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Plus sized? anyone brave enough to post a photo??

382K views 2K replies 314 participants last post by  SadiePearl 
#1 ·
hey i was wondering who would be brave enough to post a pic of them riding :-p when im on my own comp i will post one :D
emma
 
#9 ·
Not only am I brave, I'm a picture HO, so sit back and be amazed, horrified, at the incredible fat, thin, large smaller ever changing rider

Me at 316 pounds trying out Mr Gilmore



I bought him because he carried me so easily.

He was also my inspiration to start losing weight




and then some more




and then it all went pear shaped, well I did, and I managed to put it back on just about as quick as I lost it, so now I look like this

'




But you know it doesn't change who I am, yes it affects my riding, I ride better lighter than I do bigger, and I'm working on it again, but I'm still riding:wink:
 
#10 ·
OMG!!!! I just noticed this forum! I am so excited! Last I heard, admin had nixed the idea of having a forum for us plus sized riders.

A friend took this picture of me on my ill-fated trail ride. (How can one of the best days in my recent memory also be one of my worst?)

At any rate, this is Dancer and I on 06/25/11 riding the trails at Prague Lake:

Horse Mammal Vertebrate Bridle Rein


Someone please tell me I'm not too big for her! My friends (and my daughter) tell me I'm not too big, but still...
 
#664 ·
OMG!!!! I just noticed this forum! I am so excited! Last I heard, admin had nixed the idea of having a forum for us plus sized riders.

A friend took this picture of me on my ill-fated trail ride. (How can one of the best days in my recent memory also be one of my worst?)

At any rate, this is Dancer and I on 06/25/11 riding the trails at Prague Lake:

View attachment 75641

Someone please tell me I'm not too big for her! My friends (and my daughter) tell me I'm not too big, but still...
You look incredible. She seems willing enough ;-0)
 
#11 ·
Dee it's really hard to tell from that pic how suited Dancer and you are, in fact it's very hard to tell from any picture.

More pics from me

Here I am on Fancy, my first time on a horse in a long time, this is my little beginner friendly weight carrying Haflinger



So many people told me that we looked like a good match, and she looked fine for me, just on a set of these pics. Truth is she wasn't fine, she had to brace when I got on, and she is not happy with a heavier rider on her.

I knew that which is one of the reasons I bought Appy Gilmore there.

When I posted this pic



It caused quite a debate among a load of people I didn't know and who didn't know me or Mr G, and they deemed that I was to heavy for him...wrong, the reason that I'm smiling so much in the pic is that he didn't have to brace when I got on, and he rode the same for me as he did for the lightweight I was buying him from.

As larger riders we are always seeking some sort of validation about if our horse can carry is, truth is the onlt one who can truthfully tell you that is the horse themselves.

Be totally honest with yourself, and watch and listen to your horse, let a smaller rider have a go and compare their way of going. Involve a trusted and experienced friend to watch these things as well, it will give you a far truer picture than asking people on a message board:wink:
 
#12 ·
One of the friends that was with us on our trail ride (and has seen me ride Dancer previously) is a trainer. She is the first one that told me that Dancer wouldn't have any trouble carrying me. She just suggested that I not even try to mount from the ground (I can't do that, anyway) and not to bounce around in the saddle.

Trying to find a saddle that fits Dancer has been a trial, but we think we've found what she needs, and I will pick one up before next spring. The saddle I have will do just fine for the short rides.

Dancer never once staggered with me, and had no trouble keeping up with the Paso Finos that were leading the trail ride...until we were about halfway through - about four miles. I think if we hadn't been trying to keep up, we'd have been fine. Dancer hadn't been ridden in several years, except for a very few short rides.

Trust me, we were checking Dancer every day for any sign of soreness, but she was fine. I spent a week in a wheelchair and a month in a cast. I can't wait to be able to get my foot back in my boot and ride again. We are going to take it slower, though!
 
#17 ·
These are the first day I rode Cat. I left her halter around her neck with the lead rope twisted around the saddle horn, because I figured I'd hit the ground, and we'd have a heck of a time catching her.... I'm glad neither happened! For a horse who supposedly spent a month at a trainers, she would not do anything, would not walk forward, would just turn circles, finally my brother came out and led her a bit after that she was fine.
 

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#19 ·
First of all, MHfoundationquarters, you are only an honorary member of this forum. YOu aren't big enough. But since you are so nice, you can stay with the "big girls"! Just kidding. YOu are always welcome!
I used to be though. At my heaviest I was 215. I'm hovering around 160 right now. Pretty sure though that I have enough derriere to belong to the club :)
 
#20 ·
Nuisance, you remind me of me! This was my first ride on Dancer. I was the only one brave enough to get on her. We were at the trainer's in these pix. I kind of got rooked into it - we took daughter's little mare for 90 days of training. Daughter "claimed" her mare would need a companion on the trip to keep her from getting too nervous. I agreed to take Dancer - it was no skin off my nose and she needed the practice loading.

I was set up! Yes, daughter's horse was going to be left with the trainer, but the trainer was bound and determined that I was going to ride Dancer. Guess you could say I was shamed into it, and shamed was certainly right - I had to use a picnic table as a mounting block!

The long line was just a safety precaution - the last time anyone rode Dancer, she pitched a bucking fit that would have taken your breath away at a rodeo! Personally, I think she just didn't like that rider's style - I have learned one does NOT kick m'lady Dancer!

Horse Bridle Mammal Vertebrate Rein


Horse Mammal Bridle Vertebrate Halter
 
#24 ·
Dee - I love the second pic! You look incredibly happy!
It was one of the best moments in recent memory - the first time I'd been on a horse in 20+ years. I don't know which made me happier, the fact that I actually had the nerve to try to ride Dancer, or the fact that she didn't try to kill me (like she did her last rider) or the fact that she didn't buckle in the middle from all that weight!
 
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#22 ·
errrr :oops::oops:

I have to ask ladies, my biggest problem as a large rider in a western saddle was dismounting, what with the issues of not wanting to have all ones weight on one stirrup to step off, then trying to navigate excess flesh around the saddle horn, without getting a bra (industrial strength) caught on said horn, well I struggled.

I bought an Abetta Endurance so get away from the horn issue, and of course English is easier still, so how do you dismount safely and elegantly as a big girl with a western saddle?
 
#26 ·
errrr :oops::oops:

I have to ask ladies, my biggest problem as a large rider in a western saddle was dismounting, what with the issues of not wanting to have all ones weight on one stirrup to step off, then trying to navigate excess flesh around the saddle horn, without getting a bra (industrial strength) caught on said horn, well I struggled.

I bought an Abetta Endurance so get away from the horn issue, and of course English is easier still, so how do you dismount safely and elegantly as a big girl with a western saddle?
I have always been a little "fluffy" while I had horses...even in my younger days, but nothing like now, of course. I always kicked out of my right stirrup and swung over, but my upper body was well over the center line of the horse, so I kept myself "counter balanced." I would support my weight with my arms - even as large as I am now, that's not too hard. Then kick out of the left stirrup and drop to the ground. Actually, slide out of the saddle to the ground. Haven't hung my bra on the saddle horn.

Only two bad things with my dismount...I seemed to have developed some "belly rolls" and they don't much like my sliding down out of the saddle. Especially if my shirt rides up and it's bare skin sliding down the leather...ouch.

The other thing? Definitely to remember - NOT to dismount on the downhill side of a tall(ish) horse - the drop is farther than you think! Knee is still a tad painful!
 
#23 ·
Bra on the horn is a killer. Have gotten hung up once and it scared me silly. I think I keep my hand on the horn , my left, so that my bra can't get over it. But, I have had my pants get hung up on the horn, my wasteband, when the hrose I was riding reared and I leaned forward and found my "evil twin" (my muffin top family) going over the horn. Then, when said horse started to buck, I could not sit up straight and ended up literally hanging off the side of a bucking horse, by the waistband of my pants. That was a bad moment in my head, but pants ripped and laid me down in the dirt, nice and gently.

My good friend stitched 'em back up and now I call them my Frankenstien pants.
 
#25 ·
I've only hooked my bra on the saddle horn twice. Once was last year, decided to run barrels on my old mare and it'd been so long I forgot just how hard she launches off the line. Leaned into it with her, caught my bra and sure enough ripped the center, thank god for the sports bra over the top!

Did find a pic of a bigger me since tiny called me out :wink:
This is me on one of the touring Lipizzan stallions at their home barn 4 years ago. It was a lot of fun!
Horse Halter Bridle Rein Mammal
 
#27 ·
Great pics, everyone! :) And such nice horses - I'm not even going name those I liked the best, all are just gorgeous.
 
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#50 ·
Dee, your horse has one of the nicest coats I've seen. Makes me really jealous - mine is just plain sorrel. :)
 
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