Can a New Forest carry my weight?

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Mitchyden

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I compete at endurance and own two arab horses.

I have been offered a 13.3hh New Forest pony that the owner no longer wants and is giving away.

I am 5'4" and weigh 9st and was wondering if this pony would be able to carry me comfortably and compete?
 
Hi I did endurance on my old mare Lucy She was a 13.2hh welsh type.
I'm 5ft2 and weigh 8 1/2 - 9 stone.
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She was atleast 20yrs old and we did rides of upto and inclu 80km at about 12kmph and nearly always got a grade 1. :D
I now have a 12.2hh forester who has a leg in each corner.
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I would do endurance on him if he wasn't so nappy.
Foresters tend to be stocky with plenty of bone so you should be ok if he is true to type. (They carry full grown men hunting over the forest after all ;) :p :D :D )
 
hiya

obviously there are other factors that come into consideration, such as how light you ride, how fit the pony is etc, but as a general I would say yes absolutely no problem!!

To reassure you, here I am on my 13.2 at a push, new forest. I am 5ft5 and about 10 stone.

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He copes just fine. I have sat my boyfriend on him who is over 6ft and about 12 stone, but only for a little amble down the lane, but he was absolutley fine (would never do this as a regular thing though!!!)

For comedy value here is evidence!!

philandb.jpg


Go for it :)
 
Lol!! Love the photo of BF on pony...if a horse could roll it's eyes I suspect your's would!!! :D He looks like he's itching to do a little buck but is too much of a good boy to do it!!
 
Laura, I don't think I've seen that photo of Lucy before, but I like it a lot.

I am about to get my hands on a NF x fjord who is 13.2hh...I am 5' but have been used to riding 15hh worth of solid cob. Might have a bit of mental adjusting to do!
 
Mitchyden, have you checked if there are height/weight limits for riding ponies in endurance classes? Probably not, but may be worth checking if you intend to compete.
If your pony is on the smaller side you may need to spend more time than usual on foot to bring the pulse down.

I agree with the above posters that it depends on many things such as horse build, fitness, age, how you ride etc.

If you are in doubt about the pony's capacity to carry you, as a rule of thumb it is said the rider & tack should weigh no more than 20% of the horse; if you measure the pony with weight tape you'll have an idea.

LauraWheeler - what a lovely photo of Lucy!

Arizonahoney, if you are 5' you should be fine on the 13.2 fjord x - fjords are usually very strong (and quite wide ;-)
 
_CJ_ said:
Arizonahoney, if you are 5' you should be fine on the 13.2 fjord x - fjords are usually very strong (and quite wide ;-)
Click to expand...

Oh I'm not doubting that we'll be OK height / weightwise...it's more my mental adjustment as I haven't ridden anything so wee in years :p
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. Looks like the little guy will be getting a new home then! He's only rising four at the moment so he's a long term project. He might even grow a little bit more!
 
Echo most of the above, it'll have no problem at all! And if you don't want him, send him my way!

I've hunted all day on a 13.2hh (with shoes, excited, on tiptoes!) forester that wasn't particularly stocky/chunky. I'm 5'7" and 10 stone. I was dubious about being lent this pony and was thinking I'd head home at lunchtime or sooner if he was flagging, but the little dude flew all day, over all sorts of country and through some blummin deep going, and we got home at dusk. I even had brakes by mid-afternoon!
 
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