Transition between ponies and horses , why is it so difficult ?

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Eira

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Random Question really , but why do people find the transition from ponies to horse so difficult ??
Is it because they overhorse themselves ( usually with big warmblood Sj'rs in my experience )
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or is it difficult whatever type of horse you buy ??

Just wondering if anyone knew ?
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Hehe, do what me and friend of mine did (by accident). Get a big 14.2hh that then grows to 15.1hh
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I had absolutely no bother then moving onto my next which was 16.1hh. But I think that's cheating.

Maybe its because ponies legs move so fast. I swear some of those sj ponies just have blurs for legs
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Hehe , sounds like a plan !!!!

I don't get the problem tbh , I went from a 13.2 NF pony to a 16.2 cbxtb and didn't have a problem . But so many people seem to be having problems with it , my friend has already bought and sold two 'horses' in 6 months because she can't cope
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Yes, and I think also, as in all walks of life, children are rushed out of being children too quickly.
I was talking to someone the other day, who said of her daughter, 'she's 13, but she's tall, so she's on horses'
Back in the Dark Ages, when I was a gel, a few, a very very few of the near professionals, went onto horses as well as ponies, at 14.
The rest of us, tall or not, were thought to be on 12.2s til 12 then 13.2s til 14 then 14.2s til 16, roughly.
I know children are taller, but so were some of them in my day. They managed. I think it's a shame, really.
My daughter is 11, and quite a midget, and has a 12hh pony, which yes she is growing out of, but to hear everyone talk you'd think she was about 6' and on a shetland.
So in short, yes - overhorsed, and rushed along from too early an age.
And it is a difficult transition. If we were in less of a rush, maybe more teenagers would spend a few years on half bred ponies/horses - but sadly that's not the case.
 
I agree with the_skewbald that parents tend to rush their children onto horses and also over horse them. I was on a 13.2 until I was 18 (was maybe a bit late, but I enjoyed him
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) and then my first horse was 16hh appy x tb who was an angel - he was bombproof on the roads, so well behaved it was unreal, jumped anything put infront of him up to about 3'6" so I didn't have a problem. I'd also been having lessons on horses prior to getting him.

I've know people get horses for their children and come back from Ireland with feisty 4yo tbs etc - the children end up getting hurt/put off ime.

It is a shame they don't spend longer on ponies, as horses need to be taken a lot more seriously and it can take the fun out of it for them, I think (unless they are lucky).
 
I think its, in the broadest generallisation, horses and poines think differently. Whe your on a horse i recon theres alot more prep going on in any movement, plus the gait thing meantioned before. Although I have a barbant/boulonais who is the biggest pony in the world.... thinks and acts like he's a 13hh welsh!
 
I have heard quite a few teenagers say how, now that they have outgrown their ponies and learnt so much, they wanted a young horse to bring on. The combination is usually a complete disaster. I think that horses need a different approach to ponies and it is better to start with something a bit more straight-forward, 'been there, done that' type, rather than have unrealistic ambitions to take on a project. In the end many people end up spending a lot of money, getting frightened and giving up horses which is a shame.
 
I found it hard going from my 14.2 Dales to a 16.3 KWPN so I swapped back onto ponies! I'm middle aged by the way so my parents didn't force me onto horses because I'd grown so tall.

Seriously, having come back to ponies it took me a few weeks to get used to the short strides and cheeky personality but I adore my pony now and I have nothing to gain (I'm non-competetive) from going back to horses which hurt my back when I mount and dismount.
 
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Yes, and I think also, as in all walks of life, children are rushed out of being children too quickly.
I was talking to someone the other day, who said of her daughter, 'she's 13, but she's tall, so she's on horses'
Back in the Dark Ages, when I was a gel, a few, a very very few of the near professionals, went onto horses as well as ponies, at 14.
The rest of us, tall or not, were thought to be on 12.2s til 12 then 13.2s til 14 then 14.2s til 16, roughly.
I know children are taller, but so were some of them in my day. They managed. I think it's a shame, really.
My daughter is 11, and quite a midget, and has a 12hh pony, which yes she is growing out of, but to hear everyone talk you'd think she was about 6' and on a shetland.
So in short, yes - overhorsed, and rushed along from too early an age.
And it is a difficult transition. If we were in less of a rush, maybe more teenagers would spend a few years on half bred ponies/horses - but sadly that's not the case.

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I never really had a transition between horses and ponies, I was (am) tall and was riding 16HH plus horses at 12 and probably even younger. I certainly haven't been on a pony since I was that age.
 
I've never made the transition - I still ride a 14.2hh aged 18
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I could never trust a horse like I trust my pony. Too far too fall, harder to get back on and they can't find a fifth leg in an emergency like a good pony can! Ponies just have that amazing instinct for self preservation. (Some would call it obstinance but we pony owners know better
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)

If I ever did buy a horse it would be one with native or pony blood in it anyway.
 
My daughter is 16 and still eventing her 14.2, don't think she will ever outgrow her, mare can jump 4ft +, big enough! She also works at horse distances so is affiliated as a horse, despite being 100% pony, Sec D x NF
She has a 16.1 that we are selling as she couldn't make the transition onto him, he has been replaced with a 15.3 who is just far more ponylike, despite having no pony blood, TB x Trak, but thinks like a pony with out a huge stride.
 
QR- So correct me if i'm wrong the main problem is children being rushed , I know that (I) being 16 now its not a problem but when I went from ponies to horses at 14 meant I couldn't do some of the competitve classes I wanted to (bsja) so I started BD . But now I'm 16 I do seem to have an advantage to my friends as I'm used to big horses.
I'm guessing it must be difficult going from 148's jumping big classes to find that its difficult to hold a 16.2 together over 2ft and the horse taking the p*ss !!!!
I'm just trying to find some answers for my friend , think that I may tell her to go back to the 14.2's !!!
 
Oops I am going to disagree with a whole load of people and say that I think we are too slow to get some of our teenagers onto horses!

I don't mean all of them, some easily fit onto ponies, and some don't want/need to progress onto horses, but when I went to watch a premier league sj competition I was amazed at how some of the 16yr olds didn't knock the fences down with their feet, they were so hugely big on their 'ponies'. We have such a big 148cm scene here, and so they stay in that class when they could/should be on horses if they want to make the transition.

We had a French family come to stay, they event, and their 13 year-old has been riding horses for some time. They were sensible though and had a schoolmaster for her to start on, (bit better than the people buying an unsuitable 4 year old!), and quite surprised that so many older teenagers were still on ponies here.

So it's a case of if you are happy on ponies and don't want to make the transition, then don't, but if you do want to make transition, then get on with it!
 
was not a problem for me but i made sure i was riding ponies & horses at the same time at home
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My 13 year old daughter rides a pony which we bought as a 13'2 (didn't confirm, he looked right for her) but fortunately (over a year later) just discovered he is nearly 14hh. She loves him to bits and will stay on him as long as they both seem happy, I don't feel the need to push her onto horses as they compete at 85cm XC and up to 95cm SJ. However I do take her to ride my friend's 15'3 mare every few weeks, so she can get the feel of a horse. Suits both as she gets the experience and the mare gets extra exercise.
 
i went form a 13.3 pony to a 16.2 middle weight hunter!!! he was fab and sooo safe a perfect horse to go on from ponies and i had him on loan for a year before buying a 15.2 who was crazy!
 
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Or perhaps choose less demanding horses.

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I don't think its a choice of choosing less demanding horses , she is a very accomplished and talented 'pony' rider but seems to still be in the mindset of riding ponys on her great big warmblood :confuse:

It just struck me today after talking to my friend last night then on youtube the tonne of riders finding the transition near impossible and wanting their 14.2's back !!
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glad im happy with my beastly 17.1 =D and didnt find the transition difficult but saying that I did ride a 13.2 NF gelidng ( he was 13 and was cut very late ) and he was more demanding than anything I've ridden since
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I have heard quite a few teenagers say how, now that they have outgrown their ponies and learnt so much, they wanted a young horse to bring on. The combination is usually a complete disaster. I think that horses need a different approach to ponies and it is better to start with something a bit more straight-forward, 'been there, done that' type, rather than have unrealistic ambitions to take on a project. In the end many people end up spending a lot of money, getting frightened and giving up horses which is a shame.

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I would second that, also I think the childs age may come into it too. My daughter went up from a 14.1 to a young TB last year. She had loads of experince in bringing on young ponies and 'difficult ponies', so we thought she would cope with a her 5yo - how wrong were we! It also coincided with GCSE's, the onset of boys and her becoming a typical moody teenager. He poor brain couldnt cope with everything, she agrees she probably would have coped much better if she had got her a few years earlier as that is all she would have focussed on.

I on the other hand (in my later thirties!) am still on ponies, and do not intend to go up quite yet, I still have some growing to do!
 
i think the problem happens when the kid is tall enough for horses, but mentally still just want to be able to have fun. so they move from a 14hh buy a 16-16.3hh that will keep them all the way through pony club competitions etc but they buy the horse they see in their head riding at burghley or hickstead. recently i helped find the transition horse for a friends kid, had people saying she'd be fine on 16 hh, oh she should have a tb, or here is a warmblood cross. ended up with a 15.2 lovely little chap heinze 57, one in a million, young but so chilled mentally you wouldn't believe he has only worked for a year. she can play in the school, ride bare back, ping through fields, won her second dressage test ever on him with 65%!!, has started jumping 3ft tracks but the key is she is still having fun, mums happy as he is good in traffic,
so the transition is only difficult if you make it, its fun having a pinging jumping 14 hh pony, if a 16.2 horse was the same it would be not quite as fun.!!!!
the trick is the right horse as the wrong horse is not fun
 
I think it's down to the combination of horse and child. You don't hear so much about the children who graduate to horses and don't have any problems.
Negative news always draws more interest!!!!
We bought our son a 16.3hh mare at 12. Admittedly he had been riding all sorts and sizes until then. Now he's 20 and he still adores this mare.
Think we were very lucky with this one, as daughter had a nightmare, but think we've found the right one now.
A lot has to do with parent's putting pressure on children to have a larger animal, IMO, think if the pony is right for you don't change it until you have to and then take a long time to find the right horse.
 
think this is a strange one! I was a tall child, I was 5ft 5 when I was eleven, I had a fab 13.3 Welsh X pony, but I also rode & competed my friends 17.1 ID x TB, so when I moved on to my 15.1 I had no problems. I wonder if the problem might be that children are not getting the variety of horses to ride? or may be they are tall but not physically strong?

My friends daughter has the opposite problem she was taught to ride on a 15.2 school master, her mum then bought her a 13.1 pony again a school master the pony has never put a foot Wong but her daughter refuses to ride it, the 15.2 was sadly PTS last year.
 
I think it's because when a pony misbehaves, because of the height differece, children don't see it as a problem. Horses are bigger and when they misbehave its scarier. If a 14.2 ran off with me I wouldn't be very bothered, but if it's 16.2 then I find it a lot more nerve-wracking!!!!

I was really overhorsed when I got my first one. Have now downsized to something a little bit smaller and a lot more sensible after 2 years of stuggling and am having so much more fun!
 
I went from a 14.2 to a 17hh, I didn't find it any more difficult thatn transferring to a new pony. I think because ponies are more forgiving in general, kids will be competing against adults so their names tend to disappear from results. Kids move into different circles. Kids can't afford decent horses so get a 'good young one'
Totally depends on the person as well
 
I'm in my mid forties and have gone from riding a 12.3h NF x to a 15.1h TB X. Its not the handling/coping, its the actual riding! He feels very slow, and when doing a rising trot it feel like I'm in mid air forever
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Getting on and off out on hacks when you have to do some gates is a pain. On my pony I could just jump on without using the stirups
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Havent read all the replies so sorry if I repeat anything.
Personally have found that too many expect horses just to be a bigger pony whilst I feel they usually have a different mentality.
We used to say (when young)"pony will get you out of trouble horse will get you into it"(this is a generalisation) plus think ponies are more forgiving horses generally or maybe should say tolerant.
Know our Gladys wouldnt let daughter off with some of the things she used to do to her pony.(nothing nasty mind you)
 
Why is it difficult? I think because a horse is so much more to hold together and unlike a pony who you can just ram in to the bottom of a fence you have to be more careful with horses. Ponies will help themselves whereas horses aren't half as clever, of course you get exceptions, but the majority of SJ ponies just have to be kicked round. A horses stride is also harder to sit to (ie big warmblood movement) and its easier to get thrown off balance, a short choppy pony stride is much easier. In an ideal world children would move froma 14.2hh to a 15.2hh in late teens, rather than going straight to a 16.2hh. I also agree that bringing on a young horse is more complicated than a young pony, hence often seen mistakes, ponies learn much quicker, and are more forgiving of mistakes, again a pony brain will soon work out how to get themselves out of trouble where as a horse will often need showing correctly and you can't normally bring on a young horse in a hit and miss fashion like you cana pony. In an ideal world there would be lots of lovely 15.2hh horses round with a bit of pony blood in them for all the teenagers to get to grips with.
 
Something I was always told as a teenager, is that your bones grow faster than your muscles during growth spurts, so then have some catching up to do. I dont know if its true or not but that was always the reason given for that strange stage myself and my friends went through when we just couldnt 'ride' like we used to be able to.
I ride a 14hh welsh D, a 14.2 anglo arab (both mine) but then can jump on a 16.2 tb at uni and have no trouble. But I know when I was a teenager of the same height I couldn't get a bigger horse to 'go' for love nor money.
Might be a load of tosh though
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xxx
 
Ponies take alot less riding! Specially when coming to jumping etc, you can get away with just pointing and kicking with ponies as their strides are alot shorter, there is alot less to go wrong and their attitude is just different to horses! I was backward, in the fact I rode 16hh+ from 9, hunted a 15.3hh, 16.2hh and 17.2hh from the age of 13-17, and then at 17 brought a 14.2hh
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I never saw the difference, until I got my pony, and had the most fun as they are generally tougher and more straightforward than horses. I then brought a 16.1hh 3/4yr old, who although the transition wasnt as bad as i had always ridden horses, I did struggle with the change and fact i had so much more horse to ride on something bigger!! It is difficult to explain the differences, but there DEFINITELY is one!!
 
For one thing, ponies are usually natural balanced, but horses need the riders to do the balancing for them, particularly if someone has been riding a 14.2 experienced jumping pony, and then buys a novice horse.

It is a bit cynical, but I heard an instructor say that if he gave lessons to junior jumping riders the last thing he wanted to do was to teach them to ride, because it was mostly the ponies doing the jumping and in charge. This was something of a generalisation, and I will probably have to take cover now, but there is a certain amount of truth in that.
 
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