Show jumping with a pony as an adult?

Hello,
Was wondering what the rules were for competing in show jumping with a 14.2 i am 25 but only 5"2 so pony perfect size but will i be able to affiliate or will i have to give pony some platforms??
 
No, you can affiliate.

I rang the BSJA first to check and said my pony was around 14.2hh-14.3hh, and did I need to get her measured?

They said no, even if she was 14.2hh (therefore a Junior size) I could still do Seniors with her.
 
yep ponies are allowed to compete in senior classes you just need to be sure they will make the distances as that is where some struggle. Some of the top JA ponies follow their riders into senior ranks if they don't want to sell them when they hit 16. Micklow Madness won the 1m20 amateur senior champ for example last year!
 
There is no problem with you affiliating & jumping your pony in horse classes. The thing you may find difficult is that the distances in doubles & combinations are all set for the horse stride of 12', hopefully your pony can manage these distances.

Probably the most famous pony that ever jumped in horse classes was'Stroller'...... what a jumper he was, his carrear achievements are on this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroller_(horse)
 
I competed my 14.1hh in seniors a few times before I went to uni - distances weren't a problem in BN but became more so in Discovery, although I think with a little more time I may have got more used to how to handle it. It can be done tho - even if you do what I did and somehow squeeze 2 strides into a one stride double (luckily both uprights)!!
The first BN show I did on a ticket, we won due to his turns in the jump-off and the organisers kindly gave me a rosette too even tho I wasn't actually affiliated
smile.gif
 
As duckling says, the striding became a bit difficult for my mare also as the jumps got bigger. She was fine with BN and Discovery but Newcomers was difficult as she'd either put one stride and a shuffle into a one stride double, or do one stride and then a launch. She came down on the back rail of a few oxers doing this which I felt awful about as she always tried her hardest.

That was pretty much it for us, but we enjoyed our time and won just over £200 in about a year because she was nippy on the turns and careful.
 
I jump my 14hh as a horse. He puts an extra stride in everywhere but he has jumped clear round senior 1.20m opens. He is not the fastest as he likes to be careful but he can do much tighter turns than the horses - pros and cons!

There is no reason why a pony should not compete as a horse but remember that the senior courses are much more up to height and wider than the pony ones and it makes all the difference. I am never going to sell my pony so I wanted to carry on doing what we enjoy together. Plus he is always a favourite at shows as he is the smallest!!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Let us know how you get on.
 
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