Adults owning ponies - its inappropriate!

I still ride ponies and I'm 26. I had a proper competition pony until I was 22-ish and did get a few mean comments because we got a name for ourselves beating the adults and I guess they were simply jealous. I am on horses nowadays but only because height-wise I can only just get away with 14.2hh's. I still get the odd "project" pony which I love backing and taking out to shows. I couldn't care what people think.
 
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This is an interesting one - I wonder how much of this "adults-on-ponies" is in the owners head, and how much is actually said to their faces/within hearing distance. I have never heard anyone criticise an adult on a pony (well once, but the woman weighed about 20 stone and the pony was a 14hh very slim built Welsh type pony - the judge asked her if she thought she was suitaly mounted). In British Dressage an adult can ride a pony, as long as the pony is not struggling. In BSJA, ponies can be jumped by adults in senior classes. I don't really know how much predjudice there really is out there, and how much is in the owners paranoid heads, lol.

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its not something that keeps me up at night, but have been asked by a few instructors when im going to get a 'big horse'.
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i say, when you buy me one!
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This is an interesting one - I wonder how much of this "adults-on-ponies" is in the owners head, and how much is actually said to their faces/within hearing distance. .... I don't really know how much predjudice there really is out there, and how much is in the owners paranoid heads, lol.

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Well, Zoe, I can tell you as an exmoor rider that the comments are very much face-to face. They range from 'Has he shrunk?' to 'Don't you think you're a bit big?' or 'You're a bit under-horsed' and on one occasion a nutter leaning out of her car window screaming, 'Get off that poor pony' (the latter whilst he was actually over-excited and trying to gallop off on a verge, with me desperately holding him in!). I had one person tell me this year, 'Isn't it time you got a proper horse?' and an ex-friend once said (when I had a horse), 'Oh good, it's time you moved on from ponies'.

So, no, I am not paranoid, thank you for asking.
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I'm 5'1 and 8.5 stone, 21 and i love riding ponies!
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Ponies can be so whizzy and fun, i feel really safe on them no matter what they do and i would jump a pony about 4x higher than i would be willing to jump a horse.

That said my share horse is 15.3, and although he's lovely to ride, he's more 'serious' than ponies.

I do get funny looks if i ever pick a pony over a horse. When we were on a riding holiday i think people did think 'ah bless her she mustn't be up to a big horse'. I pick the little cheeky one every time
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only experienced out and out prejudice from 2 people as I have both a pony and a cob
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but they perhaps just didn't like me
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Im a small 5ft 2 and always had ponies, i tried horses but I really didn't feel comfortable. each to thier own and its what you feel comfortable with!
my friend who competes her pony is always beating the horses!
 
Anyone who thinks it's wrong should find out what size a knight's horse would have been in the middle ages - they certainly weren't the huge Andulucians you tend to get in movies, lol
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Considering that the native ponies of this country were originally used to be versatile ride & drive animals, used by everyone from famers up, I don't think there's any worries about adults riding ponies.
I used to ride a 13.2 section C type when I worked down the Gower and a local farmer once stopped me to say 'that's what I think is a proper horse - strong as b*gerry and looks like he'd go all day! I don't know why people think they need these whopping great things.' He just considered that something chunky and a bit smaller was a more practical working horse - nippier, easier to get on
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, hardy and strong.
 
Mrs Mozart may I say I love you! Your post made me smile.

I too ride a pony - she is 14.1 cob and I am a 5' 3" 12.10 blob!

But I loves her so much my heart aches when I think of her.

I dont care want people think or say, she is happy, I am happy and therefore all is good in our world.

Power to the ponies!
 
im 25 and weigh about 9 stone altho i have long legs
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but i have my old pony who is 14.3hh and my competition horse who is 15.1hh i don't think i'd want anything bigger i'm quite happy with my pocket rockets
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and generally a fast pony will always beat a horse in Jump offs
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I have never had any comment that I ride a pony and not a horse. At 5.1ft and 8.5 stone I am smaller than a lot of teenager and a 14h NF is the correct size for my weight and build.

I don't want to have to stand on a box to tack up and groom and put rugs on properly - it seems much more sensible to have an equine that is in proportion to your size.

Besides lots of tall children ride horses and no-one says they should have a pony just because they are kids.
 
I'm 5'1 and 7.5 stone and always rode ponies. I did get some comments in PC when training for my B test - they made it clear that I really should be 'capable' of riding a horse for the test! - My pony was more challenging than most horses. In the end when I took my test I had a 14.2 super fit event pony on loan and was fine. The last pony I owned when I was 19 was a 12.3 driving pony and I took him eventing. I was novice SJ and WHP champion at my local show that year too and had a blast. He was fit, fun and super strong - definitely no kids pony, despite the comments!
 
Im 23, 5ft'3, weigh between 7 1/2 and 8 stone. I ride my sec A's. Going to hunt one this season!

And I couldn't give a hoot what people think!
Im happy so nerrr
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I do also have a 15.1hh cobxtb/hannorvarian
oh and a tb filly
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Ahh yes, in defence against one lot of discrimination, let's make assumptions about, and bash the warmblood owners
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You noticed that aswell.

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Oh yes. One must never miss a chance to slate us warmblood owners!
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Ahh yes, in defence against one lot of discrimination, let's make assumptions about, and bash the warmblood owners
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You noticed that aswell.

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Oh yes. One must never miss a chance to slate us warmblood owners!
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Yeah, I haven't had a good slating in ages
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. Had pleanty of other stuff, but slating has been sadly lacking
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Think I need more tablets or less time on my hands...
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Ahh yes, in defence against one lot of discrimination, let's make assumptions about, and bash the warmblood owners
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Not making assumptions or bashing warmblood owners. I'm just saying what I see a lot at our local RC.

I have nothing against warmbloods in general or their owners, in fact I'm thinking about buying one myself.
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Just fed up of seeing skinny teenagers or small women hopelessly overhorsed and obviously struggling. I was looking at a 16.2hh ID to buy the other week, for sale as the petite 5foot tall nervous rider owner felt over horsed.

I just think people should choose a horse for its suitability not the image.

Sometimes I think people buy horses in the same way *some* men buy cars........
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I'm an adult, only 5'3 and just over 8 stone. My current boys are 14.1hh and 15.3hh (both to sell on). I feel lucky that I can ride ponies - I much prefer them to horses.

Obviously when competing BSJA I had to ride a horse. I owned a 16.1hh warmblood, which in the show jumping world is not overly big - anything under 15.3hh would generally struggle with the striding. I found it very hard to hold him together due to my length of leg (or lack of!)

Unfortunately in competition it's assumed that all children are suited to 14.2hh and under and all adults are suited to 16hh+.
 
i love my pony 13.2hh highland i'm 5 foot 1 and weight about 10 and a half stone. she can carry a lot more than tht.

i also have 16.2hh TB abby and after her i will never get a TB again (i love her millions tho :P ) i'm sticking to my sturdy little ponies!!!
 
Mine are...13.3, 14.3 and 15.1...

IMO...never have a horse you cant get back onto when you've fallen off in the woods
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When I go out hacking I can get under low-hanging branches whilst everyone else has to get off or go around....

I can reach the parts and places that other can't...
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When I was 16 (more years ago than I am prepared to admit here
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) At 5'4" and 91/2 stone I backed a 12.2 welshie for a friend. Now at 5'6" and 9 stone I am likely to be backing and riding away a pony youngster this spring
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My own horse is a 15.3 Appy, we also have a 16.2 IDx and a 14.3 coloured cob, who I happily rode untile she retired. I also used to sometimes ride Dad's 12.2 driving mare when she needed reminding of her manners when ridden by a friends small daughter
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Don't care what people think tbh
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Many of our riding club members ride ponies, only problem with that is that they tend to plan rides that can be difficult for the bigger horses!
 
Im 5ft3, about 10 1/2 stone and the proud owner of 3 ponies
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a 13.2 welshX, a 13.2 trad coloured and a yearling sec A!
Love my ponies, never been a big horse person.
I do ride big horses at work and sometimes think i would like one but then think of the fun i have on my ponios and think nahh! :lol:
Maybe one day but i wouldnt have anything over 15.2!!
 
Being a short arse at just under 5' though not as light as I could be - am 10 stone but the every day work out on the WII is starting to work me down to 9 stone, I do ride chunky ponies.

I love riding the 13 hand section C that my niece borrows - he carries me no problem and it makes a nice change from my 15 and a bit cob and 16.2 clydesdale. I have to confess, I prefer the 15 hand cob the best both as he is mine and the way we fit.
 
I love it when on a ride and watching gangly legged horses struggling to keep a footing going round a muddy bend or corner, and then see a sure footed pony blast round with no bother.
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I think ponies are more fun, surer footed and more intelligent,
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but then I am biased as I have a pony
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I used to get a lot of bitchy comments when at 13.2hh and 11 stone I was still riding my Welsh B x Arab.

TBH I was at the top of her weight limit but she was only in very light ridden work as I used to lunge and long rein her.

Personally I think people were just jealous as she's so much fun.

My current mount is a chunky 14.3hh Welsh with 9 inches of bone.

I tend to stick to native and cob types under 15.2hh but over 14.1hh as this is what I feel most comfortable on especially as I'm currently very overweight.
 
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Hmmmmmmm so becasue im 5ft 4 and ride a 17hh warmblood im overhorsed am I?
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of course you are, silly....
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Good to know......
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Hmmmmmmm so becasue im 5ft 4 and ride a 17hh warmblood im overhorsed am I?
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I'm guessing that was aimed at me!?

And no, not if you can ride it up and together and are comfortable. I didn't say that there was any minimum height for being able to ride a warmblood, just that I see a lot of people who are obviously overhorsed. I haven't seen you and your horse, so I haven't a clue whether you are overhorsed or not.

I've seen small women riding big horses entirely without difficulty, but at our RC there is a significant number of riders who are overhorsed. You can tell by the way the horse goes and the number of gadgets hanging off it.
 
If you look at the native breeds, most have been used to carry farmers around the less accessible parts of their land for millenia. Archaeology has shown that "war horses" in the Dark and Middle Ages were about 13hh. Unfortunately, the showing world has led to the breeding of the finer types such as Welsh A and B in preference to the Dales say, probably because they are "prettier".
 
Nope not aimed at anyone specifically.... it just makes me laugh when someone begins a thread, not liking being critisied or whatever for riding a pony, and then the thread goes on to berate small women on big horses....... two wrongs dont make a right and all that.
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I have seen as many people being carted on 14 handers as I have on 17 handers, actually probably more on the ponies, as they are generally cheeky by nature!!
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Also alot of the petite unable to ride their warmbloods you speak of probably wouldnt be able to hold a 14hh together, nowt to do with their horse and everything to do with their ability as a rider.....
 
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if a lot of pony riders are really honest, they ride ponies cos they're scared of falling off a big horse!!

convinced me!
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LOL---- I wouldnt BUY a 17hh, but as im a sharer, and he happened to come along at the right time its all good..... the falling off thing is something I will really consider in future tho!!
 
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