Eating Disorders and Equestrians?

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

[QUOTE=RodeoFTW;8645342]
Fix’d[/QUOTE]

@Velvet;8645439

:lol: This is what the “ignore” option is for. :lol: Personally, I also thought a frying pan could work.

:lol:

:lol:

Every once in a while I forget and get sucked in. I have just spent the last 10 minutes reading through her other posts… Especially the one about affording a horse through college.

Had I realized that she was about 22 or 23 years old, angry to her core, and throwing around her current status as active duty Navy as proof of her maturity at the same time arguing with everyone while being very kindly treated to advice by VERY kind and patient COTH people…

I would have steered my ship very clear.

Every 6 months this happens and one day I will learn :). Maybe.

[RodeoFTW]

Proof of maturity because I didn’t take the advice of people from an online forum who don’t actually know me from real life? Hmm okay.

Grow up, child.

[Velvet]

This is now too sad even for popcorn.

[atlatl]

Back on topic: I’ve only had a judge comment once on my fitness as a rider and the comment was exactly that “your fitness” on the rider score which was a 6. This was on a 3rd level test that scored 69%, so I was able to get the job done. It was blazing hot and I was probably beet red at the end of it, but there you have it.

Since really working on my core strength, I’ve seen my rider score as high as 7. And I’m still an easy 20+ pounds overweight but at 5-10 with a short upper body and long legs, I get by.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

I think that the OP is being glib about abnormal psychological conditions that are not common. True eating disorders are caused by a complex interaction of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors, and tend to run in families. It is not cool to denigrate people by labeling them as psychologically impaired.

In my long equestrian life, I have known no one who had an eating disorder. I have known dedicated equestrian athletes who take their weight and their diet seriously. To say that these people have an eating disorder is ridiculous.

Take for example, top quarterback Tom Brady. He and his supermodel wife follow a very strict diet regimen. His diet may be crackpot to some, but he is aging extremely well and is very healthy. He does not have an “eating disorder” no matter how eccentric his nutritional beliefs may be.

So please, stop labeling people as having an “eating disorder.” It’s really just name calling through which you intend to make yourself feel better than someone else.

[Velvet]

^ :yes: ^

[Moderator_1]

We removed some back-and-forth that was more personal in nature than related to the topic.

Thanks ~
Mod 1

[atlatl]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8645245]
Did you read my post? I said your own “fighting weight.” She was all muscle when she made the team on Keen. It’s about being fit. It’s about not being lazy and unfit. Because that’s unfair to the horse.[/QUOTE]

Have you seen her lately? Hilda is all muscle today! That someone of her, shall we say maturity, rides so many horses in a single day at a show is incredible.

[Velvet]

Nope. Haven’t seen her in a while. She was always more stocky in her build. Nothing wrong with that. It’s the ones that aren’t fit that are an issue. Slamming up and down on the horse, hanging on to the bit to try and sit a trot. Ugh. I can’t watch that. And if they’re heavier and doing that, I have even more sympathy for the horse because you know it’s even harder for them to do anything right. With a bug-weight rider, they can kind of ignore the bouncing–not so much the death grip hands, that’s bad on anyone. I saw a middle-weight rider seriously getting bounced up and down out of the saddle by about four inches. It was horrible. I was feeling awful for her horse. If she’d weighed more, I would have simply cringed even more, knowing the amount of force that was hitting the horse. If it was a bug-weight rider, I probably would have still been horrified by the lack of skill, and would have felt bad for the horse, but not by the same degree. It all comes down to physics in that case. And more weight going up and the force when it comes back down? Ugh. Critical of that riding all the way around, but more and more unacceptable with the more weight coming down. Heck, if it had been a guy that looked fit, but I could guess he was the same as a fluffy female rider, and he was doing the same bounce, I would be equally horrified with him as with the fluffy rider. It’s about the amount of weight smacking the horse’s back.

[Denali6298]

At the end of the day I don’t think we should be judging anyone on anything except their riding and horsemanship. It is unfair to assume rail thin people have eating disorders and it’s unfair to criticize fluffy riders. It’s unfair to be judgemental of horse rider combinations based on size ratio.

In high school I would school a naughty pony for its child rider. I even did several schooling shows. Did I look absolutely awkward being 5’8" at the time on a 10 hand pony? Sure did. Did I hurt the pony because of my size? No. Body control is everything. It’s equally wrong to judge small riders on large horses. You don’t know the reason behind why that particular rider is on that particular horse. If people want to go through life passing judgment on everyone else that’s fine. It says more about that person than the anyone else. I have heard the rail bird comments about me and my horses through my years showing and I choose to ignore them and let my scores speak for themselves.

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8641606]
BTW, do you ever see top swimmers and runners that are overweight? Nope. A top rider, who is doing GP should also not be seriously overweight. It’s a sport, after all.[/QUOTE]

Well, if they are a top rider, then by definition they are better than most riders. Regardless of body type. It is a sport and not a beauty pageant. The results speak for themselves.
I can name a couple of Top riders, eventing and jumping that are “stout” but manage to get the job done just fine.
“There is no “should”, only do.”
-Short, fat Yoda

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;8643980]

The only time I have ever really noticed someone’s weight was with a seriously overweight lady who rode a small horse and she wasn’t one of those good riders who was well-balanced. This poor horse, she got on and his back went “ouch” and he was probably so overburdened that he couldn’t even try to buck her off. She should not have been riding any horse, let alone the petite little one she rode. But even then I don’t know if anyone said anything to her because she still kept on showing up to clinics and shows.

Is this more prevalent in the english disciplines than western? Think of all the big guys on the QHs - does anyone say anything to them? Probably not, because they are men. Is there a “skinny look” that is desired in WP or ??[/QUOTE]

So true… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApDFTalBsg4

[Velvet]

[QUOTE=stoicfish;8645957]
Well, if they are a top rider, then by definition they are better than most riders. Regardless of body type. It is a sport and not a beauty pageant. The results speak for themselves.
I can name a couple of Top riders, eventing and jumping that are “stout” but manage to get the job done just fine.
“There is no “should”, only do.”
-Short, fat Yoda[/QUOTE]
I wasn’t speaking of stocky, I said SERIOUSLY overweight.

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8646234]
I wasn’t speaking of stocky, I said SERIOUSLY overweight.[/QUOTE]

Like 20pds or more? Not many top swimmers are even 5pd overweight, so that is the comparison. I can think of one famous British jumper that had to be 30pds over his ideal weight. He is one of the best.
Just saying that riding is not comparable to many Olympic sports in terms of the extreme fitness that is required.
But to the topic, I think it is great when people in general get out and are active. Especially if they are carrying weight. Most riders are doing it for the shear enjoyment of it and shouldn’t have to worry about impressing people. I think this depends on the age group and the culture of the people your ride around. More so than the idea that it is an equestrian thing.

[Velvet]

OMG, stoicfish, are you trying to compete with Rodeo’s replies by dragging everything down some agenda filled path you are creating in your own head? Stop freaking projecting.

[Velvet]

What a whiny, train wreck thread this has become. Fine. There are eating disorders everywhere! Some people are super fat from them, and others are so thin they look like skeletons. Now, should we all move on to REALITY? (This topic seems to be dredging up demons in people’s imaginations, not reality.) :rolleyes: Yes, that’s an example of reductio ad absurdum, not what I actually believe. Sheesh!

[stoicfish]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8646580]
OMG, stoicfish, are you trying to compete with Rodeo’s replies by dragging everything down some agenda filled path you are creating in your own head? Stop freaking projecting.[/QUOTE]

“Everything”???
Bit dramatic just because someone disagreed with your point.
You have the floor…

[Bogey2]

gee One of the people listed for the Olympic teams with two horses is 57, short and not skinny…hmmm…blows a few theories here out of the water!

[Cowgirl]

[QUOTE=Bogey2;8649330]
gee One of the people listed for the Olympic teams with two horses is 57, short and not skinny…hmmm…blows a few theories here out of the water![/QUOTE]

…and was told she wasn’t “fit” enough to jog her own horses at a european cdi

[jayessbee]

[QUOTE=yourcolorfuladdiction;8642328]
I want to add that a particular former US Olympian in eventing used to tell her students “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” And used to lose her temper when she caught her students eating. Pretty messed up.[/QUOTE]

FWIW, this quote originated with Kate Moss!