Adults riding ponies... Opinions please

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rose bud

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Having just bought a 13hh exmoor pony for myself to ride, i was just wondering what peoples opinions and reactions are to adults riding ponies?
I did take lots of advice as to how much weight he would comfortably carry before i bought him and have been assured that i don't look too big on him (he's a stocky little chap)
I am loving him! He is just what i need right now - confidence giving and fun!
Are there any other adults out there that have gone back to riding ponies?
All opinions welcome.
 
If you fit him and he fits you who cares what others think, I wish I could still ride ponies. Hope you have great fun together
 
I have ridden my daughter's ponies; to sort them out when they first arrived, to help "fix" any problems, to keep them exercised when she couldn't, to stop one of them who couldn't realistically be rehomed from retiring when outgrown, and mostly because they are such damned good fun:D

Mind you, I had to learn to drive to keep the 11.2 in work and exercised, she has a self-imposed weight limit of 8 stone and bucks anything heavier than that off. Most embarrassing, not to get further than 10 feet before landing on the floor.
 
I had a pony on loan in the summer, I had a fab time with him. He was a stocky cob, a real sweetheart. Although the farrier did comment that he looked better suited to pulling a cart- I think his words were "Don't know how you ride that ******* thing, it's a carthorse!"
 
If you're not too heavy or too tall then can't see the problem - I'm 5' & just under 9st - I'd look like the proverbial pea on an elephant on a "proper horse" - my latest one is just shy of 15hh - that's the biggest I'm comfortable with anything bigger is difficult to groom & tack up let alone ride !! Previously had a 14.0 & 14.2 & rode friends 13.2 - love ponies - much more fun as well !!
 
Thankyou everyone for your positive posts so far! I am having so much fun with him at the moment, which i wasn't having with my 15h horse and was in danger of loosing my confidence!
I'm sure that i will get a few looks / remarks at any fun rides or shows that we may go to but i don't care, it is supposed to be fun at the end of the day, and that is what we are having!! :)
 
I ride ponies and will be looking to buy/loan one in the next year. i'v ridden many different sizes since i started riding years ago from 11hh - 18+hh and i really wasn't comfertable on the big chap,(i'm only 5.1ft) so i dont think its a big deal for adults to ride ponies as long as the pony is capable.
 
I've never really understood the stigma attached to adults riding ponies (by some people anyway).

Personally I'm 5'10", so its very unlikely i'll go out and buy a pony to ride, however I have regularly ridden my friends Connemara who is only just over 14hh, I feel totally comfortable on him, he carries me fine, and I dont look tall on him at all.

Its whatever suits you and your horse/pony that works best!
 
I'm 49, 5ft 3 and ride both of our ponies almost everyday; One is a welshie x 14.1hh and 20 years old , the other 12.3hh NF and 18 :) Nobody ever says anything to me, they just smile and say how cute we look :D

Go out, have fun!
 
Daisy dancer said:
Thankyou everyone for your positive posts so far! I am having so much fun with him at the moment, which i wasn't having with my 15h horse and was in danger of loosing my confidence!
I'm sure that i will get a few looks / remarks at any fun rides or shows that we may go to but i don't care, it is supposed to be fun at the end of the day, and that is what we are having!! :)
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I'm 5'7 and I take my 14.2hh highland out. People are lovely at shows I've found and lots of random people come up to tell how gorgeous she is and how much fun we look like we're having. I also had someone come over and tell me that she and one of the judges had been discussing which horse they would take home, and very generously told me they'd choose my little highland :)
 
I'm 31 and I compete a 14.3 mare and a 14.1 gelding, both mine, both more than happy with me riding them, neither really suitable for a child, particularly the smaller one, due to his previous treatment, my 5ft10 friend doesn't look ridiculous on him either though not ideal for everyday or competing. I also exercise racehorses so it's not that I am nervous of big ones, it just happens that the 2 I've clicked with when veiwing have been smaller.

I am only 5ft2 and I weigh 9 to 9.5 stone (fluctuates!!)
 
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I'm five foot six and have bought a highland youngster to share with my daughters and gently hack their 12.2 chunky monkey of a pony. I really don't understand the stigma either. As long as the pony is comfortable with your weight and you are both having fun, I don't see the issue. Perhaps if more adults rode ponies they woud be valued more and we wouldn't see breeds like exmoors on the endangered breeds list. Congrats OP, on buying an exmoor by the way, they are fantastic!
 
Daisy dancer said:
Thankyou everyone for your positive posts so far! I am having so much fun with him at the moment, which i wasn't having with my 15h horse and was in danger of loosing my confidence!
I'm sure that i will get a few looks / remarks at any fun rides or shows that we may go to but i don't care, it is supposed to be fun at the end of the day, and that is what we are having!! :)
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in which case who cares what anyone else thinks!! I have 2 friends that ride ponies and both are over 40 I never thought anything about it, would have thought it was more odd if they had bought 16h+ as both are so tiny
 
To be honest I much prefer ponies - always have.

My problem is I have long legs, but I don't really care what I look like. I do weigh 11.5 stone but am trimming down (want to lose a stone).

I have got my kids a welsh A and woudl like to find myself a native pony that will carry me, but that they could sit on too (even if just in the school). Reading these threads has reinforced my decision that I'm going for a native and follow heart rather than head!
 
Not technically an adult (yet! one year!) but i highly doubt i will grow anymore..

my mare is a stocky 13.3 she has nearly 8 inches of bone and i'm 12st 7lb she has no problems at all.
If you go by bone and weight carrying ability i'm the max for her 'bone' but she's never had trouble.
I recently purchased a treeless though which has a weight limit of 12st so i have incentive to get down to that (and then hopefully some more so i can ride more horses at college!)
 
OldNag said:
To be honest I much prefer ponies - always have.

My problem is I have long legs, but I don't really care what I look like. I do weigh 11.5 stone but am trimming down (want to lose a stone).

I have got my kids a welsh A and woudl like to find myself a native pony that will carry me, but that they could sit on too (even if just in the school). Reading these threads has reinforced my decision that I'm going for a native and follow heart rather than head!
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Get a Highland, they are fab! They really take up your leg and if you look for a good one they have fab temprements. Our guy is destined to our family pony and its like having a massive puppy gallumping around the yard behind me! Wouldn't change him for the world and I am very excited about riding him next spring.
 
I am 6ft, and whilst I would not go out and buy a pony, we have two that I regularly ride.

I think if you are a balanced rider and not excessively heavy for the weight of the horse/pony then it matters not what you ride - in principle it is the same as those riders that may be considered overweight. I know several larger men that ride, they ride extremely lightly and the horses go beautifully for them.
 
My daughter has outgrown her 14hh pony, so as I'm a short-ar$e at 5'2" I am riding her instead and really enjoying myself! That's us in my avatar pic to the left of this post.
 
I'm middle aged and have a 14hh native, after years of horses it is a refreshing change to be able to leave her out in the field and drag her in after three weeks to find she is as sane as ever. I can hack in the heaviest of traffic, terrible weather, etc with no worries, gates are much easier to do, getting on and off is easy, she can turn her hoof to whatever I fancy doing. Feeding is easy as an easy keeper (although weight watching is another issue.) No worries about her melting in bad weather without a load of rugs on either.

On the whole most people have been fine at rides and events etc, I've only received positive comments and it is nice to have something a bit different. If anyone thinks having a pony as an adult is a bad thing, then I can honestly say that they don't know what they are missing:). As others have said, I wouldn't worry about what anyone else thinks, it is your pleasure and enjoyment that matters.
 
I had been riding my sons 12.2 Dartmoor to keep her ticking over while we found her a new home (she was on loan to us and way too sharp for my novice 9 year old).

Am now on the hunt for a chunky monkey 13hh ish for me to ride and accompany him out on his new pony. Plan is then he can progress on to new pony once he has outgrown the 11.2.

I have no worries about riding ponies and anyone who has a problem with it can go away :rolleyes:. As long as I know I am not too heavy I don't see what the problem is.

I also didnt want to get anything much larger as the stable wouldnt be big enough so it was another practical reason to get a pony as opposed to another horse.
 
touchstone said:
I'm middle aged and have a 14hh native, after years of horses it is a refreshing change to be able to leave her out in the field and drag her in after three weeks to find she is as sane as ever. I can hack in the heaviest of traffic, terrible weather, etc with no worries, gates are much easier to do, getting on and off is easy, she can turn her hoof to whatever I fancy doing. Feeding is easy as an easy keeper (although weight watching is another issue.) No worries about her melting in bad weather without a load of rugs on either.
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Exactly my thoughts too :)
 
Im not technically an adult, im 17, but havent grown for a few years & i think im stuck with the height i am now! im about 5ft 3 & have a 13.1hh ish chunky pony, he can carry quite a lot of weight for his height and im not planning on ever selling him and i think i will still be able to ride him in a number of years time :)
 
Exmoor riding centre in Edinburgh has a weight limit of 12stone for their gorgeous, stocky exmoors. I have no problem with adults riding ponies and kids on horses, as long as they're the right fit in terms of weight, temperament, skill etc. The people with builds that allow both are so lucky! 80)
 
I fit more adults on ponies that I do children. The one thing I would say is try and buy a pony that has a long enough mid back to take the size of saddle you need! it can make already-tricky saddle fitting (on wide flat natives) even harder when you have to put a rider in a saddle that's too small for them :D
 
Age is irrelevant - it is your weight and height that should influence your choice of equine. If you are not too heavy or tall then it does not matter what age you are you can ride a pony. The same goes for kids just because they are a kid it does not mean they should be on a pony, if they are tall or heavy then should be on something suitable for their size.

I am about 5.1ft and my New Forest is about 13.2 I am a member of two Riding Clubs and no-one has every said anything derogatory about his height. We join in all the activities and last year were RC Senior points champions at one of the clubs. We do sponsored rides and he has no problem keeping up with the big horses either.

The only thing is sometimes people mistake me for a child even though I am in my late 30's because I am of a slim build and short and on a pony.

I also find because he is small it is easier for me to tack him, groom him handle him etc than it would be for me to do with a large horse because I might struggle to reach.

The only issues I would say are if you want to do affiliated show jumping or eventing then there is a minimum height for the horse if you are an adult.
 
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I am 5'2 ish and 8 stone and ride a 14.1hh pony. She is am absolute sweetheart and has a 'I can look after myself' attitude. She is great fun and a perfect first pony for me (I'm 32).
No-one has ever commented on me riding a pony.
The only issue I've had is that some jumping / working hunter classes have an age restriction saying if you're in a pony class the rider must be under 16. Not too much of a problem as I prefer dressage.
 
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