Parents with horsey children..

Michen

Michen

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Out of interest roughly what sort of age would you expect a just 10 year old to move off their 13.2 on to a 15.1? She's small on her 13.2hh, legs no where near bottom of ponies belly yet!

I know it obviously depends on how fast they grow etc, but would you really expect to see an 11/12 year old on a 15.1hh?

Edited to add- I'm trying to work out how long I may have with my loan horse before they require him back. ;)
 
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It obviously depends on the child, but my almost 14 year old sister is still happily riding her 13hh Welshie. She's starting to struggle with the size of his saddle, but he's happy to carry her all day long.
 
My twelve year daughter went straight onto my 16hh horse, though she was still riding smaller ones too.

I personally don't think it matters one hoot, as long as they are happy and trust their mount :)
 
An 11 year old could get away with ridung my 15.1/2 horse as a every now and then, however would not be able to cope with her "full time"
 
He's very, very strong for fast work out hacking when not alone and she really is little but I knownothing about children or how fast they grow lol!!
 
One of mine is 11 and still easily on a 13.2hh, he occasionally rides my horse in a controlled environment but I can't see him on a 15.2 under he is at least 14, unless he has a mighty growth spurt somewhere. Occasional rides he would be find on a proper horse, a cross country course or a days hunting/fast hacking is quite a different thing.
 
They do seem to grow really fast when they start secondary school. My daughter was off her 14hh pony and on a 16hh warmblood at 13, but she is quite tall anyway. Conformation plays a part as well, as pony was a relatively fine show hunter pony type, probably would have fitted a chunkier native type a bit longer.
 
I was on a 16.2 tb x Connie at 13. And I'm small! He was safe as houses in the school but a huge learning curve to hack. So I guess it all depends on the horse and the child.
 
I rode my 13.2 until I was 23, he was 22 and ready to retire by then.
Then I moved onto a 15.1, what a change after 14 years!
 
Depends on too many factors - my daughter's just sold her 14h after 6 years, but we got the 16.2 a couple of years ago, however it was only this year the 16.2 has been doing more (very young & green) and GCSEs at 16 meant the pony wasn't ridden much she started feeling he was too 'small' even though she wasn't actually too tall at 5ft 8. She did pop on her 13.2 and walk round briefly the other day, we still have him.
 
No children, so can't comment on that aspect, but it depends on the height and ability of said children I suppose. We have an 11yo girl at our yard who already looks too tall for her 14hh. Whereas I'm 27 and ride a 14hh pony and am quite happy staying near the ground :D
 
It depends on the kid and how quickly she grows really. My parents bought me a 15.1hh Arab when I was 11 and that turned out to be a very good match (although she doesn't measure 15.1hh anymore, she's definitely shrunk with age!). But my sister was riding her little pony until she was nearly 14, so you might have a bit longer. Really, I'd say it most depends on how good her current pony is, because if she's really keen on it she won't want to move onto something else as soon.
 
When I was 11, I went from a cheeky 11.2hh welshie to a saintly 15hh gentleman. I was described, more than once, as looking like a pea on a mountain. However, he was as safe and dependable to ride as they come and I had full confidence in him, his size really didn't matter. I'm not sure it would've done my confidence a huge amount of good to ride something very strong at that age though.
 
I think it's very dependent on the child, the pony and the parents. At 24 I could still get away on a 13.2, but I stopped growing at 12. If the child is still looking little on her pony then I think it would be a while yet before she is ready for 15hh+. She will probably have a growth spurt at around 12-14 then will be pretty much at her adult height (if she is little for her age now then I would suggest the spurt would be later, particularly if she's very slender). Discounting anything unexpected happening to the pony, I think you should be good for at least a couple of years; but I know some parents can be keen to get their children on bigger ponies/horses before they really need to.
 
It depends on the child and what they are wanting to do. My old YMs son was riding 16.2 horses at 13 (though he was very tall) and had qualified for his first 1* event at 14.
 
As others have said it is about the match, not the age of the child. My 16yr old daughter still rides her 13.1 cob X who carries her happily all day hunting. She events a 148cm (14.2) ex SJ'r and still doesn't look over horsed on a relatively narrow 16.1 TB. I think she might have been a bit pea sized on my old 18.1 shire x TB - but then I think I looked like a bowling ball on him! (And I can ride her 13.1 too...)

Don't rush off ponies. I see so many children your daughter's age pushed onto horses and then loosing very precious years learning to cope with the bigger movement. Horses and ponies are different in more than just size. Even in affiliated competition there is no reason to move off a pony as the child grows. Obviously there is a minimum height for eventing - but it is still a pony - and can be ridden by any age. Under 16's BS have to compete on ponies in junior classes, but over 16's can compete ponies in senior classes.

If you have a mount you are happy with that does its job stick with it - size doesn't matter!
 
I was riding 13.2 until I was about 14 or so - I had a growth spurt then and was just too long in the leg after that. I did manage on 14.2/15h until I got my big girl 10 years ago and boy was that a difference going from 15h to 16h :)
 
My daughter moved on from her 13.2 he to her 16hh at 13. She was about 5'4" by then. Her younger sister was ready for her pony and, as we keep them for life it made sense to buy one she couldn't grow out off. Her older sister stayed on her 14.1 until he died aged 25 as she was smaller/lighter!
 
It all depends on the kid, the horse and the pony. My friend bought a 13hh pony for her 8yr old son. He's had a few lameness problems so her son has been riding her horse - who's 17hh. He's a pretty special 17hh gentle giant though and really looks after him. It's obviously not a long term thing at the moment but I can see him riding him permanently in about 3 or 4 years time - he's going to be tall and will be ready to be doing the sort of thing M does so well and so calmly by then. If it bothers you, I'd talk to the owners - tell them you'd need to know where you stand so you're mentally / emotionally prepared for it. I don't mean a definite date, but a ballpark length of time.
 
horsemadmum1 said:
Age not releavnt-it is all about the match. My daughter is 16 and still rides her 13.2hh Section B.
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This is true to my experience. I had my own 15.3 TB from around 12 and I was tiny for my age but she was kind. I could have still ridden my 13.3 and 14.1 but I wasn't getting enough out of them at that point (had just started dressage, eventing, etc). However, I'm now (in my 30s!) back on a 14hh ��.
 
totally depends on how the pony matches the childs ability, attitude and size. At 11 I'm hoping my daughter will only just be moving off her 11.2 and on to one of our 13.2 cobs before moving on to my 15h Anglo when she's around 16, well that's the plan anyway obviously anything could happen in that time to change things though. Could you not just ring the owners and ask them how long they are expecting child to last on pony? the child may not even want to move on to the horse and they could sell pony and but he's something else? you never know!
 
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