Do you feel more comfortable on certain breeds and their build?

[Meadon]

I love my loan 16.2 hh ID to bits but if there is one thing I would change about her is her build!

I had a bad riding accident a few years ago and I always use to ride very petite Arabs and TB. But since the accident I wanted a horse that is very calm and a real confidence giver. MY ID is brilliant but I just can't get use to her size. Although she is quite fine boned for an ID I still get really nervous on her...and I would class her as a safe plodder. Her canter is like thunder hooves lol.

I feel it even more because she's quite difficult to get going and takes alot of work. Also on a hack when she spooks I notice her real Irish Draught power and in canter. She hasn't got the speed of TB and Arabs like I use to ride and the fizziness.

I feel awful saying it about her but I've been riding a friends 15.1hh TB who is my ideal build and I've loved it. This horse is much spookier and quite fizzy (the complete opposite to my ID) but I can cope with it and don't get nervous at all.

Does anybody else feel like certain horses' build suit them more?

Sorry long waffly post!

 

[BlackDiamond]

I have changed from an ID to aTB in the past year or so, and I thought I preferred the ID but now getting more used to the TB I quite enjoy his forward thinking and willingness to work.

 

[Horseyscot]

I'm the opposite to you meadon, maybe because i'm a 'bigger lady' ! but I prefer riding something stockier. If I ride a finer animal I hate the feeling of having nothing in front of me (thats what it feels like after riding my cob!). Like you say though, sometimes they can be harder to get going, and when they do decide to go, impossible to stop! Bigger is better for me though

 

[chevs]

Definately.....

I have a hanoverian mare and a TB mare. I love riding the hanoverian, she's so floaty and extremely comfortable. I do not enjoy riding the TB at all. Dont feel like theres horse between my legs if you know what i mean. They are both 16hh but couldn't be more different.

 

[cashewnut]

I feel most comfy and safe on 15-15.3 cob tybes

I have a 15hh cob so naturally I am most used to her!

 

[tabithakat64]

I don't like riding narrow ponies and horses. I prefer Arab crosses, natives, cobs and heavy horses, saying that I don't like plods, I need something with a bit of character and get up and go about it.

 

[MizElz]

I'm just like you Meadon!

Although I'm a big girl, I have always got on better with dainty, fine boned horses. Ellie is part Arab so quite dainty, very sharp and feisty, but she suits me far better than the likes of my friend's Welsh cob (who I love to bits, but didnt enjoy riding as much.) Interestingly, I rode a lot of horses at my instructor's yard the year I got Ellie, and I loved riding his little TB X SF youngster. But when he put me on his heavier Warmblood mare, I felt very different - too much horse!

 

[Meadon]

Thanks for the replies! I think alot of it is to with my weight as well, I'm 8st and as my friend says when my mare does thunder off on a hack I haven't got the weight on her to push back on her (if that makes sense). On the plus side she does have a broad chest that is useful for clinging onto on the odd occassion lol.

I sound really mean to her because she has helped me get over the riding accident. Maybe I'm just ready to move onto a more willing horse as well. Thanks!

 

[bex1984]

I only feel safe on ponies...anything bigger than 15hh looks MASSIVE to me. And I like chunky ponios too, I have a 14.1hh coblet and he feels perfect to me. If I ride anything less solid I feel like I am sitting on a twiglet.

 

[Gorgeous George]

I like to ride something chunky (i'm not that small

), but not something with a big movement - and George fits the bill perfectly

I just wish he was a bit smaller, when he stands up to his full height if alert I do think - eek

I have tried leaving him out in the rain but he hasn't shrunk

 

[parsley]

I have a 16.2 chunky cob - I love the fact that there is an acre of shoulder and neck in front of my and hate getting on a horse where there is nothing by a fence rail in front. However, I am very heavy and agree that you are more likley to feel comfortable on something that suits your size and weight rather than feeling under or over horsed.

 

[RunToEarth]

Well I ride for quite a few people, and feel fine on all of them really, I'm just used to getting on and getting on with it!
But, I'm always happier on something a little crackers- like Oshk, constantly having my hands full suits me best!!

 

[PapaFrita]

I don't really mind the build (despite owning skinny minny PF, I like chunky horses) but very tall horses (around 17hh) are quite worrying! Especially their great big strides!

I'm much happier on something around 15.2-16hh.

 

[lexiedhb]

My old horse was irish TB.... but quite wide...... I dont like narrow horses, feels like theres nothing underneath you! Current share is 17hh warmblood, and it has taken a while but now I feel hes not too much for me dispite me only being 5ft 4!

 

[angiebaby]

I'm with Bex1984, only ride ponio's 14.1h max!! much more fun.

and not so far to fall.

 

[Eira]

I don't make a habit of riding anything under 16.2 .....

 

[Kenzo]

I like riding different types and sizes, you appreciate each horse and there different way of going, I think it also helps with your riding skills being able to adjust to different horses too.

 

[somethingorother]

I like one end of the scale or the other. I love arabs if theyre fast and skittish without rearing etc, but if they rear or spin a lot i feel i dont have much to keep me on (hard to explain) but if im rather over horsed on big warmbloods/ ID types (im only 5'1 and 8st) and they rear or play up and fight me it doesn't bother me, my seat feels more secure and when they rear they dont feel unstable like spindly skinny little arabs. I think i feel like i have more in front/behind me to stop me falling off, and i have less problems stopping a big hprse that 'tanks' with head down than araby types which stick their heads up. Anything in between bores me daft though! I'm a strange one...

 

[Sprout]

I am quite small, and with my joint problems I am not comfortable riding anything too wide, or with a big movement.

I feel best on a little 14.2hh - 15hh native or LW Cob, my favourite would be a full up 14.2hh New Forest type.

 

[Tinker_Belle]

I like quiet horses. Don't like wide ones as feel I'm a pea on a drum & look like one of those Thelwell cartoons, where the riders legs only graze the saddle flaps!

I quite like small ponies as long as they aren't mental! Like something compact & medium width.

My old NF felt perfect as regards to width etc, really, really comfy & big enough without being so big

 

[RachelB]

It's all about the brain for me, personally. With regards to build/breed, I HATE riding ponies (or in fact anything with a pony mentality) because I have never found a pony I get on with. Bigger is usually better for me, and I like to ride horses with a bit of substance. My first pony was a Welsh Cob, and I now have an Irish thing. My share horses have ranged from a New Forest (horrible thing) to an Anglo Arab (she had a good brain though), a Danish Warmblood (loved him), and I now share another Anglo Arab and ride a coloured gypsy cob type thing. I like the Anglo because he is very talented when his brain switches off from napping mode and on to co-operating mode, and I LOVE riding the cob - she's a nutcase and loves nothing more than pelting about the countryside at 90mph

I ride a lot of horses at work too, and my favourites are the bigger ones and the ones with the good brains. We have a lovely big warmblood dressage horse, must be 17hh, I thought I'd love riding him but he is SO switched off that he's actually too much horse for me to get moving!
My absolute favourite though is the Andalusian mare I have recently been upgraded to hacking out. I cannot stop smiling when I am on her; even if she's being cheeky and unco-operative she's just FUN

She's a big girl though for a PRE, deceptively tall and well-built ("acts" like a 15.2hh but is actually 16.2hh and if you really look at her you could convince yourself she's 17hh). If I won the lottery this evening I'd be on a plane to Spain tomorrow to go and buy a PRE - I am in love

 

[Rachntabby]

i feel most comfortable on 15.3hh +
on thurs i hacked out on a 14.3-15hh cob and just couldnt get used to his strides or how laid back he was
i really love riding tabs as she is TBxID so a bit of both quite slim but chunky enough so i dont feel like im sitting on a gate! also her behaviour is great! calm when you need her to be passing a huge lorry or something but spooky and fun at other times
i would say i like the slimmer builds really but my first pony was an obese welsh cob (very naughty)

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Ive got a 17hh IDxTB and a 14.2 Haflinger and I much prefer riding the Haflinger, shes perfect size. Wide so she takes up the leg and not too far to fall!

 

[dressager]

Mines 16.1hh. I also like riding bigger horses to check I can still hold them together, if you know what I mean. My 15.3hh Akhal Teke was as narrow as they come, and even my Warmblood is quite narrow.

I prefer more lightweight, elegant types to chunky cobs.