a good 40lbs at the least to ride him right. None of us ride now because we know we are just too big and we know it. Our balance has been compromised too. I had one obese gal ride my horse for a short time 12 years ago and she made his whole back and hindquarters go out of alignment. And stupid me, I thought there was a problem with his legs or feet until he got a complete vet exam. She wrecked him real good on me and put him out of commisson for months.

So again Leanna, not wanting to cause an uproar here or with you or anyone and I apoligize if I have offended anyone which was not my intention at all, but you asked and this was my humble opinion. As I said there is a proper mount out there for your mom and you just have to find him.

Take care.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

As I said....You will do what you want to do. As usual....You come on, you ask a question, then you give us ten reasons why we, with all our years of experience, are wrong. You have read up have you my dear??? Marty and I , to name but two, HAVE ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED THIS. Not read up on it. Not asked the Vet- I would love to know what you were looking for on those X rays- I have never heard of X raying a horse to find out of it can take a certain weight- I would suggest the price of the X rays could have gone towards either a proper horse for your Mother or a few lessons!!! But I just know you will have a smart answer for my silly points- Silly old me, giving her silly opinion again, when clever you has actually read up on it!!

OK, I am being harsh here, I know, I am really hitting my point home, I am NOT Marty!!

YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN THIS HORSE

I for one do not care two hoots what a Vet said, if, indeed he did, because I have seen this done and I KNOW what will happen.

Your Mother is too heavy for this baby horse.

I think you really know this, and you want our permission to do something that your parents have told you to do.

If this is the case I sympathise with you, but I will in no way change anything I have said. What you are going to do is wrong, plain and simple. The horse is too young, too light weight and too small.

If you do this you will ruin him.

Now, you just go ahead and do what you want, as that is what you always do.

 

[Pepipony]

Yes, right now these horses that take that weight may be healthy and fit, but just wait, things DO change. Having been around horses for DECADES I have seen it happen.

Moreover. You have a 1000lb horse, who is a baby and you want to put at least 275 lbs on it, that is well over the recommended 20%, its actually 36%. I ask you if you would want a toddler to lug around 36% of its weight? Besides that , this horse isnt seasoned enough to be able to handle all the new things going on. There is a reason why lesson horses are so much older.

Gonna sound harsh, no way around it, but if you want to ask questions, then you need to be preparred for the answers. Hon you had your mind made up anyhow and are ignoring the knowledge of people that have been around horses longer than you have been alive LOL So why did you even ask?

Was gonna say that there is further x-raying and tests of other joints that should be done as well, but wanted to see how your Vet handled it.

 

[CharmedMinis]

I agree with Marty, Rabbit, and Pepi too.............

He might be just fine and dandy NOW.........but he will age before his time and have major problems in the long run.

I speak from experience in the weight department. A little over 2 years ago I weight 238 pounds, I would NOT even think about getting on my 14.2 hand extremely stout big boned Mustang mare. There wasn't a chance in h*ll I would go near my 16 hand fine boned Thoroughbred. The only horse I would get on was my 17.3 hand built like a tank Trakehner gelding, but even then all I did was walk and trot........my balance was completely off, which threw his balance completely off, and I didn't want to chance messing up his back.

Now I'm underweight at just under 120 pounds, I can ride darn near anything, but I wouldn't ride my 34 inch QH built Mini, which would be about the equivalent of what you want to do with your boy.

You say..........

Just about everyone i know does barrel or team roping on a 3 or 4 yr old horse. There horses are happy and healthy. I dont see anything wrong w/ that. There horses are very well conditioned. We race 3 year old's and there some of the healithiest horses out there. I know my barral horse is 3.5 yr's old and in as good of condition as he could be.

Just because they all do it and all the race horse people do it.........does NOT make it right. And I beg to differ that race horses are the healthiest horses out there..........Is that why their bones break right and left, they have constant hoof problems, and they are finding that most have ulcers..........that doesn't sound healthy to me at all.

I had a Mini filly born Preemie this year. Her carpal bones weren't fully formed. The carpal bones are the bones which need to fuse when a horse is 4 or 5 years old. These are the bones that your vet did x-rays to check.

Well my babies weren't fully formed at birth, we casted her front legs but couldn't do anything for her back legs. We just took X-rays of her back legs at 3 months old and her bones have been damaged, squished basically just by her having to carry her own weight, she weighs all of maybe 50 pounds.

If 50 pounds can squish bones and cause permanent damage, imagine what 275 pounds can do

 

[OhHorsePee]

I read this and (don't get me wrong! Not comparing your mom to Hoss on Banaza) I remembered when my sister was trying to find horses names from Bananza. Well, Whomever played Hoss weighed around 300 pounds and was over 6 feet tall. They had a hard time finding a horse for him. They ended up with a TB-QH mix that was over 1200 pounds and 15 plus hands high. I guess it was hard on the horse. Just my tid-bit.

Fran

 

[Leeana]

After reading this whole thread over agian around Noon this morning, i decided agianst the lessons. At least for now ..I talked to dad and told him i was willing to sell this Quarter Horse, in order to get a Morgan. I think Morgan's are very much stronger and not as tall.

Thats the problem w/ getting a 16HH horse, i can barely get up on a 16hand horse, let alone my mom.

I am willing to sell this boy to get a good horse for my mom to learn on. I have thought about selling him anyway a couple times before due to some reasons.

What kind of horse would would well for my mother to learn on. I need somesomething around 15 hands (not tall) and build well.

Were going to a halfinger sale in Columbus in mid october. I heard they can carrey up to about 250 pounds and am pretty short/medium.

What about a Morgan?

 

[CharmedMinis]

I'm so glad you re-thought the situation.

I think a Halflinger is an EXCELLENT idea!!! Much better than a Morgan (nothing against morgans, I like them). Halflingers are calm and cool and extremely stout, just make sure you get one that is at least 5 years old, so that the bones are mature and fused.

Over a Halflinger I actually think QH's are stronger than Morgans and I don't think a mature QH that is say 15 hands but really really built would have any trouble with your Mom. It just depends on how the horse is built. I went to a local QH show here last weekend and there were a few 15 hand QH's that weighed a good 1.500 pounds if not more and they had the longer back, that type of horse would be ok.

But I think the Halflinger idea is a great one, just get an older experienced one.

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

A quarter horse is stronger than a morgan IMO.

A halflinger would be good!

Edited for spelling.

 

[Pepipony]

Anything that is older, that has btdt , weighs a good 1300lbs and is solid. Plus the mind to give lessons. Not all can. Honestly, it would be cheaper to get her lessons somewhere else. Then you can buy what you want for yourself and make everyone happy

 

[Leeana]

How much do haflingers weight usually? And how many hands. Im thinking a 14.2hh would be best.

i know there really good harness horses ...are they good riders or stubborn?

would a 14.2hand one be good? Gelding of course.

i know this sale has lke 300 halfingers. Its the anual one that all my friends have been telling me about. I really do wanna keep my QH though, he is a good trail horse my friends borrow when we ride together. My one friend daniel loves him and i do to. So the money we Get tommarow when we sell Puffy (dads huge paint horse) will go toward getting a harness for Joey (he needs a medium pony harness and our mini one doesnt work for him at all) and a cart.

How much do Halfingers usually carry ..is it true about 300 pounds?

 

[Leeana]

Okay ..but my last question that i dont think i ever really got an answer out of here.

Sammy ...yearling arabian, already 15hh and is probaly going to continue to grow (his father was almost pushing 16h and his mother was up there to *lady specialized in large araibins, only had about 1 or 2 small ones*). He is almost 900 pounds if not closer to 1,000 pounds i would say. In about 2 1/2years he is going to schooling to get broke to ride. Do you think he could handl mom in about 2 1/2 years + 6 or 7 month of me riding him first? I mean he really is large. They have a shorter back so wouldnt that help? Arabians do have that extra endurance, would that help?

I do beleive that we are going to go w/ the halfinger ..a good stout one w/ a level head. The only thing w/ sending her to a trainer is that the horse would be the one she would be riding ..not some 15hand little horse that weigh's like 600 pounds that most trainers throw them on first.

 

[Pepipony]

The Arab is still such a baby and 3 or so years is so far away, there really is no telling what he may be able to handle. A friend raises them and her mother , who is, aaaahhh fluffy

and whom has ridden forever, cannot ride any of theirs because the weight is just too much. So they bought her an ex-rope horse.

As for the lessons, if any trainer set her up on a 600 lb horse, then they arent much of a trainer to begin with, IMHO. My lesson horse was a rather stout 1200lb 15.3 QH. Hubby , who w/saddle weighed in at 250, rode this horse for years and all over the place w/no problem.

 

[REO]

I think your mom would enjoy a 15 h stout built QH, very well trained, gentle, maybe around 7 years old.

I'm "fluffy" and only 5'6" and I felt funny on shorter horses for some reason.

I was ever aware of my weight and it was always on my mind that I might be too heavy for the horse I was riding. That did not make for an enjoyable ride for me. I'm thinking that for your mom to really enjoy riding, she'd be happier on a bigger horse. My last horse was 15.3 h. He was a doll and I'd step on a chair to mount him. And I felt just fine riding him!

Have fun shopping!

 

[CharmedMinis]

Ok Halflingers.

I think you should look for one between 14.2 and 15 hands. Definitely nothing under 14.2.

Definitely a gelding. Halflingers are calm and cool under most situations. They are great riding horses. Just like Draft Horses, they are gentle giants, only not so giant.

If this sale has hundreds, go as early as you can and really inspect them. Once you find the right age and height, then really look at how they are built. You want one that has nice stout legs, with big bones and strong knees and hocks. I think the right age will be between 6 and 10.

Also look for a good strong back, make sure there is no sway to it at all, you want a good level back for your Mom's weight. Make sure the croup strong and square. You don't want a real short back because the saddle won't fit right, but you don't want a real long back either because longer back are usually a bit weaker.

Did any of that help at all

Wish I could go with you, I wouldn't mind having a halflinger myself

 

[tagalong]

Ok Halflingers.
I think you should look for one between 14.2 and 15 hands.  Definitely nothing under 14.2.

Definitely a gelding.  Halflingers are calm and cool under most situations.  They are great riding horses.  Just like Draft Horses, they are gentle giants, only not so giant.

If this sale has hundreds, go as early as you can and really inspect them.  Once you find the right age and height, then really look at how they are built.  You want one that has nice stout legs, with big bones and strong knees and hocks.  I think the right age will be between 6 and 10.

Also look for a good strong back, make sure there is no sway to it at all, you want a good level back for your Mom's weight.  Make sure the croup strong and square.  You don't want a real short back because the saddle won't fit right, but you don't want a real long back either because longer back are usually a bit weaker.

Did any of that help at all 

   Wish I could go with you, I wouldn't mind having a halflinger myself 

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Good advice about the Haflingers... we have two in our Therapeutic Riding program... they are 5 and 6 years old - and still rather uncoordinated "youngsters" One did NOT work out - and is for sale.... they do not come cheap BTW....

The other one is a gem. But they are about 14.1... and no more than 900 pounds. Their backs are too short for a big western saddle and the skirting...

Haflingers do come bigger - in the 15 HH /1200 pound range.

Another idea - why not look for a draft cross - or a shorter draft that is well broke?? And older... remember the green + green = black & blue equation....

 

[Leeana]

Yeah, about a little over 14 hands is pretty good. Now w/ draft horses is the 25% body weight only thing a bit different i heard w/ drafts it goes up to about 30% of the body weight ...?

 

[Leeana]

Oh yeah, great advice by the way. Apreciated way more then you know! ) thanks

Leeana