Too fat for your horse?!

Bearing excess weight can potentially
lead to health problems in horses

"Too fat for your horse?" Surely not?! Well, in a bizarre turn of events, recent research has indicated that the effect of a growing obesity crisis among U.K. citizens has far-reaching implications, putting additional weight on domestic horses - literally.

As detailed in a recent article in The Telegraph, almost a third of recreational riders are too heavy for their horses, and run the risk contributing to bad backs, arthritis and lameness in their animals. This recent study, which focuses on over 150 horses from the Devon and Cornwall area, also found that just one in 20 riders sat within the optimum weight range for recreational horse riding which, according to the research is less than 10 per cent the weight of the horse. To put it into the context of the average stable horse, which is though to weigh between 500-600kg (between 79 and 94 stone) this means a rider should weigh approx. 60kg (9.4 stone).

The issue originally came to light last year when it was reported that a US company announced that they had started producing “extra large”, 18-inch saddles for obese riders. This has proven worrying as there is growing concern from equestrian experts over the impact of the health and behaviour on horses ill-equipped to deal with the weight.

However, it has been suggested that heavier breeds should be used for heavier riders such as thoroughbred horses such as The Household Cavalry Horses, which according to the article: "are able to carry a 13 to 14 stone man, plus four stone of armour, when they are on parade.”

Perhaps one of the biggest difficulties is bringing up a problem which can be quite personal and embarrassing. But it's not something that the equestrian community is taking likely, and probably not for very long.