Ponies VS Horses, which do you prefer to ride?

Ponies! I'm too big for little ponies now (5'6 and between 9-10 stone)but my 13.3 cob has no problem carrying me and we have heaps of fun, she makes me feel like a kid again except she's a much better (and safer!) all rounder than the ponies I had as a kid!
 
Horses. I have a 16.1 and 16.3, other people riding them think they have massive strides but to me they're just normal. I prefer having a bit of neck/shoulder in front of me. I'd love a pony too, especially an exoor or highland, but I would never choose to buy a pony if I didn't also have a horse.
 
Horses...any day of the week..!!!
Ponies are cute but I'm 5ft 11' and I'd feel like a pillock on anything under 15.2.
My ideal size horse is around 17hh but currently have a full up 15.3 cob type.
 
I'm too tall for ponies (and too fat!) but have very fond memories of my first horse, who was a pony with long legs. He was tb/welshxarab, and a bit weird looking - bright bay, with 4 white stockings,a big white face, and one blue eye. He was ponyish in the way he moved and jumped - did everything at a million miles an hour, whilst being as clever as a cat. I used to rag him round like he was a tough little pony, and he never once failed to do the silly stuff I asked him for!
I love big horses too though - Alf is my horse of a lifetime, and there's nothing ponyish about him. My preferred type would be a big, old fashioned warmblood with bags of movement and power.
 
Horses. I'm 5ft6 so not tall but not short. I feel safer and more secure on a bigger horse, I hate short choppy pony strides.
Currently looking for a new horse and 16.1 is my minimum height.
 
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I've had both and have to say I prefer horses, although that is probably because of what I have been used to riding the past few years.

Mine are on the smaller side as less than 15.3 and would not want one much bigger tbh - mainly as I'm 5'3 and would struggle with putting the saddle on :P
 
I love my 13.1hh Highland to bits, but I do feel a little too tall on him, being a fairly leggy 5'7".

Sister has suggested I look for a 14hh Highland from the same stud, and I approve of the idea in principle, but I worry about my ability to stop something that sturdy. Probably going to have to move onto horses when I have the money - most likely a small or lightweight hunter of some variety - in order to find something that takes up more leg than Mr. H but isn't too much heavier.

Can't stand things with a short stride or a large turning circle, though; so I wouldn't buy anything bigger than 16hh or that didn't stride on nicely. Short-coupled powerhouses are the best.
 
I like horses that ride like ponies. Im too big for ponies so cant get away with them anymore so I find I seem to get on best with short coupled 16hh types. Ive had 2 big warmbloods now and just didnt seem to gel with them the same, I struggle with big rangy horses - like them smaller and sharper ;)
 
At 14 I had a 16.2 tb, my horses have progressively got smaller, mainly because my preferred breeds are not giants. Arabians for 25 years, and now pasos which generally max out at 14.2, mine is a dwarf and is only 13.1h, but then I am only 5'1"


I have never had any desire to ride wide, huge striding horses, or anything that doesn't carry its' head where I can see it, or anything that is less than a 7 on the scale (0 being a kick-along, 10 being rocket powered) current 13.1 is a 10+ and more of a challenge to ride than any racehorse or Arabian I have ridden in 40+ years. Best of fun :D
 
You can't beat a good pony, and as a child I had a little cracker. She did everything and had a smart pony brain too. However at 5'10 and 12 stone there's no way I can ride ponies any more! My riding boy is 17.3 and about as different from a pony as you can get.

My last riding horse though was a CB, and she had a pony brain and very much felt like an oversized 16.2 pony. Had I not already had the big lad, when I lost her I'd definitely have gone for another CB. If anything goes wrong with him, I will.
 
Has to be horses. Ponies are personality plus but I love the gentleness of horses. I have to say, though, as a returning rider who has been back riding for about 6 months, when I fist got back into cantering, the best ride I had was on a grey mare who is about 14.2. Beautiful stride and rhythm. Ideal really. Not too quick and jerky like a pony and not great lolloping strides of some of the bigger horses I've been riding. If money and time were no option, I'd have both because they all have their good over bad features.
 
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I have a 14.2 but would say she's neither particularly pony or horse like. I prefer horses, ponies for me are remembered as things that whip round from underneath you and blink and you've missed it and you're eating dust, far too wriggly and small even though I can and do ride them I do prefer horses. Nothing overly tall tho, 16.2hh is my absolute limit and 15.3/16hh is my comfort point. I have short legs but a long body so feel more in proportion/balanced on something a little bigger.
 
Horses for me. The bigger the better! I loved my ponies when I was small, and I still thoroughly enjoy schooling and doing sets on polo ponies at work, but there really is nothing like a big big horse. My current boy is 17.3hh and although I wish he would magically grow a hand, he's still a big beast and I adore him.

I have no idea why I love big horses - I just always have.
 
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