Yesterday I happened over to H&H forum; before I start I would just like to say I don’t go over that often for no reason other than time.  I have a couple of places I log into regularly and they keep me fairly occupied.

When I do log on though I get a feeling of ah I’ve missed this place a bit like home. Its full of some really nice knowledgeable people and I have read some interesting debates on there, I suppose it’s the closest I come to the feeling I had as teenager spending my life down the yard.

Now the flip sides though there are just some outright mean nasty people that seem to make it their mission to go out of their way to be rude and obnoxious.  Please don’t let that put you off though these people shouldn’t stop you actively engaging in others in a positive manner.

Over the years  I have come to terms with the sort of prejudice you get when overweight, I won’t say it doesn’t sting, but when your own dad can tell you he don’t want to date big girls, you come to realise the comments are usually as empty as the people  who say them.

So it seems I am a bit of a sucker for some suckerpunch’ing. I was looking through the new lounge and nothing caught my eye so I put a search in for overweight riders.  Bear in mind when I first got Nas I use to put into searches about weight limits for horses and more often than not I would be directed to HHO where the theme seemed to be big girls shouldn’t ride.

Sure enough there was a recent thread where someone was asking the same old question just put a different way. At first it seemed to be an honest discussion which I actually enjoyed reading and then it turned to the usual fat bashing furore.

Now that doesn’t bother me so much anymore, because like I’ve said they don’t know, I don’t know. And until they put a weight onto horses back and can talk horse we won’t know what each individual horse is capable of carrying.

What really got my goat was ‘people need to realise Horse riding is a sport not a hobby’ WTF! Sorry but it has got me really riled who are these people to say that! Sure if riding is your sport then fine good for you but stop trying to hold the monopoly on horse riding.

I know of two women in their 60’s

one who is for want of a better word a ‘happy hacker’, after recovering from breast cancer, she wanted to relive a dream of hacking around the village she grew up in,  she is also the sole carer of their  horse and everyday rain or shine will be out there taking care of her.  She will be happy if her mare plods around and won’t give two hoots if she is in an outline and working correctly

The other for want of a better word a ‘dressage diva’ she has horses effectively on full livery where although she has a say in their day to day care, ultimately it’s not her that does it. The only time I saw her pick up a brush was to plait up ready for a show.  She works hard for her passion and expects the horses to work just as hard. To her they are work!

Ok so this might be a bit snipey… but one horse will be cuddled and fussed by her owner and the other will be treated like a piece of equipment, not to say they won’t be loved and cared for but not much unlike a javelin thrower who has a special place for their winning ‘javelin’ don’t quote me on that. I really don’t know about javelin throwers but you know what I mean.

Now in my mind I don’t think either is wrong in their approach to riding, and who I am I to say otherwise. Ideally for me I would like to be somewhere in the middle. But for some reason my stomach is convinced it loves chocolate just as much as my heart loves Horses and riding. Don’t even ask what my brain is up to half the time.

So what I am trying to say is don’t listen to the idiots that think they have the monopoly on horses. We are all equals and have a right to be who we want to be, the only thing we need to be aware of is our horses, if you are true to them then you can’t go wrong.

What I mean by that is if you have a highly bred sports horse don’t expect it to be happy plodding around the fields or being stuck in an arena on the end of a rope for hours on end.  It’s a bit Parelli ish but personality if you know your horses’ personality then life is a lot easier.

Like me for instance, I have seen Nas ridden plenty of times by other people from complete beginners, to the more advanced and no matter what he tries to pull the same tricks. So it’s not my weight.  Same as I know the tail swishing and itchy shoulders is no different from when he isn’t being ridden.

You would also be forgiven for thinking when he comes in to be tack up with his head low and dull eyes that he is not a happy boy about being ridden, phooey he loves it. What you don’t see is him come cantering from the furthest reaches of the field to be near me, whether it’s to get him in for dinner, a ride or I’m just out there poo-picking.

This picture was taken yesterday (video coming soon) but I just wanted to share it with you, he is so handsome, It has lost some of the depth, but you can still see it. My horse is as happy as he makes me.