# How big can you be to ride ponies??



## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

I compete in hunters, and I had a show today. My mare did great, but she took last in every single class. She's 15 hands, so I have to put her in horse divisions against big 17h WBs even though she looks, acts, and essentially is a very fancy pony. She's a gorgeous mover, and I absolutely love her, but me and my mom were talking about possibly selling her so I can get a horse who can help take me farther. Anyways, I've always loved ponies (the more challenging the better :wink so if I do decide to sell my mare I'd like to get a pony. I know that it's very subjective to the pony, and about the whole carrying 20% of their body weight, but how small a pony do you think I could get?
I'm 14, a little under 5'1 and about 110lbs (Although I plan on losing about 8 pounds this spring/summer.) I should get about an inch taller, tops. So outgrowing shouldn't be an issue as long as I originally fit. I've been looking in the 13'2 to 14'1 range for green broke ponies I could get cheap and work with. Also, I'll need something for the next 4 years until I graduate (I'm a freshman now.) I've ridden several 16+ hand OTTBs, and while I'm perfectly comfortable on them, I just prefer smaller, stockier ponies. 

So not that you've read my nice little story, how small do you think I could comfortably go? I obviously don't want to hurt the pony, or look inappropriate, so I figured I'd see what you guys think.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Well I'm 15 and 4'11 x 90something pounds and can fit on a 13hh pony nicely, so I'm thinking maybe 13'2/13'3 would be the lowest you should go, especially if you're going to get a green broke (most likely young) horse. You don't want too much weight on them. If you were just going for hacks and doing light arena work you could probably pull off a 13 hh, but since you're going to be competing its better to go with a taller pony. Ofcourse it really depends on the pony's stockiness and leg/back soundness too =]


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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

Okay, thanks  Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It's still not a definite thing yet. I really don't want to sell my mare, but it may be what's best for us both. I've had her two years and she's come miles from when I got her, but I feel like we're kind of stuck now. I've been looking for some large ponies, but I can't seem to find any that are flashy enough. But I shall keep looking


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## Romantic Lyric (Dec 31, 2009)

You're tiny. You should be fine. Where do you live again? I know of a super flashy green pony. Four white stockings, huge blaze, bay, big personality, but very sweet.

His daddy is this guy: JG The Roan Ranger
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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

I'm in Maryland. I'm looking within about and hour of where I live... He's beautiful though! I'm hoping were switching barns this spring to a much nicer place. It's farther away but cheaper, so if I can earn a couple thousand dollars I might be able to afford to pay my parents board for one horse and buy another. (they'll only pay for one horse.) but incase anyone finds anything, my budget would be 3k at an absolute max.
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## Romantic Lyric (Dec 31, 2009)

Too bad. You'd love him. He's buckets of fun.
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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

Awh  maybe I'll look at some of my mare's cousins. She's out if some pretty phenomenal welsh & American sport pony lines 
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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

I'd say it depends on the pony and the rider. Some small ponies are terrific weight carriers, some are too finely built to accomodate anyone besides a small child. Any pony will be more comfortable carrying a heavier weight that is well balanced than a lighter deadweight. In any case, at 5'1 and 110 there's no need to be concerned about your weight in the least. :wink: 

I'm 5'2 and ~120 lbs., and I own a 14.1 pony cross. He's of a medium build, not a bulldoggy stock type, but not a fine-boned Arab, either. He seems very content to pack me around the arena and on the trail, and we're pretty well matched as far as size proportion - I don't look too big for him, or he for me. I've felt comfortable riding ponies as small as 13 hands, but I wouldn't want to go much smaller than that if I were buying. By that size, I start feeling like I'm too tall to help the pony balance at all.

If I were you, I would aim for the larger end of the pony spectrum, purely because you want to show. Overall image plays a big part, and even if the pony can comfortably carry you, if you look too tall for him/her, it will affect that image-impression in the show ring. At 14, you could conceivably grow a bit more in the next 4 years. Probably not enough to render your new mount practically undersized, but maybe enough that you would visually appear too large. A further consideration is what will happen over fences on a smaller pony. If your legs are too long for the pony, you'll knock rails with your feet even if the pony clears the fence smartly. I can do flatwork on a 13 hand pony, but jumping gets tricky for that reason. 

Good luck pony shopping!


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## fuadteagan (Jun 10, 2010)

my instructor is training a 12.2 hh pony named Gizmo she is about 25 i would say she has her own horse she owns a huge hano so she looks great on her hano which she jumps with her hano it is about 17hh anyway it is a unique colored horse anyway now that that is said she looks great on the horse but ya know i think that you can maybe ride 13hh-14.2hh it wont look out of place







okay so yeah that is probably about 12.5hh pony


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