Tall riders.. what size do you ride?

Yubbie

Yubbie

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Yesterday I went and tried a 16.3 IDxTB as an allrounder - was very happy with how it went, felt comfortable and confident and really liked the horse. However, as me and hubby played back the footage & i asked for comments he said "you looked fine if anything a just little bit big..... not too heavy just a bit too tall!! Well I am 5' 11" so fair point but now there's a doubt in my mind. I certainly didn't feel too big but I do see what he means - so opinions gratefully received!!
 
I wouldn't have thought you'd be too tall for that height and breed at all. I am 5'9 but have a 36" inside leg so I can easily look silly on a fine horse. Mine is a Suffolk part bred, 16hh but a lovely big barrel on him to take up my leg!!
 
Our 15.2 warmblood is competed (affil dressage) by my 5 foot 9 daughter who is 8 and a half stone with a whooping 35 inch inside leg. They are fine together. I do a lot of dressage writing and see a huge number of tiny people on massive horses. Really it depends on how deep a horse is through the barrel. You can have big horses who are not very deep and small horses with a lovely deep barrel. At 5 foot 11 on such a big horse it seems very unlikely you looked too big.
 
I'm 5'10 and my eventer is 16hh, the youngster is 15.2hh and the one we have in to sell at the moment is a 14.2hh Welsh Sec D!

I am definately too big for both the 15.2hh and the 14.2hh, but Ballet is a Cob/TB and I am on the bigger side on her, but not too big.

I think you have to remember that someone like Willliam Fox Pitt looks too big for some of the horses he rides, but he's not. Should really be "if your too heavy" for the horse you ride, and I am not for any of the neds I ride.

16.3hh sounds like a good size, I wouldn't worry!
 
I'm 5ft11 (36inside leg) my horse is a 16.3hh ISH so I'd imagine a very similar situation. The only time I look tall on him is when I ride with a long dressage length, although he carries me without a problem x
 
I'm 5'9" and Hattie is a 15.3hh TB and I don't look too big on her, even with my side saddle placing me higher off her back than a normal saddle. My old loan horse was a 14.1hh Arab that I used to ride side saddle on too and for some bizarre reason, random people always commented how " wow, what a big horse she was" when I rode past! :D

My inseam is only 34" though so I have stupidly short legs compared to all you other tall riders but at 16.3hh, he wont be too for you you at 5'11!!!
 
I would think you would be fine on a 16.3hh. You wouldn't want anything much bigger than that tbh. I am 5ft9 and my horses are 15hh and 15.3hh. :)
 
I beat you all!! I'm a towering 6 foot and ride a 16.3hh ID/TB and as far as I'm aware, I look fine on him. I am 12 stone-ish (give or take the odd chocolate cake binge) and he manages my weight fine.
Before him, I had a slightly chunkier 15.3hh ID/TB and while my leg was a bit on the long side, it didn't look ridiculous.
 
I am 6foot with long legs. Monty was just under 17hh, and a skinny tb and I looked spot on on him. Zoom is a measly 14.3hh and, although i look a bit tall, I don't think I look ridiculous. It's all about how you feel!
 
I'm 5'8" so not massively tall. I ride horses of around 16hh most of the time, but go down to 14.3hh depending upon the build of the horse. I generally feel fine on the flat but occasionally a bit tall jumping, just because some short coupled horses have short necks and you can feel a bit close to their ears!

Hubby is 6'2" with massively long legs, he rides a 15.1hh, and looks very similar size wise on that and on a 17.3hh Clydesdale x TB. He manages to look a bit lanky on both!!! He looks best on a 15.3hh maxi cob, or a 16.3hh hunter type.

Depends so much on the build of the horse and your own proportions.

Hubby is very leggy and the 15.1hh is a pony like cob. He doesn't look too tall as his leg is taken up by the deep girth and his body is quite short, but on the taller horses they don't always have the depth of girth and his legs look like they are dangling.
 
i'm 5'10 with a 36" leg.

my "proper" eventer is 15.3hh but a sturdy little boy, Millie is a 16hh tb and Vinnie (my 4yro) is 17.2hh!

i am happy on most horses 15.2hh upwards
 
Thanks for all the replies - should have said that the horse is more TB than ID so is of a finer build but my legs look ok (surprisingly!!) however the problem seems to be that because I am long in the body it makes me looks tall!!! Oh well never mind I was happy and felt comfy so will probably just ignore his remark... after all what do men know????
 
Quite my OH made silly comments about most of the horses I tried before I found my mare and luckily I didn't take him to see her or show him any video or pics :)

You won't be too big but being a Mrs Longback myself I know how you feel. My mare is a 15.2 Cob body or Arab legs :) So she takes up my leg fine but I do look rather tall on her but I'm not worried. I am going to look even more silly when I back my 13.2hh New Forest in a few weeks.....! ( I an 5ft 8ins and 8 1/2 stone so he'll cope )
 
I'm 6'1 and my TB is about 16.1hh. I feel fine on him but when I look at piccys I sometimes think I look to big on him, I'm not sure I would want a much bigger horse though.

As for how small I would go I have recently ridden a stocky 12.2hh and am now regularly riding a 14.1hh :D
 
Im 5"7/8 and my horses are 16.2 and 17hh and i look fine on both but i am happy on anythin g 15hh upwards, i know im not massively tall but i think i am for some reason!!!!
 
Im 5ft 10" and i normally ride my own which is 15.2HH...even though in my profile pic i look ok jumping when we go dressage i look fine in the leg but tall on him...
Yet i can ride a 13.2HH arab pony (Im light enough) and i look the same!
I wouldn't worry about bring too tall :)
I don't worry about my legs or height i worry about my weight on them x
 
I'm 5'11 - don't know my inside leg measurement, but I do have long legs and ride an Arab of 15'1, an Arab of 15'2 or 3, and my biggest horse, a TBX (the brown one in my signature) is 16hh. However all of them are broad in the back and wide in the barrel, so take up the leg pretty well, and all of them would potentially be capable of carrying a far heavier rider than me too. I like my compact "little" horses!!
 
Faro said:
I like my compact "little" horses!!
Click to expand...


:) Me too!
My previous horse was a 14.1 arab.
My current horse is a 14.2 ISH x cob.

I am 5 ft 3 but with stupidly long legs....they measure 35 inches insude seam.
I also have a very long hip to knee measurement. Yet....i look ridiculous on anything big! Ofter referred to as a pea on a mountain, as i have a short upper body!!
Yet my RI is the same height but with shorter legs and looks perfect on a 17hh.....yet really funny on a 14.2!!

This is me on my 14.2hh, with my 35inch legs.....he takes them up really well.

Please excuse the shocking position, looking down, elbows out! Its really not pretty!!!!!

Paddingtonbear.jpg
 
not as tall as most of you guys (am 5'8'') and I ride a 15.3hh mare and a 16hh mare. The 15.3 I feel fab on and she takes up my leg well, though I look v slightly long in the leg if I ride dressage length, doesn't affect her ability to carry me or how I ride. The 16hh mare has a slightly deeper girth and is more powerfully built generally and I feel like a pea on a mountain with her! I look a bit small on her too. I have a 34'' inside leg and weight 10 stone so they both carry me just fine, but the smaller one I feel happier on. I think the height can only really be a guide, I think it comes down much more to the build of the horse and how you feel on it. If you feel good and the horse takes your weight, then you are away!
 
i have longer legs and a shorter body! make sense?! and can get away riding quite literally anything!i have a 14.1hh and a 16.1hh out BE i dont get too many funny looks on the little one, only in the dressage with long stirrups! im backing a 13.2hh at home and apparantly i dont look to big on it! im 5ft8!!
 
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