Horse vs pony idea got me thinking....

[bryngelenponies]

Which do you think is generally healthier or hardy? Of course there's always exceptions with both but just in general? Or do you have a breed that you consider to be the most hardy/ healthy of all breeds? Just curious and for a bit of fun I've only owned welsh cobs and mountain ponies but have known a lot of tbs and wbs and generally I'd say that the welsh vigor seems to be exceptionally hardy and healthy (touchwood!).

 

[EventingDaun]

Small cobby/native ponies seem to be able to live off air, and generally have better feet (from my experiences anyway).

 

[Shysmum]

can I put in a mix of dales/gypsy cob

 

[Katikins]

In my experience I've always had fewer problems with ponies. BUT, we never did as much with the ponies as we did with the horses. My first pony had the vet out once for anything other than jabs and that was because she decided to knee a wall while having a fight with someone in the field next door (the day before the PC games- typical!!). Other 3 ponies were never lame or ill. The three horses I've had have had:

Colic
Lami
Blown tendon sheaths on 2 of them
Surgery on a foot due to the bottom falling out (apparently seen a lot in cattle)
Splints
Severe mud fever

etc etc.. the list goes on. I'm not sure how much of this is because ponies are hardier or because we were asking more of the horses as 'athletes'.

It is an interesting point though and next time I buy I will be seriously considering a 14.2hh pony rather than a TB or WB which is what I've had before.

 

[fjordhorsefan]

our ponies are definitely hardier than the horses, although our 2yo TB has not been babied since he was born and he is a fairly tough chap - no rugs needed in winter cos he grows a fab coat. His mother, on the other hand, is pathetic and requires 2 or 3 rugs on all the time! So perhaps upbringing has something to do with it as well?

 

[AFlapjack]

I would definitely say most native & cob types.

 

[mystiandsunny]

Ponies are hardier - natural selection & all that in the native breeds. I also remember reading an interesting article when at uni, about size in domesticated animals. It was a study that had looked into the health of animals that had been selectively bred to be bigger than they naturally were in the wild. The conclusion was that there was an increase in injury and sometimes a decrease in life expectancy, beyond a certain % bigger than each animal would naturally have been. Our horses have been bred over centuries, to be bigger than the original. All there was once was ponies, and the arabs which are rarely over 15hh even now. So the hoof/leg that was designed to take x amount of weight and pressure, now takes much more, so more injury prone.

 

[bryngelenponies]

I agree that upbringing can definitely contribute towards altering a horse's natural hardiness but I'm not sure if it can fundamentally change it (correct me if I'm wrong!) A lady I knew bought a tb foal and always kept her out in winter with no rugs and the tb survived, grew a thick coat etc, but didn't maintain it's condition like a native would have. I think the tb would have preferred being in a thick rug but unfortunately the lady never bothered with her horses so the tb had no option. So I guess many can acclimatize themselves to the situation however in my experience they don't cope with it as well as those that were naturally inclined to be that way.
Mystiandsunny I'd be interested to read that article, if you can by any chance remember the name of the author or article?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Come on, everyone knows Arabs are the best and it doesn't matter one jot if it's 14.1hh or 15.1hh as long as it's an arab!

 

[marmalade76]

Ponies are definitely hardier, they live on fresh air without needing lots of supplements (the ponies I had as a kid were fed hadly any hard feed, never had any supplements but never suffered any ill effect such as poor hoof quality) despite what feed companies tell you!

They are more sound, but I do agree that this is partly down to size. A small, light weight animal can skim across heavy going without getting bogged down and suffers less concussion on hard. I had a very LW NFxTB of only just 15.1 who would jump on any ground. I hunted him hard, team chased him and SJed on grass in the summer. The only lameness he suffered with was a bruised sole and puss on the foot (he got a small twig wedged down the side of his frog).

 

[wench]

But ponies have been bred for centuries to be hardy - as have arabs!

 

[Enfys]

But ponies have been bred for centuries to be hardy - as have arabs!

...and as a huge amount of breeds have arab in them...

I think it is horses for courses - again. I've known some incredibly tough arabs
this one has been living out in Canadian winters all her life, I spoil her and give her a blanket because she's knocking on a bit, but she certainly hasn't always been blanketted.

and some that were complete wimps and would shiver through a British summer shower. Same with all types.

My QH's (natives when you think about it) are as hard as nails, most of them anyway, in foal mares flee when they see the blankets come out, the stallion (the one that gets marooned if there's a puddle in his laneway) barely give me chance to get in the gate before he is wriggling under his. Wuss.