# Adult riding ponies



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Are you asking for you???


A description of your height and weight would go a long way in being able to match breed, size and capability of a adult riding a pony...
Some adults are barely 5' tall and not more than 110 pounds..
Then some adults are near 6' tall and weigh close to 300 pounds...
More details are needed to give a fair answer...


_WELCOME to the Forum!!_

:runninghorse2:...


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Littlestpony said:


> So what pony breeds can be comfortably ridden by an adult?



It depends on the height/weight/build of the pony, and depends on the weight of the rider (height is a factor but not quite as much as weight).


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

As others have said, depends on the pony and the adult!

In the UK the bigger natives should carry a fair size adult

Highland
Dales 
Fell
Welsh section D

The rest should carry a teenager, small adult

Shetland 
Dartmoor
Exmoor
New forest

Some Welsh will be too light framed.

Most of these breeds were developed to be tough, to be the tractors of their time, over the years we have bred them to be prettier, handier maybe, so not as strong in some cases. At the same time we have grown bigger, stronger, heavier so to say that they can all carry adults, well sone ponies, some adults, not all ponies and all adults.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

I never got to stop riding ponies lol. And I am an adult by at least a couple years. I have a 14hh Arab German riding pony cross, I rode a shetland last summer, and I still crawl aboard the shorties to keep them sharp. 

That being said, look into riding something that is in the large pony size range and more cob/horse type than pony. The conformation of a lot of ponies is somewhat jackhammer trot and flat canter, which isn't fun. 

I'm 5'2" 108lb here's me on a shetland and my own pony


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

For sure a Highland pony could carry an adult. We did some rides on Highland ponies this summer, and some of them were bigger than my daughter's quarter horse. And they were broad! Like draft horses that had been shrunk down. Some of them took 2x wide saddles. Even the smaller ones (I'd guess around 14hh or a little less) were comfortably carrying adults. They told me they were used for hauling whole deer carcasses in the hunting season, and that's a lot of, literally, dead weight.

Oh, and I'm not sure how available they are in the UK, and they are technically not ponies, but Icelandics can carry a LOT if weight for their size.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Pony is simply a word. So is the word "adult". Both have an enormous size range. I have a friend with a 15.2 Dales Pony built like a draft horse with feet like dinner plates. I own a 12.2 slim-built Welsh type pony. They are both "ponies". One could carry a 275 lb person, the other, maybe 115 lbs.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

@Littlestpony
It would be helpful if you could give us your height and weight if you are wanting a pony for yourself
If its just a general query then, quite honestly, its like asking 'how long is a piece of string'.
For example a skinny but fairly tall person could ride a Shetland pony but would look ridiculously top heavy and their feet would be close to the ground thus making the leg aids/cues very difficult - same goes for the welsh A's, Exmoor and Dartmoor. If you're wanting to show natives then an overly tall rider, no matter what they're weight, will distract from the overall appearance of the pony because the rider will catch the judges eye too much

An adult that's 10 stone (140 pounds) and not too much above 5ft 8 can get away with riding the lighter weight ponies like the Welsh C's, taller D's, Connemara and New Forest but they're quite narrow so don't accommodate long legs really well

The broader ponies like the Highland, Fell, Dales and Traditional and Gypsy cobs are much better suited to carrying weights and longer legs but if you're looking for registered they're still 14.2 and under so a taller heavier person will look better and feel more comfortable on a horse.
They all tend to have short thick necks and when you're sitting taller in the saddle all you seem to have in front of you is a pair of ears.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Avna, Dales ponies should not exceed 14.2! 

All else has been said. 

It is impossible to say without knowing height and weight of the OP. Dartmoor, Exmoors are tough and can carry a lightweight adult easily.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Foxhunter said:


> Avna, Dales ponies should not exceed 14.2!
> 
> All else has been said.
> 
> It is impossible to say without knowing height and weight of the OP. Dartmoor, Exmoors are tough and can carry a lightweight adult easily.


Yes, but he is still a registered Dales Pony!


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Fortunately in the U.K. breed societies have very strict rules regarding registration of native ponies, they have to be DNA tested to see if they are the breeding you want to register and then as they reach maturity they have to be the height of the breed society. 

I owned a smashing Connemara stallion, Jack, he only made 13.2 and was also a dark bay though registration call it chocolate dun, he didn't stand a chance in the show ring though he moved like a dream and was conformationally very correct. He was in the height of the breed standard but judges like them bigger,


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## Littlestpony (Oct 19, 2018)

Thanks so far, sorry I completely forgot my size and weight- 

my height is nearly 5'6" and my weight is a pinch over 8 and a half stone. I am female and stopped growing.

If they have to be a certain amount of hands-on list minimum hands of pony.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Littlestpony said:


> Thanks so far, sorry I completely forgot my size and weight-
> 
> my height is nearly 5'6" and my weight is a pinch over 8 and a half stone. I am female and stopped growing.
> 
> If they have to be a certain amount of hands-on list minimum hands of pony.


That would be 119 pounds or 8.6 kilograms to the rest of the world.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Littlestpony said:


> If they have to be a certain amount of hands-on list minimum hands of pony.


Well, again depending upon the build of that pony I can see why you would be getting some looks or comments given.
5'6" tall and 120 pounds with clothing on...._forget any saddle or bridle/tack_...:neutral:

*minimum hands of pony. *...well, smallest *pony* I think I saw_ really ridden_ was about 11 hands and was a stocky built thing and small riders up to maybe 6 or 7 years of age, so 75 pounds I guess at most including English tack.
So yes, someone of your size on a 11 hand _or smaller pony_ would get a second look and possibly a comment from me too.
I've seen 9 hand ponies too, very small child riders or pulling a lightweight sulky looking cart with larger people but none of them ever astride.

My neighbor has a 12.2 fine-boned Paso Fino gelding...and she looks ridiculous on him as do any one taller than her, and she is petite. But when your legs, with knee bent some, hang to nearly the animals knees...don't care what "breed" it is you are ridiculously to big in stature and ability for the animal to easily balance your weight while being ridden.
You see lots of people riding the animals who need something different in size in a gaited animal...but because it says horse not pony in the description says it is fine...it isn't sometimes.
And because ponies are supposed to be able to carry more weight per inch than a horse doesn't take into consideration all those parts of build, activity, rider ability or anything else.

So, bottom line is if I saw someone of your size sitting on a small 9 - 11 hand pony...yup you _*would*_ get looks, some questions/comments too most likely.....
:runninghorse2:....
_jmo..._


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Littlestpony said:


> Thanks so far, sorry I completely forgot my size and weight-
> 
> my height is nearly 5'6" and my weight is a pinch over 8 and a half stone. I am female and stopped growing.
> 
> If they have to be a certain amount of hands-on list minimum hands of pony.


You're light enough to ride most of the native British breeds but the length of your leg and your height out of the saddle will make you more comfortable on something over 13.2.
You don't mention what you want to do with your pony but for best all round versality I'd focus on the New Forest and Connemara then the Welsh D Cob, Dales, Fell, Highland & Traditional/Gypsy cob


If you want to do native showing classes then the pony must conform to the breed height standard, as far as I know the only one that's allowed to exceed 14.2 is the Welsh D, The Fell pony has a max. 14 hands, Connemara's do go above 14.2 but 14.2 is the max breed standard. The Traditional/Gypsy cob doesn't have a height standard that I know of


If you want to show jump then you shouldn't be looking at anything below 14.2 as you'll be competing in adult classes against adults on horses. There are ponies that have been successful in horse classes at top level but they're the minority. 


The UK is overflowing with lovely cross bred ponies so unless you want to compete in native classes then you probably shouldn't restrict yourself to native breeds


Just to point out that the British Shetland is now more likely to be 10 hands and below, the max height for breed standard is 42 inches


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## Littlestpony (Oct 19, 2018)

jaydee said:


> You're light enough to ride most of the native British breeds but the length of your leg and your height out of the saddle will make you more comfortable on something over 13.2.
> You don't mention what you want to do with your pony but for best all round versality I'd focus on the New Forest and Connemara then the Welsh D Cob, Dales, Fell, Highland & Traditional/Gypsy cob
> 
> 
> ...


I only want a light ride not competitive things.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

When a rider is grossly under horsed they cannot ride in a good position. Feet down by a pony's knees and probably with a shorter stirrup which means that the rider generally has a lot more weight further back, and with the long legs often means that to use the leg the rider has to bring leg way to far back. 

At your height I would say 13.2 would be way better.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Littlestpony said:


> I only want a light ride not competitive things.


 In that case, at 5ft 8, I would personally look for something 14.2 or over unless you find a stocky 13.2 - 14.2 with a good length of neck. I wouldn't go for anything under 13.2.
There's no need to limit yourself to any height or breed if you aren't interested in competing in breed classes or showing classes that have got a height restriction placed on them.


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