Below is the response I wrote up and sent off to Chewy’s marketing team, based on an email article I received a few days ago titled “How much weight can a horse carry?” I use Chewy on the regular, Benny’s kibble is on auto-ship and I buy treats and toys for both Benny and Tarma from them. They are a good company to work with, but this article was both a bit tone deaf, under researched, and definitely got the wrong reaction out of me.

Hello Chewy Marketing (or whoever put together and signed off on this),

I recently received the Chewy article to my email inbox, with the headline of “How much weight can a horse carry?” Immediately my heart sank a bit, this is such a critical topic and one that affects me directly and most articles regarding this subject are inaccurate and misleading.

Let’s start with a bit about myself: I am primarily an endurance rider, and as a member of the American Endurance Riding Conference (our governing body in the USA) I’m classified as a heavy weight rider (more than 211 pounds combined body weight and tack). I’m mildly successful at endurance, though I have low official mileage (we recently received our 250 mile marker), but I’ve been riding endurance for over a decade and been a heavy weight for all of them. I’ve never had a vet pull a horse at the inspection, or had a vet remark upon my weight or it’s effects on the horse I’m riding.

I’ve had my current horse, a 10 year old formally feral Morganish mare named Tarma, for almost five years and I’ve worked incredibly hard and surrounded us with a supportive, knowledgeable team (barn owner, trainers, vets, body workers, clinicians of various stripes, and endurance mentors and friends) to build us both up solidly and for the long haul. Not one of these folks, professionals most of them, have ever said I’m too big or heavy for her. The focus has always been on building us up as a team with a wholistic approach, mentally, physically and emotionally, for our demanding sport. My main goal is the Decade Team award from AERC, which recognizes horse and rider pairs who ride at least one 50 miler a year without a pull for 10 years (not consecutive).

I’m no marketing person, but as a rider, horse owner, and frequent Chewy customer, I am the intended audience for this specific article. My initial thought was to rewrite the article to better affect, but I’m at a work conference and just don’t have the time that should have been devoted to an issue that affects so many people. I’m part of a group on Facebook, the English Plus Size Rider, and I know several other folks have reached out to you already. I know you didn’t intend this article to take a bullying tone, but that’s still how it hit many of us when you refer to a totally debunked and tone deaf “rule”. As all horse folks know, there are no hard and fast rules when dealing with horses. For every person’s non-negotiable “rule” (Always tie a horse in a trailer!) you’ll find hundreds who will never do that, or who do the opposite of that, or it depends on the situation and the horse involved.

This holds true for weight as well. The weight horses carry can be a welfare issue, though one that is not at all clear cut. Even calling the 20% “rule” a guideline is not really supported by good, solid, decent research; there just isn’t money in this sector to run a bunch of well constructed, long term studies. The ones mentioned in your article have been addressed by better writers and researchers than myself. The needs for an individual owner like myself and what I can ask of my one horse that I support fully are totally different than a riding school or dude ranch with a string of horses they need to support for a variety of riders, which is why I totally support them having guidelines or rules for their own stock. In my personal experience, heavier weight riders tend to be much more conscious of setting their horses up for success.

However, the one quote that really got my gander up is the pull quote: “Abiding by the 20% rule will make your horse more competitive in the ring or more effective at their job.” This is absolutely the wrong thing to emphasize. The bullet list below, which addresses all the other things that affect a horse’s ability, is a far more appropriate take away. However, it still doesn’t mention at all the absolute basic needs of all horses. These are called the “five freedoms”, and include: Freedom from hunger and thirst; Freedom from discomfort; Freedom from pain, injury, and disease; Freedom to express normal behavior; and Freedom from fear and distress. Each of these should be addressed and built up before ever questioning a rider’s weight.

To move forward, I would love a better update to the article to address the multiple concerns I know you’ve heard, and a reach out to competitive or even amateur heavy weight riders such as myself (or anyone willing from the Facebook group I mentioned) for real life perspectives would be helpful. I would be happy to share my journey and perspective and connect you with other heavyweight endurance riders, including those who have successfully retired their high mileage horses.

Thank you for being willing to hear feedback on this issue, and enjoy the rest of your week. Jamethiel M.