—Dennis Johnson, Chesapeake, Virginia It depends on the size of the horse, which may range from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. But let’s say this man was riding an animal of appropriate size for him. For the man, that would feel like carrying roughly 30 pounds (about the weight of two bowling balls). Not that humans are built like horses, but horses didn’t evolve to carry people around on their backs. They just got stuck with the job, the way dogs got stuck with pulling sleds.