is 15.3hh too small for me?

[MandyMoo]

sorry for embarrassing and pointless post..

but i am very tall - 5ft9/10ish... but seem to have a longer body (weird proportions!!!)... and can look quite tall on horses..

on Bugsy (who is a small 16.2hh... probably more 16.1hh) i look like this...

so do you guys think i would look too tall on a 15.3hh?? sorry, sounds silly... but have seen a nice horse for sale who is only 15.3hh... not sure if i'd dwarf it!!!! I'm maybe just used to bigger horse... went from a 13.2hh straight onto a 16.3hh Monty... so never experienced between 13.2 and 16.2!!!

 

[Sarah_Jane]

Looking at that picture you should be ok on a 15.3 although as with most things it will depend on confirmation, a narrow TB may be a bit small but something wih a decent amount of girth should be fine.

 

[MandyMoo]

Looking at that picture you should be ok on a 15.3 although as with most things it will depend on confirmation, a narrow TB may be a bit small but something wih a decent amount of girth should be fine.

thankyou just got me thinking what my size limit was! (minimum i mean)

but thanks, should be ok - it isn't too fine a build

 

[Sarah_Jane]

I expect you would be surprised at 5'6" I don't look silly on a 14.2 or too over horsed on Pippa who is 16.3

 

[Javabb94]

I am 5ft 10/11 and I am too big for my 15.2hh, although not by miles, I have really long legs

I'm currently looking for a new horse and have said to myself minimum 16hh although you are an inch shorter than me so I would say you should be fine on a 15.3hh.

 

[MandyMoo]

I am 5ft 10/11 and I am too big for my 15.2hh, although not by miles, I have really long legs

I'm currently looking for a new horse and have said to myself minimum 16hh although you are an inch shorter than me so I would say you should be fine on a 15.3hh.

i have weirdly short legs though for my height (strange shape haha) - so its just the worry that my body will look too tall/lanky on top of a smaller horse!!

 

[measles]

This is A who is 6ft on Charlie who we have in to produce just now and she is 15.2hh. All depends on the depth of girth really

 

[kirstyhen]

I'm 6ft and regularly ride 15.2 and smaller! I prefer a bigger horse, but like SJ says, so much depends on how theyre built!

 

[MandyMoo]

All depends on the depth of girth really

LOL. sorry immature mind on a wednesday evening.

but yes, i see what you mean! he doesn't look too tall atall - i should be ok then as long as they're not too fine. thanks!

 

[whiteclover]

Im 5'10 and feel underhorsed on a 15.3. I much prefer riding a bigger horse.

 

[Lolo]

Sister regularly rode a 14.2hh mare without looking too big at 5'7 although she's the other way round to you- long legged!. Mare was narrow as well. I'd reckon you'd look just fine!

 

[VRIN]

Think William Fox Pitt!! He looks good on anything!!

My current horse was 15.3 when I bought it - wouldn't have even looked if I had known the size but he is great -he has also grown a little now

 

[Bounced]

Mark Todd and Charisma spring to mind ( or MT on just about anything come to that )

 

[MandyMoo]

VRIN - haha forgot about WFP!!!

 

[LaurenB]

i'm 5ft10 and have a 17.2hh but last week rode my friends 14.2hh fresianx and was shocked by pictures and i didnt look too big at all! but like others have said depends on horses breeding I think, you will probably have to go view it to make up your mind

 

[MandyMoo]

i'm 5ft10 and have a 17.2hh but last week rode my friends 14.2hh fresianx and was shocked by pictures and i didnt look too big at all! but like others have said depends on horses breeding I think, you will probably have to go view it to make up your mind

yea true - i think i'd need to sit on it to see if i felt too big... maybe i'd feel ok or maybe i'd feel underhorsed!!

 

[Fairy Dust]

My mum is 5'10 and has a 14.2 cob! She also only has a dressage saddle so her long legs are even more obvious! She doesn't actually look that bad on him!

I'm sure you will be fine, I am 5'9 and had a 15.2 tb mare years ago who never felt small as she rode so big!

 

[Cortez]

I'm 5' 9" and ride a 14.2h Friesian cross, and I have stupid long gangly legs, and ride very long too. But then she (pony) has a HUGE barrel so I think I look OK. All depends on the horse really....

 

[superpony]

I'm 5'9 and have a 15.3hh tb and a 14.1hh welsh x, I do look abit big on my welsh x (but not to the extreme!) and I feel just right on my tb. But I have a short body and long legs!

 

[I*HM]

I'm 5'9 and my own lad is 15hh (cob x connie) and I apparently look fine on him height wise.

As long as said horse isn't a complete twig I don't see why you'd be tall on it?

 

[RachelFerd]

I'm 5'10 and my two are a 15.2hh TB and a 15.3hh TB, both very fine and twiggy.

I don't mind them being small, I find it rather odd riding big horses now, even though I did used to like big horses.

Riding at dressage length can feel a bit difficult, but jumping/hacking is no bother at all.

15.3hh:

15.2hh (flat bred TB):

 

[MandyMoo]

RF - you look perfectly in proportion on your two lovely!!

thankyou everyone!! has put my mind at rest! can now include 15.3hh's in my horse search haha

 

[EllieK]

I'm 5ft11 and ride our two driving horses (15.1hh light-mid framed horses) no problem. Have a sit on and see how you feel

 

[PucciNPoni]

I think it really depends on how the horse is built. If it's got a short length of rein and is built somewhat downhill, being of a tall frame from the hip up might become exaggerated by the horse's build. If a horse is slight of build thru the ribs and the rider has reallllly long legs, this is accentuated even more so because the way the leg hangs below the belly. Yet on wide sprung horse of the same height, you'd never notice.

I've known men of 6' to ride wee Morgan horses (15hh ish) and pull it off really well mainly because they tend to be really wide spring of rib and high head carriage.

 

[cob&onion]

I am 5ft10 and my tb is 16.2 and the LW cob is 15hh (just). They both have deep girths so i don't look big on them. The cob being just 15hh was a worry as i thought i would be too tall on her when infact i look better on her than i do on my friends 15.3hh TB.

 

[GinaGem]

I'm 5'8 with long legs. As other's have said i think it really depends on the horse and how you feel. For instance my 14.2hh Fjord i look ridculous on but he's wide:

But my connie who's prob only an inch or two taller but much narrower i look big but maybe not ridiculous:

At the other end of the scale i do personally like the overall picture of me on something bigger ie my old horse who was about 17hh at the time:

 

[Puppy]

As a very short legged 5'3"er the idea of 15.3 being too small is completely beyond my imagination! I consider it the perfect height!

 

[Kat]

I'm 5ft8" and my horse is 15.3hh and feels a brilliant size. I don't look even approaching big on her. My husband is 6ft2" and he rides her too, he looks a little big and feels a little big but not so much so that it is uncomfortable. We are hoping she'll fill out a bit and take up his leg better, but he has stupid lanky legs than make all horses look a bit small, he can look just as lanky on a 15.1hh as on a 17.2hh!

 

[Hedwards]

It really does depend on the shape of the horse, but i think you should be fine on 15.3hh. I'm about the same height as you (closer to 5'10" than 5'9") - my current mare (now retired) is just shy of 15.1, and as you can see shes not particularly chunky -

My old mare was 16hh and relatively narrow, was fine on her too

I have also ridden a 14.1 connemara on endurance rides (40k distances) and was fine on him too. plus a 14.2 gypsy cob x i borrow for hacking.

 

[KatB]

Nope, you'll be fine! A lot of 15.3hh are "big" 15.3hh anyway. I'm a lot bigger than you even though am only 5'7, and madam is only 15.3