What do you count as a 'big' horse

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Sunny08

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I always joke about my little mare but she actually stands at 16.2hh as measured today. I'm 5ft8 and used to have a 18hh. Lots of people think my girl is massive but too me she is still my little horse! Don't get me wrong I don't feel huge on her but wouldn't want to ride anything smaller!
What are your size limits?
 
Captain is 17-2 hh and he seems normal size to me! But when we bought Fany she seemed tiny, well height wise any way! She is 14-3hh. I think it is just what you get used to.
 
Anything that stands on my foot and then leans. I have a 16'2 which I think is quite big but I did ride at 17'3 which did't feel big when I was on it. But boy did it seem a long way down when I was getting off
 
When I got Tiggy she was advertised as 16hh - a year later at four and a half when she was pts she was 15.2hh. Still loved her. An IDxTB. Took up my leg reasonably well (I'm five eight).

Dizz was about 16.1hh when I got her just over a year ago. Now she's about 17hh. I sort of forgot that she was likely to make 17.1hh, and being a Dutch Warmblood she's not likely to stop growing for another year (she's nearly six).

A friend has an 18hh TB. Now he's a big bobo :D. Even my Disco noticed when I was towing him lol.

Actually I enjoy hacking Little Cob, who at 13.3hh doesn't have enough body to take my leg properly for schooling, but he's an absolute hoot out on a ride :D.
 
I have a little horse - she is 15hh
I used to have ordinary sizes - a 15.3hh and a 16.1hh
Anything over 16.2hh is big, over 17hh is large, over 18hh MASSIVE!!
I can't go back to the bigger sizes now, I enjoy my 15hh, we have so much fun and she is my horse of a life time.

PS - iam 5'4'', and weigh about 10.5 stone.
 
i think of anything 16hh and over as 'big'

raff is 15.1 and i think he's just right for me. not just about the size he is when i ride him, but handling etc on the ground. anything bigger makes me (even more) nervous. also, i can't do things like put headcollars on anything much bigger as i can't reach over their ears... :o
 
Tommytittlemouse :) 18.3hh 3/4 TB

Big lad x x


Splodgy is normal size for me at 17.2hh, bustie is little at 16.2hh, dukey is just dukey at 15.1hh haha and nikita at 14.2hh well.....pocket pony!!! lmao
 
My first horse was 17 hands and people called him the big man. When i bought Solo (in pic below) he made my first horse look like a pony lol

Solo is 18.1, we call him the dinosaur!
 
Depends if we're talking to handle or to ride. Some horses that seem big on the ground can ride quite small, and vice versa. My horse is 15hh and feels bigger to ride than my friend's 16hh TB. She has big paces and a huge attitude, which makes up for her small stature! :D

We have a couple of ID x on the yard that are about 16.3 ish and they are big IMO, great strapping things, and they seem a big big and bumbling to ride, I find. but even they seem small compared to the Shire that moved in last year :eek:
 
My old share mare was nearly 17hh, and she was absolutely a "big" horse. She was kind, and gentle, and lovely, but she was big. It was a long way to fall off (which I did quite regularly) and if she decided to prat about, there was an awful lot of horse pratting about underneath you!

My current little mare is 15.2hh, and she's about as big as I'd go, now. I'm only 5 foot, so she is plenty big enough for me, and even if she decides to have a mini-strop, she's not scary. I'm quite happy to sit tight and let her finish. She's a LOT easier to mount and dismount as well!
 
If someone told me they have a 'big horse' I would assume it is over 16.2hh. No idea why :D

However when people are discussing what is 'too big' I realise it is entirely subjective and relative to the persons height and the bone and conformation of the horse so can be anything from 15hh+ I suppose. I'm old school and think 14.2hh and under is a pony. No idea why either! :D
 
From the age of 12 I've been around heavy horses and their crosses and seeing as a heavy 16hh'er normall feels at least 17hh not a lot seems big to me! lol Riding instructors are funny, because I'm a fatty they wheel out their resident 16hh hunter/heavy and always keep asking me if I'm alright with such a bit horse...... uh... he's big? lol Went to watch Rara compete pip at nationals last year and though I was going to break him :P
 
Depends on what you are used to! For example, i used to ride 15.3hh - 17hh whilst at a riding school, loaned a 14.2 hh and now have a 15.2hh (apparently - haven't measured him)! Each horse felt different and when i first seen the 15.2hh I thought he was huge and now I think he's small lol! Just my size though as i'm 5ft5!
 
Jay89... 19.2?!?!? THAT is big. Nope. That's Humongous (i might have just had to make up a word, thats how big that is!)

To me anything over 16.2 is big. Under 16.2 seems perfectly normal, but any more seems very big. Strange how much difference an inch seems to make. Biggest i have rode is an 18.2 shire, and i felt like a little mouse. I feel like skinny tall horses are bigger than chunky ones though, because they feel less stable, like a gust of wind could knock them over. Maybe like a telegraph pole might seem higher than a hill lol ;)

I'm 5'1 by the way.
 
I would say a pony is anything under 14.2hh, a normal horse would be 15.0hh-16.2hh and anything over 16.3hh is big.
I have just gone from riding my 14.1hh pingy connie to a big boned 17.0hh DW. He is big for me but i do love riding the bigger horses. I am not too big for my connie but I do feel slightly tall for her. 15.2hh would be my perfect height, saying this I don't think I look too small for Titan :)

I am about 5'3 and around the 8 stone mark. :)
 
I picked up my new horse last week who is 4 and just short of 16hh. He feels big to me as my other one is a 14hh pony.

Strangely when I'm riding he feels fine - I just keep forgetting he's much bigger when I get off and every time nearly fall over when I finally hit the floor!

As he's so young I assume he's going to grow a bit more up and out so that will make him very big for me!
 
I own a 17.1hh so basically think big is 17hh plus :p although know some very beefy cobs who are probs only 15.2hh but VERY big.
 
I think it partly depends on build and conformation. My two horses measure at roughly the same height but Flynn is a chunkier TB type build with a big wither whereas the big mare is 1/4 Shire and is broad through the body and almost bum high. From the rear there's nearly a hand difference, in the field he can look like a pony grazing next to her. She's in a 6 inch longer rug as well.

The mare is often described as a big girl, but Flynn is just a horse.
 
My boy is 18hh but I dont see him as big until we are out with other horses or at competitions.
To me he is just my baby
 
Im 5ft9 and have a 17hh - hes about normal for me, anything bigger is large and anything 18hh+ Hugeee. Anything below him i do see as a bit on the small size, i wouldnt want to own or really school anything smaller than 16.1 or 2 really!
 
16hh+

However I'd rather be on a lanky 17hh horse than a barrel of a 15.2hh. My legs are stupidly short so I hate the feeling of them barely reaching the saddle flaps. :o
 
I am a teensy 5'1", and feel perfect on Bonnie at my RS, she's prob a lightweight cobby thing and about 14.3. On th other hand, Dawi is the same height but he feels a LOT bigger, as his trot literally throws you out of the saddle!

Rode a lovely 16.2 TB type on holiday, getting on was a feat, but looking back at pictures I actually look ok on her height-wise, (that was a fun ride!). The biggest I've ever sat on was an 18.2 or so Percheron, trying out vaulting. That was SCARY! :D They literally had to push me up to get on him, and getting off felt like I was just falling and falling.....
 
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