At Spider Lake Ranch & Riding Stable…We strive to ensure you have a memorable time enjoying the forest on horseback. We have several Safety Precautions in place to help keep you, other guests and our horses safe.

• Riders must be at least 7 years old and 48″ tall to ride. Sorry, no exceptions, this is a safety and insurance restriction.

• Riding double is not permitted, this is also an insurance restriction as well as a personal belief, as it’s exceptionally dangerous.

• For the health and safety of our horses, we have a strict weight limit of 220lbs.  We have implemented a new policy of weighing everyone except small children.  If a guest is over the weight limit, we would not have a horse for that rider.

There does seem to be a misconception on how much weight a horse can carry.  Yes, they are big animals, but they do have limitations.  And we have been told our weight limit is too low.  But I think this will help to explain the reasoning behind that number.  A horse can consistently and safely carry 20% of their body weight, which includes saddle and pad.  So that means an 1100-pound horse (our biggest), can safely and consistently carry 220 pounds.  Smaller horses, that weight is less.  When a horse repeatedly carries more weight than it should, it can be catastrophic to the horse causing sores, lameness or permanent injuries.  It’s not difficult for horses to occasionally carry more weight, but ours are working horses. They work every day and go on multiple trips per day, so we go by the 20% rule.  Our priority is for their health and safety first.  For this reason alone, we weigh everyone on arrival.