How would you judge if a horse is a suitable size for someone?

[WCCHIC]

Looking through peoples posts their seems to be an amazing number of people who are very slight but ride very large horses (this is based upon what I was told was the correct size of horse for a rider at Pony Club many moons ago)

How would you all judge if a horse was suitable size wise?
(pictures of suitable horse and rider combinations would be useful)

 

[MizElz]

This issue has been raised before on here, and always seems to end in controversy.....I think, in all honesty, that every combination differs. I bet you anything you like that if I told you how much I weigh, you'd say I was too big for my 15.2 lightweight mare....and yet I'd challenge anyone to say that from looking at our photographs. It is more to do with the rider's technique; I have seen eight stone people riding very heavily - heavy seat, heavy hands - and in this instance, I believe they are less 'suitable' for the horse than, for example, a twelve stone rider who 'rides light'.

I would judge by way of going. I rode my trainer's 16.3 Holstein a couple of times, and felt very overhorsed. It wasnt that I couldnt handle her - any rider worth their salt should be able to 'handle' a horse, regardless of size, but I just didnt feel comfortable on her. I am only 5'3, and as such, in spite of being very heavy for my height, I have always been at my best on 15.2-16h horses. And I think it is easy enough to recognise if a horse is having problems carrying you, or if you are hindering it in any way

 

[vieshot]

well im 5ft7, i ride a 14hh but i think the most suitable hieght for me would be about 15hh.
13hh for 5ft3 and above
14hh for 5ft5 and above
15hh for 5ft7 and above
16hh for 5ft9 and above

This is just a rought guesstimate of what seems to be suitable but obviously that would be for people within the correct weight range for their hieght. If i was running a riding school, then this might be the sort of criteria i would go by, but obviously the breed of horse would affect who could ride it for example a 13.2hh forester is more than capable of carrying someone of 5ft9 in the normal weight ratio and a very fine 13hh arab type may not be able to cope with the normal weight ratio of someone at 5ft3 and may be more suited to small children. It all depends but so long as horse and rider are happy then i dont think it matters much.

 

[annbal]

Any horse and rider combo is OK as long as both are happy. I am 5ft 1 and my boy is a 16'2 ID (he just keeps growing). We are both happy and I can cope with his big powerfull moments. Some people have commented on me being over horsed, but he's my baby and I would never sell him for a smaller horse

 

[summertoots]

I'm 5ft3 and I have a 16.2 TB. I feel very comfortable on him and I dont feel over horsed at all, infact I ride him very well.
Part of my work involves me riding horses from 13hh up and if i am honest I hate when I have to get on a pony, I feel huge on them and cant cope with pony strides. I wouldn't buy anything under 15.2 unless it was very special and has very good paces.

 

[horsey1992devon]

It goes on weight and balance more than anything, and also what type the pony or horse is.

For example an Icelandic can (and many do!) easily carry grown men, as do breeds like haflingers and fjords, despite them mostly being under 14.2hh.
Also many native ponies like exmoors, dartmoors etc. easily carry adults despite mostly being around 12-13hh!

However, more show pony built 14.2's would probably not be able to carry over about 10 stone.

So yeah, it depends on the type of pony or horse and the weight of the rider. IMO as long as you feel comfortable on the horse or pony, and it can carry you easily enough, then there is no problem.

ETA: I'm about 5"8 myself, but I feel most at home when riding chunkier ponies around the 14hh mark as apposed to horses around 16hh. I feel overhorsed on anything above 16hh!

 

[Zobaby]

Depends totally only on the weight of rider/type of rider and the breed of horse. Some riders, as MizElz says, ride 'light' and some ride 'heavy'. I'm 5ft10 but not that heavy, but feel very silly on anything under 16.2hh. I'll ride any height (i have been known to ride the odd 12.2hh with my feet scraping along the ground!!) but feel most comfortable on a bigger horse. My YO has two completely different horses - a 15.2hh traditional coloured cob and a 17.2hh showjumper clydesdale x, and is only about 5ft3 herself. However feels just at home on either. So just depends on what you feel comfy on

x

 

[hallarider]

I am 5'6 and my boy is 18hh, I weigh 10 stone (well just over!!) I also have a 15.1 mare, i feel safer on the gelding - hes a youngster as well.

 

[RedVendetta]

Im 5'3 and my 15.3hh irish boy is perfect for my height but I did have a 14.1hh before who I only sold as I wanted to affiliate, he took me out hunting, xc everything and I dont think my weight or height was ever a prob. My 5'6 friend whos very skinny owns a 16.2hh showjumper because she competes at BSJA up to newcomers and fox. Its a got a lot to do with what you want to do with the horse as well - you need a horse who can do the job.

 

[Meadon]

I feel happier on 14.3hh/15hh. I'm 5'6 and 8 stone. My current horse is 16.1hh but luckily she is light in the mouth and not a particualry heavy moving horse. The only time we have probs is when she gains speed in canter/gallop on a hack. I feel like I have no weight on her then to push back on my seat.

In one of my BHS exams I was given a shire X. To be honest it felt like a joke, I was only 7 and half stone then (always been small) and it was the most forward going, heavy mouthed horse I have ridden. Everytime it moved or shook it's head I nearly went over it's shoulder. Luckily one of the examiners realised this and made me swap with someone else.

At the same time I love my 16hh girl because she has plently of chest to cling onto and I have been known to end up perched on her withers.

 

[NeilM]

[ QUOTE ]
13hh for 5ft3 and above
14hh for 5ft5 and above
15hh for 5ft7 and above
16hh for 5ft9 and above

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting table, I'm 6'1", so by my reckoning I should be riding an 18hh horse

As a novice rider ummm no thanks. That is assuming I could actually find a horse that big that was not a shire horse.

In general I think this propensity for tall horses is a product of modern breeding and the relatively cheap price of horses. Those who are old enough, think back 30 or 40 years and consider what the size of the typical horse was then.

I learned to ride over 25 years ago and regularly rode 15.2hh with an occasional outing on something bigger.

I think height has very little to do with it. Weight is the more critical measure, and if the pony / horse can easily manage your weight and you are happy with the arrangement, then in my eyes there are no issues. Of course, if you are competing, then you need the appropriate horse for the discipline but I would prefer to hack out on my Newfie than the delightful, if slightly bonkers, 16.3hh TB a friend is contemplating buying.

 

[AnnaandStella]

This board sometimes makes me feel very uncomfortable...

I know that at 5'10" & 12 stone novice rider I'm "too big" for my lw/mw 16hh mare...

BUT she's well balanced & judging by how forward going she is, I don't think she's being compromised by me...

Also, she has a deep girth & so I can really wrap my legs around her.

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
This board sometimes makes me feel very uncomfortable...

I know that at 5'10" & 12 stone novice rider I'm "too big" for my lw/mw 16hh mare...

BUT she's well balanced & judging by how forward going she is, I don't think she's being compromised by me...

Also, she has a deep girth & so I can really wrap my legs around her.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please dont feel uncomfortable; there are many of us in the same boat. I'm 12 and a half stone, (5'3) and ride a 15.2 lightweight mare.....I dont think I'm too big for her (she has never told me I am

)....some of us are just very stocky! You dont have to be 'fat' to be heavy.....and you dont necessarily ride 'heavy' simply because you weigh more than average....

 

[vieshot]

Notice how i wrote 'and above' after each one. As said it also very much depends on horse and rider, if i owned a riding school, this just might be a rough criteria from what i would go by. As said i ride a 14hh pony and my youngster is likley to be 13.3hh and im 5ft7 so i dont even fit into my own criteria, it just seems a rough guide to what i would go by in my own business.

 

[vieshot]

[ QUOTE ]
This board sometimes makes me feel very uncomfortable...

I know that at 5'10" & 12 stone novice rider I'm "too big" for my lw/mw 16hh mare...

BUT she's well balanced & judging by how forward going she is, I don't think she's being compromised by me...

Also, she has a deep girth & so I can really wrap my legs around her.

[/ QUOTE ]

A friend of mine is about 12stone and 5ft9 and she won a point to point on a 12.2hh pony! No way are you to big for your horse!

 

[tabithakat64]

We were told at Pony Club that a riders foot (without stirrups) should come to the ponies girth or a maximum of two inches above for the pony to be the right size for the rider. I assume it's something like this that the original poster is referring too.
Most ponies and horses can currently happily carry a lot more than most people think as long has they have no health issues, well fiting tack, reasonable conformation and appropriate work load for fittness.
Larger natives can happily carry up to a 14 stone, reasonably tall adult with no problems what so ever.
I was a regular pony squisher for nine years as I rode my 13.2hh Welsh B cross Arab mare at 11 and a half stone and just over 5 foot 2.

 

[htobago]

The rider's height and the horse's height are nowhere near as important as the rider's weight and the horse's bone. (Can't believe no-one has even mentioned bone on this thread!)

Of course if you need rollerskates or look like a pea on a drum then you are probably too tall/short for your horse LOL!

But the horse's height has little to do with its weight-carrying ability. What matters there is how much bone it has. The rule of thumb is that a horse/pony with 8 inches of bone can carry up to a maximum of 13 stone (that's including all tack and rider's heavy boots, clothing, etc., so does NOT mean a 13-stone rider). 9 inches of bone can carry up to 15 stone (ditto), and 9 and half inches + is a real weight-carrier.

So I would measure the horse's bone, weigh the rider (in full gear, with saddle) and judge accordingly.