Tall people

[Suechoccy]

Small is the way to go! What were Mongolian horses like in comparison to both Icelandics and to UK natives? I'm really curious.

Quite similar. Incredibly strong, lots of stamina at all paces. It very quickly felt comfortable and normal to be sitting on them. Neither felt choppy-strided but then on both occasions I was riding trail-fit horses.

In general I feel far safer and comfy on smaller horses. Have only ridden a couple of horses over 16.2hh in my life and it's a long way off the ground.

 

[Widgeon]

The mistake is not in your height on the pony but in posting the photo on Reddit it's brutal on there!

Absolutely! 50kg is nothing at all, you must be built like the proverbial beanpole. Pretty much anything will carry your weight comfortably, it's just saddle fit and balance at speeds above above a walk that might be tricky. If you feel happier on bigger horses then go for bigger horses - nothing wrong with that.

Re the Reddit abuse, I think it's a relatively recent (i.e. maybe last couple of hundred years?) cultural thing that big horses are seen as somehow aspirational and we've forgotten that the majority of working and middle class adults, if they did ride, would have ridden native or old-fashioned cobby types - i.e. quite small. Look at old photos and it's entirely normal to see adult men (admittedly, mostly quite slim by today's standards) with their legs hanging down under their horse (or pony)'s belly.

 

[Widgeon]

Quite similar. Incredibly strong, lots of stamina at all paces. It very quickly felt comfortable and normal to be sitting on them. Neither felt choppy-strided but then on both occasions I was riding trail-fit horses.

In general I feel far safer and comfy on smaller horses. Have only ridden a couple of horses over 16.2hh in my life and it's a long way off the ground.

I once turned up a trekking centre for a holiday ride and they said, because you've quite tall we've given you X. X was 17.2 and rangy with it. It didn't take long to establish that I was going to have to stand up for every canter because I wasn't actually capable of sitting his strides!

 

[FieldOrnaments]

Do not be mean. I am not a good rider, I will never be a good rider, I endeavor only to be better than the last time each time ....

I posted this photo

And yes I am tall but I really didn't think it was that a really excessive amount of pony squishing

My confidence is hideously fragile

 

[Barklands]

Do not be mean. I am not a good rider, I will never be a good rider, I endeavor only to be better than the last time each time ....

I posted this photo
View attachment 173798
And yes I am tall but I really didn't think it was that a really excessive amount of pony squishing

My confidence is hideously fragile

You are tall but you are clearly not too heavy. Don't put yourself down, there is nothing wrong with that photograph - your seat looks lovely. As long as YOU feel comfortable and your pony is happy there is nothing wrong with you two as a combination.

 

[Korg]

Do not be mean. I am not a good rider, I will never be a good rider, I endeavor only to be better than the last time each time ....

I posted this photo
View attachment 173798
And yes I am tall but I really didn't think it was that a really excessive amount of pony squishing

My confidence is hideously fragile

I see nothing abusive going on there. Your legs are just fine, your body with the combination of the horse's neck is a bit tall, but in no way abusive. Probably wouldn't be ideal if you were riding at a higher level of fast kinds, such as show jumping (not just occasionally jumping something, that should be fine), but that's probably also more of a personal preference thing.

 

[JenJ]

Do not be mean. I am not a good rider, I will never be a good rider, I endeavor only to be better than the last time each time ....

I posted this photo
View attachment 173798
And yes I am tall but I really didn't think it was that a really excessive amount of pony squishing

My confidence is hideously fragile

You look fab!

Absolutely no squish to be seen