Much debate has been had about the “20 percent rule” of the rider-to-horse weight ratio. On the one hand, many equine professionals and amateur trainers cling firmly to the scant number of small-scale studies conducted around this subject, while the plus-sized equestrian community, mostly made up of plus-sized women, rails against this rule as “fat shaming” and unproven. I’m not a scientist, but, trained as a journalist, I do know the things to look out for when taking in studies as evidence. I won’t go into the details of all of the studies out there, but, as I mentioned, they are rather small scale and some, like this one conducted in 2020, used the same tack for all of the riders and also had multiple riders riding on the same day, leaving the heaviest riders for last, so it’s hard to know whether all that soreness and lameness was due to the weight of the rider or other factors. Ultimately, I think the goal for these kinds of studies needs to be the welfare of the animals, and therefore bias has no place there, and unfortunately, a lot of bias exists.

Cowboy culture has been around forever. In fact, the idea of a grown, tall, muscular man riding a “cow pony” has been woven through the fabric of Americana for decades. In modern times, however, where, rightly, animal welfare has taken more of a front seat, the pin-drop silence of calling out big men in 40-lb saddles on small horses bears a cutting contrast to the cacophony of yelps across the digital landscape when faced with the image of a woman with visible excess body fat riding anything other than a large draft horse. Partly, of course, culturally, we equate visible excess body fat as a red flag. We equate all kinds of morality to it: the person doesn’t care about their health, they are lazy, they are greedy, selfish, etc. How that translates to horse care or animal care or childcare, even, is that if they can’t “take care” of themselves, clearly, they won’t take care of the animal. But who are the primary caretakers in our culture? Oh, yes…women.

One thing we know about social media is how harsh it is toward women. There have been articles on articles about the bullying and harassment of women online. But even in cultures like horsey ones or childcare circles, where the goal is community and where people often go to find answers to their questions, hoo boy, is it judge-y. Horse community judge-y-ness is largely competitive, almost an aura of, “I’ll show that I know more than these other bitches.” There’s also an inherent contempt for those who aren’t “enlightened” to a particular way of doing things. All punctuated by an internalized mistrust of women.

For example, I saw a horse trainer post a video of her first ride on a young horse. Immediately, the judgments from other women riders entered the comments, judging the horse’s neck position, her hands, her seat, etc. I thought, wow, it’s a wonder that anyone dares to post anything online these days. Even though she was a trainer and explained in her post what she was trying to accomplish, the armchair experts judged from their screens in the kind of sick, feel-good way that can only be achieved from behind the screen, or whispered in barn aisles to other women.

If, in fact, our primary motivation is animal welfare, then we need to do better. When has anyone taken a snarky comment on the internet and gone, “Oh, thank you, dear lady, for your helpful snarky comment! I’m going to implement that now and forever! Thank you for saving my horse’s life!”? Thinking first about our motivations for making a comment would be helpful. And, if someone isn’t asking for advice, maybe keep it to yourself unless there’s an obvious issue, like maybe their horse is clearly lame? And even then, couch the comment in kindness and don’t assume the other equestrian is ignorant or stupid. A lot can be accomplished when we bring others to our same level and start from there.

But back to the issue at hand: rider weight. We have all seen images of riders who are clearly too big for their horses. And, on the other side of the “scale,” you have communities that are permissive of animal cruelty because they are trying to be supportive of all bodies. You see comments like, “You go girl!” and, “Don’t listen to the haters! I’m 300 lbs and my horse is 14 hands and he carries me fine on trails!” No, that’s not it. There are spaces for fat positivity, but not when it compromises equine welfare. What I’d like to see more from plus sized rider communities is how to enjoy horses in a humane way. It would be great to show examples of plus sized riders on weight-appropriate horses enjoying the sport. It would be awesome to educate people on proper tack fit, equine fitness, and how to check for soreness and lameness in horses. A 300-lb rider should not be riding a 14-hand lightweight horse; they should be riding, at minimum, a horse that weighs 1600 lbs (ideal weight for the horse). And, yes, that does narrow the options, but that’s just how it is.

As ethical, responsible riders, we should all be mindful of how our horses are feeling. Check their backs for soreness after every ride, check their legs consistently for heat or swelling, note any unusual behavioral challenges. Horses are prey animals, so it’s within their best interest to be stoic if they are feeling pain. Many, many horses will just put up with a too-heavy rider or uncomfortable tack. They probably “grin and bear” more than we know. It’s so, so important that we tune in and do our best to help them.

Nowadays, with our largely sedentary lifestyles, it’s harder and harder to maintain a steady weight. Our weights can bounce up and down considerably. Over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic, many riders found their weight shooting up. As such, some discovered they had expanded well out of their horse’s comfort range. For many of us, horses are family members. So, what to do in that case? Do you ride anyway and hope your horse can manage? Do you sell your horse? Do you quit riding?

If you gain weight well above the 20% rule, I would recommend avoiding riding your horse, but there are many things you can do as alternatives (driving, groundwork, liberty work, etc.). Those activities can really be just as rewarding as riding. It’s just like any other circumstance that might happen: your horse gets injured, you get injured, your horse gets sick, etc. You wouldn’t throw them away if they were injured (hopefully), so focus on what you CAN accomplish with them.

Weight issues are emotionally charged because of the fact that they are coupled with all of the emotional and moral factors mentioned above, and where people feel justified in perpetuating discrimination, bias, and cruelty against fat or “overweight” people. It’s SO important to acknowledge that fat people and people who have fleshy bodies deserve the same compassion, respect, acceptance, and humanity as people in more culturally normative bodies. We don’t need to make fun of or shame people for being fat. We also don’t need to tell every single person who has fat rolls that they’re abusing their horse.

This issue is highly nuanced and hotly debated, but I guess the bottom line of all of this is that we need to do better as a society in order to protect the welfare of horses. So, let’s normalize asking these kinds of questions:

1. You are not in a carnival; therefore, do you know the weight of the rider and the horse before you are saying they’re over 20%, or are you just seeing a fat roll and calling it out?

2. Did the rider ask for advice on this subject matter? If not, tread carefully as you’re unlikely to change hearts and minds in a comment on the internet. If you do give advice, come from a place of assumed respect and true kindness.

3. Focus on your own animal. Do you know if your tack fits? Are you checking for soreness and lameness regularly?

4. Focus on your own riding. How can you improve your riding fitness and overall balance?

5. Are you snarking about or complaining about mostly women riders who are overweight while ignoring men’s weight or thinking thin riders riding “double” is cute? Check your own bias.

Ultimately, we can all make the horse community a better place for all horse lovers of any size, advocate for the welfare of horses, and show up better for our own horses, but it takes a lot of self examination to make this happen. Who is with me?