May trade for a new horse thoughts please?

[Kansaseq]

I would not buy a horse without seeing him ridden, and riding him yourself. Bring a saddle with you if you have to; that sounds like an excuse to me.
To carry a larger rider, I would look at draft crosses, old type quarter horse, or fjord/hafflinger type crosses. I'm 180, tall, and feel bad riding a horse that's built lean. I like having a big, solid horse under me.

 

[arabianequine]

Yeah kinda what I was thinking but I asked if they could come here too but I could take a saddle there too. I agree on the weight/size of the horse too.

 

[Kansaseq]

I ride a foxtrotter/draft cross horse who is awesome. He belongs to my neighbor, but is perfect for a larger rider, and so smooth. If I ever buy my own horse again,I want one just like him. He's not for sale, but just a suggestion of type you may want to look for. BTW, she got him for $500 several years ago. He's awesome!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I wouldn't be so concerned about height. I've ridden 14.3 hand paint horses and they carried my weight just fine. I think the weight carrying capacity of a horse has more to do with the size and thickness of the legs. (As well as with the confirmation of the legs) Also, good balance really helps lessen the weight on a horse's back. An off balance rider who weighs 150 is a lot heavier and awkward than a 200+ person with good balance. I've gotten excellent practice with balance riding lesson horses while my trainer lunged them.

The owners of the roan horse who said they don't have a saddle seems a bit sketchy. If you can find a saddle to ride him with, and they are still willing to ride him first, he still might be worth a look at. If not, then I would guess he has some issues and they are just using the "no saddle" pitch as an excuse. He does look a bit thin, but he is pretty stocky. He would probably carry your weight just fine.

Also, there are some awesome draft ponies that carry weight perfectly fine. I've seen Halflinger ponies who are 14-14.2 carry larger riders like they were feathers. Smaller horses are definitely easier to get on!

 

[chickenzoo]

I'm short..... and far from skinny, so i have a short stout Mustang mare...... she's nothing fancy but will do anything for you.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Quote:
WOW Chickenzoo - your girl is a beauty. I like the stocky girls too. I'm 5'8" and 180 - when I went looking for a horse, I wanted one with a big rear end.

My first horse, spotted saddle horse, Miss Kitty had a big quarter horse type body. Dixie the Tennessee walker was the same 15 h height but leaner. I did feel a little guilty on her with a 45 lb crates saddle going up and down elk trails.

Pic of my girl from the side

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I'm around your weight range. He's 15.3, 1100 lbs. His legs were the first thing I saw. He may not have perfect conformation, but they do very well for both of us. He seems to hold me up just fine without too much of an issue. If you'd like, I can post a video of when we were just getting readjusted to each other.

 

[patandchickens]

Short (per se) is not a problem in terms of weight-carrying ability (until you get down to real "pony" sizes)... in fact, stocky strongly-built short/modest sized horses generally do BETTER than real tall ones, because they are more inclined overall to soundness. You have to remember that, for a given "build", a 16.2 h horse is already carrying a much higher load per square inch on his legbones/tendons/hooves than a 14.2 or 10.2 one is, purely because of the way things scale. So larger horses are already closer to their 'load limit' just from their own weight and moving forces.

A sturdy, even somewhat drafty-looking, 14.2 horse is usually GREAT for a larger rider (also for a longer-legged one), plus you have the great advantage of not being quite so far off the ground either

and their soundness and longevity is on average better.

As far as the "we don't have a saddle so you can't see him ridden" people, maybe they really DON'T have a saddle is all, HOWEVER since you do not want to buy a horse you can't see ridden, it just rules him out, plain and simple, same as if he lived too far away from you or whatever. I would NOT count on just bringing a saddle -- even with western saddles, it is just not that easy to ensure that you get a decent fit between saddle and horse, and quite honestly I think this one should just be regarded as a "pass" (and not just for that reason)

Pat

 

[Show Me Chick]

I've always heard to take 20 % of the horse weight and that's how much it can carry without causing harm, so a 1000 lb horse could carry 200 lb of rider/equipment. I personally think the horses you been looking at are to small. Here's a link that talks about what a horse can handle http://equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/weight_carry_062608/

 

[chickenzoo]

Well my short 14 hand Mustang weighs in at a hefty 1200lbs, hehe ......... so you can get short and heavy also.....