KS58, I suspect you have it close to right.

Well, equate the pack horse to the back packing human. There are good back packs, that distribute the weight for ease of carrying and then there are the others. Which would you want to be hauling around? It just goes to show you how forgiving and willing horses are. Do the same to the human and you would have one cussin' swearin', ain't movin' cuz it hurts person.... I could be wrong..... ;-)

Im gonna go out to the barn and saddle up Rancher for Waylon to ride...LMBO!

I hope Waylon don't read that book!!

Well, there are a few things to consider. Rider balance is one, a balanced heavier rider can do well on a horse that might seem small for the rider. The other thing is a well fitting saddle so that the weight is distributed over the largest and best area of the horse's back. Horse's back muscles are not set up for weight bearing but for locomotion so correct saddle fit is uber important!

Lmbo.....camel sales are sure to rise.

So a 6', 200 lbs guy with a 40 lbs saddle shouldn't even be riding huh? :| Bad Bad John Wayne!! We won't even mention Andy Devine.

Thought this was interesting. As an instructor, it's often tough to find a way to politely tell someone that he/she is too heavy to ride one of my horses. I try to have a good selection, but sometimes, the skill level of the rider precludes him/her from riding a horse that might be suitable size-wise. Often, I look at length of back and muscling, as well as bone-density. A friend just sent this information to me, and I thought that some of you might find it interesting and might have other thoughts. My aim is to keep my horses sound and as healthy as possible for the duration of their (hopefully) long lives. If the horses are happy, the riders have a better chance of being happy, too . . . and safety is the name of the game for me. ************************************************* My friend writes: I just purchased the book "The Less-Than-Perfect Rider by Lesley Bayley and Caroline Davis. It is an excellent reference! Here is what it says on weight-carrying capacity: "The height and build of a horse or pony does not determine what weight it can carry: this is largely determined by how much 'bone' the animal has, the term 'bone' describing the measurement, taken in inches, around the cannon bone just under the horse's knee. As a rough guide, a horse having 8in of bone should be able to carry 154-168lbs (70-76kg), a horse with 9in will be up to 182-198lbs (82-88kg) and a horse with 10-11in of bone will be up to 210lbs (94kg) and more." It goes on to explain about bone density and different breeds but this is a good 'rule of thumb' as they say.