Thoughts on 13.2 pony for 5 year old rider.

Depends on the pony and the rider. It can be much more useful for children to learn on a pony with longer strides- rising trot is easier as long as their legs go far enough down the pony's sides. So if the pony is a barrel and the child is doing the splits on it I wouldn't think it was a good idea. But if that's not the case then go for it.
 
For a 5yo the attitude of the pony is more important than the size. All my children learned to ride on our 13.2 pony and the younger ones have ridden her since they were tiny.
 
Pony isnt a barrel and the riders legs do come past the saddle flaps!

Its a difficult decision.

Pony is mine but out on loan to an older child.
We had a smaller pony for daughter.

But due to circumstances i have to decide if i should take pony back now and daughter have her sooner than planned or we go for another smaller pony for a few more years.

Pony is totally suitable handling wise.
Im just concerned ridden wise that she is too big.
Although she is safe, not strong, in traffic, etc.

Daughter is off lead rein in arena, on slack rein out.
A member of pony club, attends grassroots lessons, shes confident etc.

But i dont want to push her too quickly or knock her confidence.
 
As the mother of a 6 year old son I understand your concerns. We recently purchased a fab little 11.2hh for my son, he'd previously had a 11.1h on loan. Two years old he was riding my 14.2hh (that's why I got him one as I wanted mine back!). It very much depends on the pony and the confidence of the rider. I have a 13.2hh that wouldn't be suitable for him at the moment. He loves showing so I got him something he could show himself, he's not very tall so he's got plenty of growing room. I'd say as she's a member of PC, has lessons etc and a confident rider then there shouldn't be an issue. You know your pony so as long as you are totally comfortable with the idea then go for it. It is a worry isn't it at times, knowing how unpredictable animals are with your precious children. All the best with whatever you decide.
 
Thanks for your opinions.

It is difficult as the safety of my daughter is top priority! (Obviously!)

It's not an immediate no, so it probably makes it worse to decide!

I think we will try her out a couple of times and take her to a pony club lesson and see how they get on.

It's things like a non horsey friend saying,
"It's a lot further to fall!"
That puts worries in my head!
 
If you want to show in future it would either put your daughter out of the class or leave her competing against older children

If that is not a factor then i wouldnt worry too much
 
I think if the pony is safe and suitable this is the perfect size for a five year old as the pony will not be outgrown for years and it will save changing ponies just when your child is getting confident enough to start jumping etc.

Don't worry about non-horsey friends, they are always scared of falling off, this is why they are not horsey ;)
 
Pony is too big for a 5yr old - though it may be well behaved - what is it going to be like when she wants to come off the leading rein - will she be safe.

I see too many kids at the mercy of the bigger pony - out of control and unable to have the fun that other kids have on a pony more suited to their size.

11.2 - 12.2 is an ideal size, narrow with smooth paces.
 
Fine if the child is just being led round but once off the leading rein it's much better for the child to have a more suitable sized pony. I think that a child should have a pony of a size where they can start to learn other things like putting on the saddle and mounting by themselves which they will not be able to do on a larger pony.
 
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I bought a 13.3 for my daughter when she was about 6.....she hated having to sell her Shettie and we wanted a long term/ forever pony.
The pony is a gem but he used to take the pee because he knew she didn't have the strength to stoop him wandering off. Luckily I am able to ride him and kept him on the straight and narrow.
She is now 11 and I would say the pony is only now right for her size wise....she's started jumping him now.
TBH I'm torn. Part of me looking back regrets buying one so big because I feel she missed out on bombing around on a little 11hh but she says she would have hated having a succession of ponies and loves the fact that she'll never have to sell him.
Seeing as he's yours already I'd bring him home and see how it goes :)
 
My small 4yr old rides a 13.2 on the LR. Not what I would have chosen but he ended up with us at about the time she got interested. He is great to handle groom etc and really looks as after her on LR but if she wants to do more ( not sure as yet how interested she is ) I will send her to a riding school or get a tiny on loan as there is no way I would feel comfortable with her off lead with him. My friend also had a 13.2 when her daughter was 4 and it is only now her daughter is 9 that she can do anything with him. We also can only do LR classes HC due to size.having said that she has automatically done rising trot from the off as his trot is so smooth and she has developed a great seat from just pottering round fields and lanes knows all about hills and tiny spooks and is has been just playing rather than pushing on too fast which I am happy with at her age.
 
I learned to ride on a 13.2 at that age, nice chunky 20 year old welsh cob that threw me off with monotonous regularity. Utterly loved him, felt safe as houses after a while and I carried on having the odd hack on him until he was PTS aged 30.

I'm now 30 and 18 months ago bought myself a 13.2hh again! I've gone full circle :D
 
Depends on the pony and the child.We bought knobberpony,who is 13hh when the girls were 6 and 7 and was told by several horsey people that she was too big,the girls wouldn't be able to stop her,should have bought a Section A.However,she is the perfect 1st/2nd pony,has never given me a moments worry under the saddle.We have had much smaller and much naughtier ponies,that on paper,should have been ideal.
 
My13.2 highland has taught kids from 2 to 92 to ride she is so safe and sensible they ride on lead and off and she will only do what they are capable of so will walk forever until they are balanced enough to trot and then wont go any faster until she considers them able to do so so they have to be able to rise to the trot and give correct aids for canter before she will and only then for a stride or two until they get it
 
I did comment earlier - would like to add


A five year old will have a hell of a time tacking up a 13.2 pony - and believe me 5yr olds are more than capable of tacking up their own pony!

If your child wants to do Pony Club and Mounted Games, she will have a hell of a job reaching equipment and getting back on should she drop any.

I get really peed off with people who buy a pony for their child declaring they'll never sell it - unless you have your own property a dozen kids that can take it on after she's grown out of it you either limit your childs equine experience, have a pony sitting in the paddock that could be out having fun with a kid or an expensive paddock ornament.

Love the pony for the time it is with you and then get another - you will love that one just as much, sometimes more. I've owned countless horses two have left a hole in my heart when they'd gone and one will be with me for her lifetime.

Buy her a pony that will do her for the next couple of years while she learns to ride - she may grow out of the ponies ability long before she physically grows out of it.

I've owned a riding school and part of the fun for the kids was pony care day when they got to brush and tack up the pony they were riding. What fun is it to not be able to reach the top of the tail while you practice your lumpy plait. For parents - once you start getting the pony ready for the child its likely to end up a permanent happening!

My friends little girl currently has a 11.2hh pony - the child turns four in a couple of weeks. She catches and brings in her pony, brushes it and puts the saddle on - mum tightens the girth. How can you expect a 5 year old to do that SAFELY with a 13.2hh
 
I was a small child and had a 14hh pony when I was about six or seven. I loved her dearly and she behaved impeccably. The 11 - 12hh ponies we had at the time were forever being naughty, bolting for the gate, eating grass, and generally being cheeky ponies and made me far more nervous. My confidence grew no end with the bigger pony, I simply stood on a step or bucket to reach awkward bits to brush etc. Maybe not totally health and safety pc, but I managed and came to no harm. I still have the same issues with big 17.2 hh horses today being a shorty.

If the pony is right in all other ways I'd stick with it.
 
Yes in my opinion this pony would be to big, I have three children who all started on an 11hh pony and progressed up. To put a 5 yo on a 13.2hh as a ride on = lead rein is fine but certainly not suitable in my opinion to carry on as their pony, he will just be too big....... they need something smaller they can bond with and be more in their size range. If you look at recent posts on here you will see adults riding 13.2hh ponies quite happily, so I would advise for a small 5yo to get something more suitable to their size. But in the end it is up to your judgement. I would strongly advise not to over horse. Good Luck.
 
I understand the hight issue with tacking up etc.
It's another thing to consider.
She has tried mounted games and loved it so that's something to consider too.

She is very good to handle.
A lot better then some section A's out there!

So there are pros and cons for both!
 
I'm 50/50 on this one. If you were thinking of buying a pony and were thinking about a 13.2 I would put you off, but if the pony is there...

However it will be fine while she is on the leadrein, but will it still be so when she comes off it and if she gets more competitive at pc? Would she be able to hold it and steer it around a small jumping course? Would she be able to get on and off by herself if she did prince phillip cup games or handy pony? If not she may be missing out a bit.
 
No matter how saintly the pony is and how talented the jockey is, she'll be disadvantaged by not being able to tack up, mount unaided etc. especially if you want to PC, do gymkhana/games and so on.

I think you'll be limiting the child's experience by having her on a pony that's too big.
 
I certainly don't. think my girls missed out by starting riding on our saintly but speedy 13.2. They managed fine jumping off the lead rein as pony's default was 'go' so all they needed to do was steer. If OP already has a pony she knows and trusts, the fact that it is 13.2 really isn't an issue. I've known a number of pretty little section As that (on paper) would be perfect for a 5yo but (in practice) were far too much for a small child.
 
Its too big really. My tall nearly 5yr old on a 13hh. That's a 14" saddle incidentally.


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Same child on a 12hh pony, and her usual mount on the left, having him has meant we have been hacking off the lead rein for the last 6 months and ride and lead for the 6 months prior to that. Too big a pony and I couldn't have done that with her. And its the same saddle on the 13hh and the 12hh.

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It's not that they can't ride one but its a long way to fall so you won't probably do as much as you could with a smaller similarly behaved pony.
 
One thing that a parent said to me when I had the school was that her daughter complained that she hurt! Pony was a wide 13hh and she a little 5 year old - so it is also important to consider what is happening to the joints of the child riding.

I guess that is why traditionally a good childs pony was small and narrow so that it didn't split the kids in half!
 
I actually agree with FfionW and Tnavas. I have two daughters aged 12 and 4 1/2 and two nieces aged 14 and 6, all of them ride and have basically learnt everything on our two 11.2 ponies.
I learnt to ride on a 13.2 pony (who I did end up keeping forever and don't regret that!) but when I started riding him aged 7, he was too much for me. It was a case of ride him or ride the garden gate :p - No choice there as beggars couldn't be choosers such was my situation and that was not far off 40 years ago!

Roll on several decades and my kids have had the best times on the little ponies. The eldest two still ride them and its starting all over again with the younger two. Having said that I would rather have a safe 13.2 than an unsafe 11.2 but if you have the chance of a safe 11.2 they can go on longer than you think.....

Daughter (12) on a small XC course
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Daughter and Niece at the end of XC course
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Daughter (4) and Bear from school!
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Daughters and niece and Bear from school grooming Poppy
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Lovely pics Cambrica - Lovely jumping position of the child on the showjumping course.

Over horsing a child is dangerous! You only have to read the posts on the forum in general about riders with their problem horses and that horse:rider ratio is small in comparison to the big pony:small child ratio.

One of the things I would say to parents looking for ponies is Stand the child at the ponies head - if the pony and riders heads are at the same height the pony fits! It's how I used to match riders at the school and it works every time whether its a child or an adult.
 
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IMO the pony would be too big and echo others in having problems tacking up etc. but obviously there are pros to you knowing the pony and it already being there

Not much to add other than I have great pleasure in seeing my first pony having a whale of a time doing his rounds with our pony club. He's now on his 3rd home since I had him (I put him on loan in 2007 and sold him in 2011 so he's not being passed from pillar to post) and his forte (although jumping up to 2ft9 with me in his younger years) is handy pony and small jumping classes and he'd be wasted and bored in a field. Instead he's being a little monkey and teaching children to actually ride which makes me incredibly proud as when I bought him 10 years ago we were strongly advised against buying him as he was pretty much unrideable and we gave him a chance (although probably shouldn't have done as we were incredibly inexperienced at the time, I was just desperate not to give up on him) so there is no shame in not giving these ponies a forever home as long as you're careful who they go to
 
My Son is 6, he started riding one of YO ponies who at only 12hh was also 12hh wide. he was fine on LR but son soon wanted to do more than the pony was capable so we looked into loaning or even buying a pony for him. A colleague of ours has horse and ponies and had a 13.2hh pony who wasn't doing anything so off we went to see it ( without Son) I had already ummed and ahhed about it being too big and when I saw him I said thanks but no thanks hes too big and would be an ideal 2nd pony to which the owner replied, pointing to the distance, 'You want something like that' and there he was, all 42" (10.2hh) of him, Snowy the Shetland. Needless to say at 21 he'd been there and done it so we took a punt, he is on loan and when Son has outgrown or gets bored he goes back to his owners.
He arrived in August, fat, feet in pretty poor state and in need of some TLC having been a field ornament for a while. Son soon got the hang of him and they are like peas in a pod hes already off the lead rein trotting, hes fallen off a few times but has always got back on and hes jumped him too ( on the lead rein for that one!! ) Snowy knows exactly what hes doing ( which can be a bad thing I suppose) but my Son adores him and Snowy is enjoying life again.

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Even 10.2hh can be a little big when throwing rugs over :)
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And out hacking too!
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:) My son wants to do pony club this year so we shall give it a go :)
 
My 20 month old son is on my very first pony who is 13.2hh. We have a shetland, but unfortunately she isn't the best for lead rein - she tries to kick me while I run alongside! So he's moved onto the 13.2hh who is very safe. His trot strides are too big though, so he struggles to sit to it but I figure he'll learn balance very quickly! He's already improved hugely over the past month. And he loves it, he giggles like mad trotting. He's tiny on him though of course and the height to fall does worry me so once I actually let go of him properly (I hold onto the back of his jacket currently just in case!), he'll need a much smaller pony (shetland basically). Plan to be on the lookout for a nice lead-rein one come spring. Well if a 3yo can do HOYS, we need to get going...! ;)
 
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