Tips on riding my very wide pony please.

kippen64

kippen64

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 February 2012
Messages
329
Location
Australia
thinkingabouthorses.blogspot.com.au
Hi folks,

Would love some tips on how best to cope with the enormous width of my Highland Pony when riding. He is 14.1hh, wears a shortened warmblood bridle and has a 6" mouth. So quite a hefty boy. Couldn't post a photo because my tired brain couldn't work it out. I am 5'4" and quite leggy for my height but struggle so much with his width that I have never ridden him as much as I could, and he is mostly a glorified pet. Tips would be keenly appreciated thank you. It's funny because I can happily ride much bigger horses and have done so for many years.
 
I'd love to see a picture.
I'm quite small and have a relatively small pelvis and I don't have many problems riding either my highland (14.2) or IDx (15.2), they are both wide boys.
Sometimes my ligaments get tight inside the thigh which I presume is due to the stretching. I'd suggest you make sure you stretch lots, not just when you are riding but all the time. I'd also suggest shortening your stirrups so you can rotate the hips to let you get your upper thigh on as much as possible. I'm presuming you're not riding bareback.
Maybe a picture would help us see the problem more clearly?
 
My 15hh mare is wide and I am a similar height and build to you, I once took a workmate out for a hack on her and when she dismounted she asked where the "wide load" sign was! It took me a while to get used to her, and have noticed that the saddle she wears makes a huge difference. It has to fit both of us,or I just can't be effective.I find a narrow twist and shorter flaps on the saddle help me.
 
have you got a photobucket account or similar? you just post the IMG code - if you post a link to a photo, I'll put the IMG code on if you can't find it.

I'd love to see a photo :) My highland's quite sleek - or maybe I'm too used to my cob?!
 
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He is lovely! very nice indeed.

However, and please don't take offence, but he could stand to lose a fair few pounds by the look of things - which might make your life easier :) I also find the type of saddle makes a large difference - I find synthetics make them feel much wider than some types of leather (probably a result of fit / style rather than synthetic/leather!)

ets - I right clicked on your photos and copied the "image location" - pasted that into here and added
at the end. I think there's an easier way to insert photos from your own album though...
 
Thank you for posting those photos of Kippen. He is a chubby boy. The bottom photo is as about as slim as he gets. It was back in 2004. Silly pony will eat dirt, wood etc and has had colic from it, so my only diet option is to keep him on limited grazing with some hay (to stop him eating dirt).
 
Hi Kippen!
Welcome to the forum. Your boy is gorgeous - looks the image of one of my favourite ponies from my childhood who was a nutcase but a wonderful one.
In the nicest possible way, he does look a bit of a chunky monkey. How long have you had him? If he insists on eating dirt, is there somewhere like an enclosed yard you could keep him? How much work is he getting at the moment. I think JFTD is right, if he drops a bit of weight, he will be more comfortable to ride. :)
 
kippen64 said:
Thank you for posting those photos of Kippen. He is a chubby boy. The bottom photo is as about as slim as he gets. It was back in 2004. Silly pony will eat dirt, wood etc and has had colic from it, so my only diet option is to keep him on limited grazing with some hay (to stop him eating dirt).
Click to expand...

Have you tried feeding straw? If I feed my highlands hay they look like that too :o

The pony in my signature is a highland - he's condition scoring spot on 3, I'd like him slimmer before we get spring grass. He gets straw - nearly ad lib, so he never is hungry enough to seek other types of food! - and a bit of chaff if he's been worked hard.

Or you could try muzzling. If you could get him slimmer, he'd be easier to ride, you could do more with him, he'd lose weight due to working more and everything should improve a bit for you? It's really difficult with natives, they put on weight just be breathing!
 
The pony in my signature is Kippen. He is 19 years old and I have owned him since 1996. He is currently at a horse retirement farm as there is nowhere local to me to keep him. He is a serious escape artist and no one local to me has fencing that will hold him. I am hoping to move to an area where I can keep him. I wrote because I noticed that a lot of people here ride native ponies and it has been a serious ongoing problem that really has deterred me from riding him as much as I could and should have. The farm he is at is a full service facility and sadly a very long way from me (even by Australian standards). He is currently too fat for a saddle. When I am once again living near him, I will have to exercise him in hand and ride bareback to get the weight off.
 
kippen64 said:
The pony in my signature is Kippen. He is 19 years old and I have owned him since 1996. He is currently at a horse retirement farm as there is nowhere local to me to keep him. He is a serious escape artist and no one local to me has fencing that will hold him. I am hoping to move to an area where I can keep him. I wrote because I noticed that a lot of people here ride native ponies and it has been a serious ongoing problem that really has deterred me from riding him as much as I could and should have. The farm he is at is a full service facility and sadly a very long way from me (even by Australian standards). He is currently too fat for a saddle. When I am once again living near him, I will have to exercise him in hand and ride bareback to get the weight off.
Click to expand...

When do you hope to be near him? It's hard living so far away from your horse - one of mine is quite a distance from me, and although she's pretty much retired (she's 35), I still miss her. I wish you the best of luck - he's a lovely boy. :)
 
"When do you hope to be near him? It's hard living so far away from your horse - one of mine is quite a distance from me, and although she's pretty much retired (she's 35), I still miss her. I wish you the best of luck - he's a lovely boy."

I hope to be living near him in about six months. His sire is 26 yrs old, still has his own band of mares and is still at public stud, so hopefully Kippen has many years left in him.
 
Still laughing at my office name! You'll all be pleased to hear that I mainly wear trousers, thank goodness.

Back to the highland...he is a little chunky but I think you may find shortening your stirrups could help. Also ask your saddle fitter if they have any suggestions.

They are greedy and I totally appreciate the problem if he is uncomfy to ride you can't get him fit...more podge goes on and he becomes wider...maybe he needs the gym ball not you, lol.
 
A Heather Moffet Hipsaver will ffit on your current saddle to narrow the twist which should help to make things more comfy! Lovely pony btw.:)
 
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