Blog Spotlight: ‘A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse’

To kick off our new series on awesome rider blogs, may we direct you to our first blog spotlight, A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse: A blog for plus-sized riders.

The title might seem, at first, a little jarring. But the blog’s author, Amanda, strikes one as the sort of girl who’s not going to beat around the bush. She’s a big girl, but she’s comfortable in her own skin and she’s not going to let her weight stop her from pursuing her passion: horses.

I’ll stop badly paraphrasing and let Amanda explain herself:

From her entry entitled “The Beginning is a Good Place to Begin:”

Why am I writing this blog?

I AM NOT writing this blog to fill the heads of plus sized riders with fluff and rainbows. I am not here to say “even if you weigh 500lbs, you should ride horses!” I am not even here to say that everyone who weighs 300lbs is fit or ready to ride their horses. I AM here to say that life doesn’t end just because you’re fat, and fat is not a good excuse to stop doing the things that you enjoy.

I am writing this blog:

– to TALK about plus sized riders. People need to be aware!
– to SHARE ideas and resources with other plus sized riders.
– to SHOWCASE talented plus sized equestrians and share success stories.
– to DEBUNK many of the myths surrounding plus sized riders and the horses they ride and the equestrian world they live in.
– to INSPIRE those who have packed on a few pounds but used to love riding and want to investigate if this is a possibility at all for them.

Not every entry Amanda writes is about her weight. Her musings run the gamut from cute Wranglers and riders she admires to everyday adventures and breakthroughs with her horse Bronwyn. The connecting thread of each entry, however, is an underlying self-confidence and honesty that should inspire and empower any rider, no matter what your shape or size.

From her latest entry, “Negativity Breeds Negativity“:

I weigh about 30lbs less than I did when I started writing this blog and I don’t think it’s a secret that I am on a continuing journey for better fitness. I have never written this blog as a weight loss blog – because that’s not what it is, at all. This is a blog to encourage you not to spend your whole life waiting until everything is right for you to do the things that you want to do. It’s like waiting for the never-arriving tomorrow. Nothing will ever be 100% perfect (and if it is, you’re kidding yourself!), so don’t hold your breath until it happens or you’ll suffocate. Of course I want you to be healthy. Of course I want you to fuel your body with the things it deserves and move it like you know you can. But what I also want is for you to experience joy NOW. Not later, NOW. Because you deserve it NOW. And that is exactly the philosophy that my weight loss journey has followed. I treat my body well because I DESERVE it. I continue to do and enjoy the things I love because I DESERVE IT. In THIS body. In the body I had thirty pounds ago, in the body I had fifty pounds ago. RIGHT NOW.

In addition to Amanda’s journal, the blog includes interactive features like a discussion forum and her posts consistently yield discussion and reflection via reader comments.

Amanda, Horse Nation salutes you. Check our her blog yourself at A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse.

Go Amanda, and Go Riding.