Can small short people...

absolutely

not if you were in a power struggle but if the aids were clear and precise then there's no reason that a 8st woman should be any less effective than a massive giant man IMO
 
I always thought no but my mind has been changed after watching someone who competes near me reguarly!

It depends on the horse though, I'm the same size as you have described and I had a 16hh tb x welsh and he took the mic with me majorly! But I could get him in a nice outline and doing elemantry dressage movements and jumping 1.20 tracks, but when he had a strop I could not do anything to stop him.

But I think a braver rider the same size of me probably could have managed his strops! I'm not very brave but when he behaved it was brilliant.

After selling him though I said to my mum I would not get anything over 15.1 as I just didn't want to deal with anything big again as my confidence got knocked on him.

My 14.3 has the same strops my old horse had but I can deal with him and I don't get frightened because I'm not over horsed on him.
 
actully id say no..

im 5"1. ok so im not the light as a feather type, but ive got an 18.2 dressage horsie and my little leggies are deffinatly struggling .. i also feel that when im asking for piaffe, passage etc my legs need to be at least a foot longer and rapped around him and not digging him between the ribs!

on my M/W 16.2 mare I feel at home, but then ive schooled her so i guess she knows what my legs meen if that makes sence.?
 
Yes. What would make you think otherwise?

(If that sounds aggressive it's cos I've got the girly equivalent of 'short man syndrome'...but seriously, why not?)
 
I'm 5 ft 1 1/2 & a size 8, & the horse in my avatar, the late Catembi, was a very strapping 17hh. I competed him BS to 1 m 15 & BD to Novice, & we had some BD points. I just bought a huge mounting block & tried not to drop anything out hacking!

We clicked very soundly personality-wise, & worked out the other stuff.
 
I wasn't thinking so much in terms of weight - more amount of muscle strength and leg length (of rider). I am 5'2 with very short legs...(think Ronnie Corbett :D). When I got back into riding 8 years ago I was put on a 15.2hh horse at the riding school I went for refresher lessons...They and I didn't believe I was effective on him, as I struggled with my legs to give good aids to get him going forward properly, and he was a nice, well schooled, willing horse. So I moved onto a 14.2hh and got on fine. I have a 14.1hh pony of my own now. I know of someone much shorter than me and very petite and not as muscley who is getting a 16+hh horse...I worry for her a bit but maybe it just depends on the horse...
 
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Provided your legs can be used effectively then yes. I have ridden a horse that my legs barely came past the saddle on and tbh I wasn't very effective on her. She was 18hh ish though and i'm 5ft3 (with short legs).
 
MochaDun said:
I wasn't thinking so much in terms of weight - more amount of muscle strength and leg length (of rider). I am 5'2 with very short legs...(think Ronnie Corbett :D). When I got back into riding 8 years ago I was put on a 15.2hh horse at the riding school I went for refresher lessons...They and I didn't believe I was effective on him, as I struggled with my legs to give good aids to get him going forward properly, and he was a nice, well schooled, willing horse. So I moved onto a 14.2hh and got on fine. I have a 14.1hh pony of my own now. I know of someone much shorter than me and very petite and not as muscley who is getting a 16+hh horse...I worry for her a bit but maybe it just depends on the horse...
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Firstly, I think a 'well schooled, willing horse' should be moving off a light squeeze from the leg. Unless your legs are actually not reaching past the saddle flaps then I don't think this is an impossible aid to give, whatever your height and whatever the size of the horse.

Riding takes core strength, a degree of flexibility, suppleness, a decent level of cardiovascular fitness and the leg strength to support ones own weight in jumping position or a light seat. But that applies to any rider on any horse.

However strong you are, even a small horse will always be stronger. And a big horse is no less sensitive than a small one. I've ridden 12hh ponies that won't move without a pony club kick, and I'm currently sharing a 17hh mare who halts on a loose rein when I lightly tense my thigh muscles. The difference is purely down to training and, to some extent, rider ability. Neither of these have anything to do with height, weight or strength.
 
Steorra said:
Firstly, I think a 'well schooled, willing horse' should be moving off a light squeeze from the leg. Unless your legs are actually not reaching past the saddle flaps then I don't think this is an impossible aid to give, whatever your height and whatever the size of the horse.

Riding takes core strength, a degree of flexibility, suppleness, a decent level of cardiovascular fitness and the leg strength to support ones own weight in jumping position or a light seat. But that applies to any rider on any horse.

However strong you are, even a small horse will always be stronger. And a big horse is no less sensitive than a small one. I've ridden 12hh ponies that won't move without a pony club kick, and I'm currently sharing a 17hh mare who halts on a loose rein when I lightly tense my thigh muscles. The difference is purely down to training and, to some extent, rider ability. Neither of these have anything to do with height, weight or strength.
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That is pretty much what I was trying to say, although put far more eloquently!! :D
 
I think it really depends on the horse/rider combination. Some short/small people are quite 'leggy' (if that makes any sense...) and some big horses can be very narrow or sensitive meaning they don't need long legs wrapped right around them to get them to respond. On the other hand, smaller native types can take up a lot of leg which allows bigger people to ride them! Attitude of horse and rider also plays a big role, a couple of people I know (who are pretty tiny, especially weight-wise) have bags and bags of guts and determination and have become very good riders of horses ranging from 13.1 to 18hh!
 
I think it depends on the horse, and its build. I've ridden 17hh horses who I got going very effectively, and I'm only 5ft4, but they weren't ridiculously chunky and the saddle was the right size for me too so I could get my leg on. I do feel comfiest around 15hh though.
 
I started riding at the age of 8 - very small!
I never rode anything below the height of 15hh - I was always put on the bigger (and usually inexperienced) horses as I was one of the more advanced ones in my class :)
Had the odd occasional problem with the loopy ones, but managed the majority of the time!! :)
K x
 
I agree with Steorra too!! I have a 17hh heavy weight hunter. Who can also do all her downwards transitions using only an adjusment in my seat. Hardly needs any rein to come back from a gallop out hacking with other horses. My 15.2hh appy was always stronger than Kai is.

My friend is 4ft9(and a bit!) and she has 3 including a just backed youngster all of who are over 16hh and she competes affiliated show jumping, with no problems managing their size.
 
Personally I would probably feel over horsed but thats just me. I'm 5ft and size 6/8. I have short legs (petite trousers are too long!) so I'm not sure that my legs would be long enough to be effective especially if it was a chunky 16hh+. I would rather stick to smaller horses that can still jump the same heights that I want to jump rather than have a bigger horse but that may just be me.
 
I'm only 5 foot one, but in my past had to ride varying sizes of horses for work, and had no problems with the bigger ones at all, in fact I much preferred them. I also have a 14hh mare that takes up much of my short leg, and she can be quite a diffilcult ride when she wants to be so I agree with Steorra, it depends much more on the ability of the rider and the schooling of the horse than the size of horse/rider.
 
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