Heightest *rant*

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sghc88

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Why is it that equestrian sports are the only ones where height is legally discriminated against? In all 3 of the main disciplines you cannot compete at a high level on a pony and I cannot for the life of me understand why? We are failing to shake the oldfashioned and outdated idea that whether you ride a pony or a horse is age related when it should not be!
The BSJA for example only 'officially' let under 16s compete on ponies. If I want to jump my 14.2 mare I have to register her as a horse and compete in senior classes just because i'm 25! I am only 5ft, I would (and do when I get on my friends horse) look ridiculous on something 16hh!
We need to get back to matching horses and ponies to riders by height, the average lady of 5ft2/5ft3 is far more in proportion with something 14.2-15hh so why ride bigger? From what I can gather it's mainly because of these 'rules' from BE, BSJA and BD! You can't expect something 14.2 to get round Badminton for example, so people buy bigger to be able to do it.... NAHA people just make appropriate classes! After all it should be about the technicality of the riding!
So come on BE, BSJA, BD we need to restructure our competition ladder, get with the times! Surely somebody agrees with me?
Rant over
 
But you ARE allowed to compete your 14.2hh in BS and BD aren't you (I don't know anything about BE)? What point am I missing here? You think there should be a smaller Badminton for people who prefer smaller horses?

In my opinion it is all about rideability anyway - I'm 5'3 and sure, I look a bit small on my big 16'3hh mare but she is super easy and we get on great.
 
What's wrong with registering you mare as a horse? And 14.2s do go round Badminton, eg Just a Jiff, I remember one of the commentators saying how funny it was he was measured out of ponies just as his rider was out of juniors.

You will not get ponies competing against horses in the top levels of SJ because they are more valuable as junior rides.

It's only showing that is 'heightest' ask me, and that's not really a sport.
 
I don't think there is any height restriction in BD.

And at unaffiliated I have never seen anyone get the measuring stick out to see whether a horse is 14.2 or 14.3 ;)

In fact most unaffiliated jumping will let a pony do senior classes as a horse, although some do say that a pony can't do both pony and horse classes on the same day.
 
For BE you can compete anything over 142 cm (14 hands) and for BE80T classes they have to be over 137cm (13.2 hands). So you're fine to compete your 14.2 as an adult.
 
Teddy O'Connor was 14.2 and went round Rolex, which is 4*, so I don't think your argument holds water. Just register your horse if you want to compete affiliated - you can do so in any of the 3 main disciplines. What's the issue with registering as a senior? You can jump all the same classes as every other adult?
 
For what it's worth, I do get annoyed with this myself. It's showing that is the biggest problem, why on earth should you be under 25 to ride a pony?? What has a 24 year old got that I haven't? ( apart from all the obvious things :D ) You often see very long-legged little girls on tiny ponies just because they are the right age but I can't ride a 14.2hh even if I look fine on it. It's stupid.
 
I used to compete my 14.2 as a senior BS and if anything we had a massive advantage, he was so nippy would beat everyone in a jump off. Just a shame he liked to jump by brail! :p
 
OP calm down, you're mistaken :D In all three of thr main disciplines you can compete a pony at the highest levels - international, if you are good enough ;) whatever your age.

Dressage: absolutely no height restrictions at all, you can compete your pony in whatever classes you are eligible for.

SJ: you simply register the pony as a horse, and jump in the horse classes. Sure, they will be horse distances but a scopey pony will make them easily, and will beat all the horses by being able to turn tighter in the jump off ;) Ponies that represented GB at senior international level include Stroller (Marion Mould) and Champ (Debbie Johnsey) but I'm sure there are others.

Eventing: ponies can compete any level BE as long as they are over 14 hands and qualified for the class you are entering. There was a 14.2 pony in the top ten at Osberton CCI* last year, one in the top ten of the CCIJ* at Houghton last week, plus another one - ok, he doesn't quite measure but still - in the CCI**. There have been numerous examples in the past of 14.2s or just over going round Badminton: Dylan (Polly Schwerdt), Patris Filius (Olivia Haddow), Little Tiger (Phoebe Buckley), Portersize Just a Jiff (Camilla Speirs) etc etc.

Take a deep breath and get over yourself :D
 
I also don't think you can categorically say that small ladies can't ride big horses - Meredith Michaels for instance is 5'4", less than 8 stone and Shutterfly 16'3hh I think and I very much doubt Bella Donna is any smaller.
 
My older sister is 19 and competes on a 14.1hh connie in showjumping and one of her other showjumping stallion cant be much bigger than 14hh :eek:
she competesd affiliated bsja up to 1.20m (although her bigger horses deffinatly handle the horse distances better and she competes 1.30m on them)
 
I posted a similar post a little while ago, I'm a pony rider as well, somebody thought I was 14 on my 13.2 on Sunday (I'm 26, my oldest son is 8 tomorrow!) my 13.2 is talented but I'll probably never do BS because of what people would say! (Silly I know)

Out if interest, what's the smallest pony people have seen compete in seniors?
 
I compete senior BS on a 14.2 registered as a horse, I can't see your problem at all. You just register in the usual way & then enter the senior classes with everyone else. As others have said there are plenty of ponies competing in all the disciplines.
 
Nope, don't agree with you at all. You can ride a pony in most disciplines regardless of age. However you must compete against adults and it sounds like you would prefer to compete against children - do you think that would be fairer? really?
 
I'm 26 and compete BD on my 14.1hh. No issues there. Well, there are, but nothing to do with her height :D

The only place I have ever encountered a problem is showing - apparently I should be jumping 1m+ because I'm over 21. They fail to take into account my inability to tackle anything over 75cm and the fact I don't have a horse that's 16.2.
 
I'm only 5ft and my horse is 16.1hh

I certainly couldnt have anything bigger than this as my own and I do struggle with bigger striding horses but I hate ponies! :D I prefer anything from 15.2 upwards.

If the horse/pony is capable of jumping/competing at a certain level then height should not be an issue IMO :)
 
I don't agree. I used to compete a pony up until I was about 21. I did a bit of BSJA with him (14.2hh) against seniors obviously and to be honest I found it was a huge benefit! Ponies are way faster that horses, and ponies can so easily chip in strides to accommodate horse striding. Would you rather compete against children OP?

I believe you can compete a 14.2hh in BE? And they can certainly compete to a decent level (pony trials is rather serious!). Wasn't there a 15hh that went round Badminton not long ago?

Funnily enough, I found the affiliated lot more accommodating for allowing adults to compete on ponies. I remember qualifying for the Trailblazers SJ and dressage champs years ago on a pony (as a senior) and then I was informed it was against their rules, seniors aren't allowed to compete on ponies!! And this is only bog standard unaffiliated level! Ridiculous.
 
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