Fat Girls can ride dressage tooEspecially if they ride Friesian dressage horses! Fat girls can ride dressage, most certainly, on the right horse. Due to their size, a Fries can carry a bigger woman without exerting himself, as long as he is supple and fit. Some baroque Friesian horses now stand at 17Hh in their feathers.
Fact is, both horse and rider look much more elegant if they are not overweight. Obesity is as dangerous for women and girls as it is for horses. As an equestrian, beginner or advanced competitor, we are acutely aware of our weight and fitness and how it affects our self-confidence and our riding ability. Who has not felt exposed in a pair of skin-tight jodhs or a suddenly too-short jacket? And the law of Murphy specifies that ‘fat’ days and ‘bad hair’ days always fall together on hunting/competing/performing days.
Carrying extra weight affects our health, our confidence and our stress levels. Our society is very outspoken in its disapproval of weight gain. And riding breeches are not exactly discreet. We stress about our weight, way too much. It undermines our self confidence; we are constantly on some or other guru’s diet, depriving ourselves of what our bodies really need. Our bodies can only cope with so much. The opposite is equally true. Stress causes obesity. Comfort eating is a very unhealthy coping strategy. If you spell desserts backward you get stressed. Infinitely ironic.
You may have heard of the French paradox or the French Secret. Anglo-Saxon nations find it mind-boggling that French people do not put on tons and tons of weight, considering the amount of French bread, patisserie, rich creamy sauces and decadent desserts they get through. "French women refuse to accept being overweight," says David Benchetrit, director of the Clinique du Poids weight loss clinic in Paris. "It is no secret that they want to be beautiful, and in love, and so they take care of themselves to look good." So fat girls can ride dressage, especially on strong Fresian dressage horses, but is their weight putting their health at risk? Benchetrit says that two-thirds of the women he sees at his clinic have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 23, which is in the normal range of 18.5-24.9.
The French incidence of cardiovascular disease is low, especially around the Mediterranean. And they are not really known as a nation with very high stress levels. The French DO enjoy their food, their wine, the company and conversation around the table. They eat and enjoy with all five their senses. Their approach to food and eating is relaxed and reverent.
Does my butt look big in this picture? In reality, there is no secret, apart from different eating habits. Now that the French start aping the American way of life, their weight is starting to creep up too. But old habits die hard. One of the most significant is that French children are bought up with the belief that it is seriously unhealthy to eat between meals. They never do. And so it is, very unhealthy, unless one has a medical condition that dictates small, frequent meals. This is a VERY rare condition, nearly non-existent in France. Fancy that. French people tend to eat with concentration and intensity. They use all five their senses to derive as much enjoyment from their meal as possible. "We sit down and eat for pleasure, using all of our senses," Mireille Guiliano, author of the best-selling book French Women Don't Get Fat, has said. Tired of trying? Fat girls can ride dressage, but if they WANT to lose weight, they can get help here. Any eating regime that encourages pure indulgence would suit most horse lovers and riders extremely well. If you are overweight, then losing weight is good for your health...and good for your horse. I'm sure he won't complain if he has to carry a lighter rider.
Riders are often generous and congenial people with a certain je ne sais quoi...and they certainly enjoy good food, good wine and good company! Dare I say they have a certain joie de vivre? The French call it hygiène de vie and it means to take care of your self, to keep your body and mind ‘clean’- unpolluted- and, of course, beautiful and irresistible. Fat girls can ride dressage... ...however, they might want to lose a few pounds for their horse's sake! If you are glad to hear that fat girls can ride dressage, but think you will need more than some foreign diet to get you thin... then hypnosis may be the answer. If the whole diet thing sounds to daunting on your own, you can add some personal life coaching any time. And if you are lucky enough to life in the Midlands in the United Kingdom you can come and meet the Lady Belle herself in person, and inquire about her FEEL it! courses.
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