To my mind it sorta depends . . .

How well you ride, I know a couple of "big men" and becuase they ride well, they "help" the horse and "sit lightly", a slim person who sits like a "sack of spuds" is a lot harder on a horse

How far you expect to ride in a day e.g. 4 hours just about any horse will stand up to on good going, but it'll take a stouter horse to carry a big man all day up hill and down dale.

How much you mind how you look on a horse - lots of folks have too big an ego to ride small horses (me I like them, even though I'm 6' I'm real happy on a well trained 14'2" -still a pony by most folks measure).

How much you ride and keep your horses fit - if you ride les than once a week ( I think at least 3 times a week is essential for a fit horse) then you're gonna need a stouter animal to cope.

Finally I grew up farming in incredibly steep hill country. My Dad was 14 stone (190 lbs) but rode little solid ponies all over it, day in and day out. These little guys would have been 13'2" at the most (wearing socks!) but they would work all day with stock with no quitting. I still shudder when I think about where we rode those ponies !!


Probably as you get older consider a smaller horse with a stout heart. Easier to get on and off, and if you're riding as much as you should be, getting off and leading him will be good for both of you !! (we always lead horses down any big descents in our county)

Good Luck

Foster

Hey Tent,,,As I am in Louisiana these days,terrain wont be a consideration,and I dont careabout what others think about how I look.When I learned to ride,I was told and taught not to be a LOAD on the horse,but a PART of the horse as much as possible,,,I tend to be very aware of how the animal is moving.I 've always liked horses in the 16 hand size,,,but as you say,as the age gets upon us ,shorter is handier!I also consider 3 times a week as a minimum,,,but as time is my own at this point,and as much as I love to ride in the woods,a couple hours everyday or every other day is more likely,and longer a couple of times a week is more than likely.I once saw guy on a quarterhorse gelding that couldn't have gone more than 12 hands,with the shortest legs on a full grown horse I had ever seen!!but man that little buckskin could go all day!

One thing, the most important and over looked issue is proper saddle fit. Unfortunately this is almost a unknown topic among 95% of riders. I have seen light riders hurt a horse with bad fit and in fact one of the first things I look at when a problem horse is brought to me to work with is their saddle and gear. More then once I have fixed a broncy horse with a proper saddle.
For your question, 20% of the your horses weight to carry for med to hard riding, 30% for short pleasure riding. One can measure the cannon bone to get a more specific indication.
All this is relative to how you ride, your saddle fit, your horses age and conditioning.

A stout-bred mountain horse from Colorado/Montana/etc. should carry a big man just fine. Even the older ones are tougher than the young ones I've hauled to the mountains from Texas. Big lungs, big heart, no quit. And mostly easy keepers.

quote:

I am at that point in life where weight is hard to keep off and harder to take off,,

What is your weight?

Some places say 90kg other 100kg...go figure.

When the US Cavelry used Morgans, it was said that a Morgan could carry 20% of it's weight 20 miles a day on 20# of forage.

I would thimk that the 20% factor would be a good rule of thumb.

20 -30% depending on how much and how well you ride is a good rule of thumb.

I will agree with the 20% factor if the horse is a "ready" conditioned animal. You just can not take an animal out of the pasture and put a 250-lb man and 50 pounds of tack on the animal and expect it to go on a trail ride for 20 miles.

Now if my math serves me correctly, a 1200 pound horse at 20% leaves 240 pounds of weight.

If you weigh over 300 pounds, then you should probably be looking at a "good" saddle mule, and a good one will cost you. A mule can pack almost twice the load of a horse in dead weight.

If you weigh 300 pounds you probably cannot get on a horse and its probably a moot question, and even if you can it puts a burden on the horse and may make him shy, but you can always loose weight if you want to ride.

If you weigh 250 lbs. then you have no problem. Just get a big horse, say a 1300 pound 15.5 or 16 hand horse.

A horseman should force himself to keep his weight down, the heavier you are the harder it is to ride and maintain balance, and the harder you hit the ground if your horse gets out from under you, making you more injury prone..With that in mind, do yourself a favor and stay healthy in more ways than one.

Not trying to discourage you, trying to motivate you to a wonderful way of life and thats on a good horse.