Fat Shaming versus Animal Welfare — the Debate About Larger Equestrians

“Babe” Photo by author

Fatphobia is a very real issue. It wrecks self esteem, results in poor health outcomes and, paradoxically, makes it harder to lose weight.

When abusive trainer George Morris was finally outed, it surprised very few people, because he was well known for putting his riders on strict diets and shaming them about a few extra pounds.

On the other hand, there’s the animal welfare argument…the one that says that it is, plain and simple, unfair or even cruel for people of size to ride.

So, let’s unpack this.

How Much Weight Can a Horse Carry?

First of all, we do have a rule of thumb for the amount of weight a horse can carry.

That rule is 20% of the animal’s weight, and it refers to the combined weight of rider and tack. English saddles weigh about twenty pounds and Western saddles about forty (although barrel racing saddles are a lot lighter and roping saddles are particularly heavy because they need a more solid tree). Bridles are pretty light and also on a different part of the horse, so I’m not counting the bridle.

This means that a 200 pound man in a western saddle weighs 240 pounds, and needs a horse that weighs about five times that. About 1200 pounds.