A WOMAN was left devastated when her vet said she'd grown too overweight to ride her pony and was the cause of its ill health.

Paige Matthews, 21, from Stanley, County Durham, had decided to take her small horse Dream to be checked over by an animal medic when it became sick.

But she was heartbroken to be told that it was in fact her own weight on the horse’s back that was causing the problem.

Speaking to the Chronicle Live, Paige admitted she had been over-indulging on a diet of fried food, cheese and chocolate and drinking up to 10 Malibu cokes at weekends.

Creeping up to 12st and seven pounds, Paige may not have seemed overweight, but for her small height of 5ft and 4inches, she technically was in the unhealthy bracket and too heavy for Dream to carry.

She said: “I was basically too fat to ride my pony.

“The vet said because she was carrying my extra weight, and the fact she is 24 years old, it was probably contributing to her bad back.”

Dream was given steroid injections to get over its pain, but the vet insisted that nothing would work better than a lighter rider.

In just three months, Paige shed two stone and managed to drop two dress sizes, all in the name of her horse’s health.

She joined Slimming World and went from a size 14 to a size 10 and now says she is almost at her goal weight, when she can begin riding her pony again.

She said: “My goal is to lose three stone and get down to nine-and-a-half stone. I am doing this for the both of us.”

Paige added: “I got Dream when I was 10 years old, we have such a special bond. She’s my best friend and we do everything together.

"I would be heartbroken if I couldn’t ride her again. We’ve been together for 11 years and I just love her.”

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