Adults Riding Small Ponies

[patchworkpony]

I think this is the right area for this discussion since this seems to be the everyday riders.

I have had this discussion with many british riders, but I was curious to know what a more american group would think about this. What is everyone’s opinion on riding small ponies. How small of a pony is ridable for an adult. Is it cruel on a small pony to ask him to carry an adult even if that person is really light weight? For instance I have a really over grown miniature/shetland that is about 10-11hh and around 400-450lb. I am 5’5" tall and just over 100lb. Is it okay for me to lightly ride my pony? Why? Or why not?

[prudence]

I want one! Why do they all have work vests on?

Actually that is not far off from how I looked on my 14.2 hand Arab.

[prudence]

This is totally not my discussion as I am 6 ft tall and ride a 16.3 hand horse, but I wanted to add about when tack is pulled. Here in California the saddle is pulled at the “lunch” (halfway)stop on a 50, unless the weather is bad (cold or rainy) or some other difficult situation exists and then sometimes the vets want the girth loosened so they can feel the back. As GTD said, this is announced at the pre-ride meeting. The vets feel gently along the backbone to see if all is well. I think that eliminates the problem with “cold-back” horses (I could be so wrong with my terminology!!) who react to a thumb pressed hard in the back even when they haven’t had a saddle on in months. There is something about rolling a nickle along the back to see that all is well but I haven’t seen a vet do that.

What is your system? (and what is the VGIH system?)

[Xanthoria]

So, that would be like you carrying almost 130# for 30 minutes.

I know someone is going to get upset about my saying this, but that is not something I would do.

[gothedistance]

Naw, I’m not ragging on you. Frankly, I think you have a lot of sense not to go galloping off on your sweet little pony … but instead bringing what you’ve heard here for discussion.

Sadly, I know a number of people who don’t bother to think about the consequences – they just do it, and the end result is a lame, soured pony. Your little girl has a sweet owner who (I’m quite sure) just wants the best for her, but has gotten info that is questionable in her mind.

Good for you for asking! And smack me on the side of the head for standing too high on my soapbox!

[qwerty1989]

I only ride her for 30mins at a time - i find that if i ride her for longer than that she starts to show signs of fatigue.

My sister rode her bareback yesterday! lol - twas very funny…

[gothedistance]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by hoser1:
Great topic! I have another height/weight question for you. I’m 5’1 and 100 lbs. We’re getting a 12 hand grade pony who is pretty round, but I would say medium build. What do you think? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Not a problem. I foxhunt a 12.1+h Welsh cob pony – he’s a stocky little fellow (you can see his Christmas Parade photo put to a carriage in the Driving Forum ) and he has no problem taking me at a gallop over hill and dale following the hounds. Cobs developed from cold blooded breeds (Percherons) centuries ago so…he’s not long on endurance like my Section B Welsh ponies (who had a heavy infusion of Arab blood in the early 1900’s), but carrying my 5’2" 130 lb frame is no problem for him.

[patchworkpony]

My pony is very stocky. She look about as round as she is tall. I have not really ridden her, but I have sat on her back. She doesn’t seem to mind in the least. However, I do not intend to ride her that much. I only want to teach her to accept a rider mounting without moving or nipping from there a kid can teach her to be ridden. I also talked to the vet and he thought it would be just fine for me to ride her regularly. Also when I talked to the brits they said many of them have ponies her size that they ride and jump over cross country type terrian. However, that doesn’t mean I intend to do that with my pony.

And she already is a pretty good driving pony. I taught her myself and she learned amazingly fast.

Oh, I just thought of something I heard a Indian lady say. She said that she was about 200lbs and was riding a 10 hh lightly built pony. She said that that was very common in India. The ladies there rode small ponies because they thought it was safer if they fell off.

[prudence]

Arten - thanks for the info. Here in California we have VGIHs too! Thought you were describing something in Virginia (duh!). Ours is similar for the half way point, which is either usually between a half and a full hour long, and sometimes has hamburgers. And the hold time does not start until you have pulsed down (usually to 60; the rate is announced at the pre-ride meeting). For a 50 miler (which is 80 km - easy conversion is 1 km = 5/8 mile) we usually have two “other” vet interactions which could be a VGIH with a 15-30 minute hold, or simply a VG where you pulse down and do a trot out, or a trot by. Whatever the head vet thinks is necessary to protect the horses.

Our times are 24 hrs for 100s, 12 hrs for 50s, and 6 hrs for 25s - including vet checks. So a 530am start for a 50 means you have to finish by 530 pm.

[matryoshka]

I’m new here, so hello everybody!

I have a question about the pony. How does your saddle fit her? Are you going to use a child’s saddle? If you use your own saddle, check to make sure it won’t put pressure on the wrong spots on the back or interfere with her hips.

Having said that, I’ll confess that I’ve ridden my children’s 12.2 hh pony to straighten out her attitude when necessary. I’m 5’8" and @125 lbs (okay, now that it’s winter, I’m closer to 130 lb). I feel silly doing it, but I have walk-trot-cantered her. Usually, I only allow riders under 100 lbs to mount her. I got this figure from the local riding school that provides pony rides. However, if I don’t have the option of lunging her or hitching up the cart, I’ll get on to remind her of good manners. I can squeeze into the Wintec child’s saddle, and I’ve ridden her bareback. I wouldn’t take her on the trail or anything.

I’m also now backing a 14.1hh “hony” (pony that looks like a horse). She’s got a light frame and a long back. I took her on because she acted like a nut at the farm where she was supposed to be trained, and they couldn’t do anything with her. My place is low key and seems to suit her better. Anyway, I’m only mounting her to get her used to a rider (prove that she CAN be ridden) and following cues. For trotting and more serious training, I plan to have a shorter rider that weighs 120 lbs or less–I don’t want the pony to develop back problems before she is fully trained. I ride her in my endurance saddle, and it swallows her! It clears her hips, spine, and shoulder, so I think it is okay. She shows no sign of pain when I mount.

This is my long-winded way of saying that short rides shouldn’t cause lasting damage. That sounds like all you want to do. I might even get on a 10hh pony for a few minutes if it was giving the rider a lot of problems. If there is a lighter weight rider with the right skills, though, that would be my first option. I think your pony will let you know if she has any problems with your weight. Pay attention to her body language and she’ll tell you all you need to know.

Hey, post a picture if you do mount her! I wouldn’t let the kids at camp take a picture of me on the 12.2hh pony. Maybe I should have and we could compare how silly we look.

Pam

[arten]

my understanding of the reason arabian horses are better weight carriers goes something like this ( please feel free to contradict me anyone with more knowledge of equine physiology).
Arabian horses have a number of special characteristics -a shorter back because they have one less vertebrae - and just as importantly denser bone structure.
The shorter back means that their centre of gravity is located directly central, meaning a rider is almost always going to be carried in the right spot. This also means the rearward action has a shorter distance to travel so the riders weight and the hindgut(which is smaller to begin with) is always being supported by both fore and hindlimbs. This differs from a pony with shorter legs and a short back, the pony’s legs do not travel the full distance underneath and thus are not taking the brunt of this centralised weight. In addition, even though the Arab has longer legs, they are constructed of denser bone and can absorb a greater degree of shock than a horse with a lighter bone structure. However, bear in mind my previous post regarding the location that weight can be carried on most effectively, because the Arab has a shorter back this region is also smaller. They may be able to carry more weight, but it must be correctly placed - gothedistance, as an endurance rider you must have seen heaps of horses with back and leg problems as a result of poor tack and poor riding. Endurance riders frequently use saddles that are too big for their Arabs and these impede the shoulder and hindlimb movement. However, in Arabs back problems will as often as not manifest as lameness, rather than a particular pressure point on the back.
The Arabian has one other special characteristic - a very wide rib cage which distributes the weight in the required location over a greater surace area, with the one less rib enabling the hindlimb to travel further underneath the horse.
Now this applies specifically to Arabs -but what I have no idea about is why it is a general rule that a horse with a shorter back can carry more weight. Where are the equine physiologists when you need them?

[Auventera_Two]

To the original poster - Thanks for sharing the cute photo!! I don’t think you look too heavy at all, but you do look quite tall. Just for a few minutes here or there for giggles I think you would be fine riding your pony, but to seriously “work” and do anything over the long term would be asking too much.

Ponies are notoriously stout and capable of heavy load bearing, although you certainly can overdo it and cause harm. The Shetland part is a sturdy breed, but the Mini is not. Minis are not bred to be ridden at all. So I would just be very careful and at the first sign of fatigue, I would quit riding. Good luck!

This is a great, and very interesting, topic!

[gothedistance]

No, it’s not “OK” for you to ride that small of a pony of that particular breeding. The pony’s structure is not made to support the amount of poundage you would place on it’s back, even if you actually are (as you say) a little over 100lbs. Also your center of gravity is far higher than that of a small child, and mounted on that small creature your higher COG would more easily unbalance the tiny pony, putting greater strain on the pony’s legs and the entire muscular system to keep that center of balance at the point where it is a relatively negligible influence.

For your size (ignoring your weight for the moment) I would think the smallest pony you should reasonably ride would be 13h.

If you want to use your pony, teach it (and yourself) to drive to a carriage.

[Huntertwo]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>would have to agree with gothe distance on this one. It’s important to bear in mind that all your weight must be situated between the 9th and 13th vertebrae ( according to the equine physiotherapists), and any weight bearing on T(thoracic) 14 can be very damaging. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I’m trying to visualize where the T 14 would be?
Could someone explain to me in laymans terms?
Thanks.

[Weighaton]

An 11 hand pony at 900lbs? Obese is an understatement. Maybe Trish would do better if you let her get on your back and ride you around for 30 minutes.

[Auventera_Two]

Awww what a beautiful picture patchwork! Thank you for sharing, it gave me a smile! A big one!

[patchworkpony]

It’s okay gothedistance, the brits got crazy about this subject too. Everyone seems to have very extremely different opinions about riding ponies. So when they were like “sure go ahead and ride her” I decided to ask a american group of riders. Also I thought it was weird that my vet seemed to be okay with it. Why do you think he would have been so okay with it? Seems weird.

wateryglen~ Yes that is what I heard too. But I guess according to what the others said the pony must have a long enough back, so you sit over the correct part of the back. But, that doesn’t make sense either… Doesn’t a short back have more strength than a long back?? Help us out here, anyone?

[arten]

qwerty-I would suggest that if your pony is showing signs of fatigue after only 30 mins, then something is very very wrong with that situation. I’m not going to browbeat, what you do is your business. However, just a question Is your pony overweight or fit?. Something to bear in mind is that for every pound of extra fat that is put on, 4 miles of new capilliaries must be grown by the circulatory system to support it. Thats 4 new miles that have to be have blood pumped through them by the heart. So if your pony is carrying your weight and any extra weight of his own then this is probably placing an enormous amount of strain on his heart. Do you check his heart rate while riding?. I would suggest that if it getting into the 160-180 range and your just walking, then your pony is carrying too much and your actually damaging him. And that is probably an extreme HR -others would suggest that even if it’s lower than that it is still causing damage. I think given the extreme weight ratio it would be very important to make sure your pony is well and truly warmed up and overall fit before you get on. Just some things to think about, I personally think your far too heavy for your pony, but I guess I have to presume that you are sensible and feel you have made the best decision for your pony.

[gothedistance]

Ooooo-kay. I just got a picture in my head that’s gonna take a LOT of spiked eggnog to erase.

<going to kitchen now …>

[qwerty1989]

No, sorry i don’t have any on this computer, i will try and scan some in in the near future.