Hey x basically my 14'2hh Highlands lame atm so I'm thinking of loaning a 14hh appaloosa who can jump much bigger than my highland but I was wandering if he would be to small? I'm 5'5 btw thanks for the help x
I am 5'4 and looked fine on a friend's irish cob who was 14hh. She took up my leg really well, so we were actually a really good match. My arab mare who is 15hh has had a skinny but tall (over 6ft) rider on and they looked surprisingly OK. Again, she's a wide mare being mostly Crabbet, so took up the long legs.
I suppose it depends on your length of leg and the horses's girth - this is my 14h sec D with a 5ft4 rider... As long as your weight isn't too much it's more about how comfortable you will feel. Are your legs going to be dangling?
One of the girls here who helped with my Highland ponies was 5'9" and she did not look too much out of place on ponies under 14.2. 5'5" sounds fine to me.
As others have said, it does depend on the build of the pony (and probably your weight too). I'm a slim 5'8" and looked and felt absolutely fine on a 14.2 Dales pony who was good and wide. When I was a teenager I still rode my first pony, a 13.2 Highland - another chunky built pony.