I know the feeling. I took on a 16 or 16.1 OTTB 4 yo filly and she just seemed HUGE on the ground. It didn’t last too long IIRC.
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I ponied 3 at once one time. They were all ex-rachorses and the race horses are generally good and happy to get ponied. The horse I was riding was an experienced and very gentlemanly pony horse. the job was to get all 4 horses from one field, down the driveway to another field. The gear was halter and leads - on lead on the pony horse as he neck reins.
Two were pretty much on the correct side, one kept ending on the wrong side and getting annoyed about it then trying to move behind the pony horse to the correct side and take me off the pony horse. The only issue was almost getting wound around a telephone pole when trying to sort the horses and pony horse and horse being ponied thought opposite directions was ideal. But the 1/8th mile walk was a success.
Not something I would recommend but it worked and was fun and much faster and easier than moving them on foot.
I also almost fell off when ponying my horse off the same gentleman because we went to trot and she got excited (yearling antics) and bucked a little, gentleman scurried left out of the way, baby was heading right…I only stretch so far but gentleman quickly reset himself under me.
As far as 18HH horses go…yeah, that would intimidate me as well.
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I used to board on a polo yard in London. Those girl grooms would take those ponies out in groups of 3 or 4 down the busy suburban streets and into Richmond Park without batting an immaculately groomed eyelash. (but they’d take their water buckets away overnight so they didn’t pee and mess up the stalls.)
And another place I lived in London was on the early morning exercise route for the Household Cavalry. Each mounted trooper would be ponying another horse as they clattered past my windows just after dawn.
But its never been one of my skills, either, cat tap!
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Yes it was explained underneath if you had read further.
The same as generally an ugly horse is better trained. Generally Starry eyed riders who know nothing pick pretty horses. The ugly ones are left for the real horsemen. Not in all cases of course.
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@Ajierene. DD played polo in HS and her team went to the Nationals in Palm Springs. Lots of Polo there. In the early AM riders would take strings of 8 or 9 polo ponies out for exercise with one rider leading the rest. They were on a track, but still splendid to see!
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probably looked a whole lot more polished than me and my motley gang! I’m sure it looks awesome to see.
I’ve seen that in Florida too. Usually the rider had a small herd of polo ponies on each side. They’d canter or hand gallop along, all perfectly behaved… and they are mostly mares, so wow.
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I don’t think my boys are disciplined enough. I am sure they would have a great time playing out on the trail. Too old to try it now, the last two times I came off I broke bones.
Regarding ponying: When I was in my thirties, I spent a year on a professional fellowship at a large university. Even though I was very much a grown up to these college kids, I was part of the polo club and helped ride sets and practiced stick and ball on the mounts. And I scrimmaged with them when they needed an extra body on a horse. Super fun.
We’d pony a couple horses each, as many as three, and ride a half mile through the ranch where they were boarded, past frolicking ponies and llamas and jumping lessons, to the very large field, a half mile around, where we rode trot sets of thirty minutes. Those horses loved doing trot sets together. You could really feel their connectedness to each other and their energy. It was really a joy, and although most people were there for the, you know, polo - I was there to ride those dang trot sets that all the other humans thought was dull.
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Once mares have the herd dynamics sorted out they love to run around together. I think it’s a way of bonding. I also find that they can learn not to be marish with each other when I am present as Human Boss. They watch me and not each other.
Can’t imagining ponying multiple horses but herd dynamics are on your side. Also if all the horses are of similar type and gait.
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Years ago, I worked for the Master of the Midland Hunt, and kept the hunt horses fit by doing pony sets on the trail. For early morning hunts I would pony as many as four tacked horses down the lane to the main barn in the dark with no lights. The horses knew the way, and we ambled along as I admired the vast starlit sky. Those times went without incident, but there was the time when I was ponying 2 horses and we were stopped by a very angry copperhead snake that refused to move. The retreat was marred by bush entanglement and tree wrapping.
I have ponied the huntsman’s horse to the other side of the woods and jumped coops when I was younger. Now days if I have to pony a horse, it is a sedate walk or trot. The trick is really herd dynamics and training.
Foxglove, I will love to hear about your progress as you introduce the handsome Hugh Jackson to his new role with Mounted Archery. I have started the sport this summer and am having a blast. I am still fumbling around trying to hit the target at the walk, but having fun practicing on and off the horse. I think my best contribution to my club is snacks and comic relief, but I am enjoying my warrior queen fantasy. If I ever do compete, I will be in the breeches and club shirt group.
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@Trot_On. Not sure this is the place for it, perhaps a new thread in Off Course would be better to post about retraining 3Day horse for mounted archery…,but since u asked–HJ was cleared by my vet for w/t/c. I spent 5 days retraining him to walk up my ramp into the trailer. Pretty solid there. Next will be 5 to 7 days of ground work for 40 min at a time. After each secession I will fuss around him with bow and arrows rustling and touching him. Next will be for me to actually ride him. Then I will shoot off him at a stand still. Then walk. Meanwhile without the bow I will be encouraging a slow canter at every opportunity. 
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Something that may sound silly but that I think helps is to consider the energy you’re projecting to the horse. There’s an Australian trainer (I forget who) who advocates the idea of making it clear to the horse that your company is pleasant and interesting to be in. That’s basically my philosophy with my chunky bois. I’m 5’2’ and 115 lbs. My Belgian pulling team were 18.2 hh and around 2200 lbs each, my Shire 19.1hh and – to quote my excited vet the time he was summoned after hours for a wicked case of cellulitis – "That horse must weigh close to 2500 lbs! I nearly had a heart attack as I mentally calculated the cost of the Baytril he was drawing up. Nor had I ever seriously worried about the possibility of a horse pulling a barn down around us until the night the Belgians stepped off the transport truck, slightly wigged out after an 18 hour trip from their old home. 
) Yet, all 3 would walk nicely on flat halters, stand for hours if asked, and generally modulate their bull in a China shop tendencies in exchange for being in my company. They knew humans = fun and interesting and easy to hang with, but the fun came ONLY if they exhibited certain social graces.
I always try to take a few deep breathes and ground myself before I interact with any horse. Even more so if that horse is a XXL.
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i used to take three horses out on a hack…all without saddles, all in a halter and ride one and pony the other two and switch horses. In Golden Gate Park, all the way to and on Ocean Beach.
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Yabbut…
You’re working with Drafts.
IME, they understand their size & will tolerate the Puny Humans… mostly 
My favorite semi-gulity pleasure is watching the Pulling Teams when the guy dropping the hook is a tid slow.
Those horses hear the telltale clink & they’re off!
Generally taking that guy sand-waterskiing 
Friend of mine had a pair of young Belgians.
We were standing at the fence watching them walk slowly, noses down, after a barncat in the pasture.
“Look” said friend “they’re chasing the cat” 
Sorry to be so long-winded getting to my point 
WB & lighter breeds, including DraftX, in general, can be quicker in their reactions.
ETA:
Near Miss
VID_20190320_090128410_HDR
Friends 19h gentleman:
-gal standing next to him is 5’9"-
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My 18h Percheron, Ben (as in Gentle Ben), is deliberate and obedient. Cold-blooded horses are generally pretty calm. 18h Percheron is MUCH more easy than my 15h Arabian.
oh, heavens no!!
Everyone thinks that. And it’s true; once drafts reach the age of 12 or so, they tend to settle and are fantastic. They’re very slow to mature. And you definitely need a firm & friendly attitude and be “on” constantly with them as youngsters. My pulling team was 7 & 8 when I got them. In harness, they were fantastic. Out of harness? It took a lot of hard, consistent work to get their manners to a point that didn’t send folks scurrying. The night the team arrived, the herd-bound one barged through a closed stall door trying to get to his brother. As in, literally flattened a latched Morton barn door like it didn’t exist. And they weren’t exceptional. Most of the young ones I’ve worked with have the same tendencies. I’ve yet to meet one that would pick it’s foot up easily, for example. I’ve had to spend time every day teaching them that me squeezing/clucking/tapping/pulling on your feathers means BEND YOUR KNEE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Most farriers will hang up on you if you tell them you have draft horses. For their own safety, they usually want to work on them in stocks. I started with the guy that shod the caisson horses at Arlington. He was ok but not great. Eventually lucked out; one of the men from my MMA gym who was now a (good) farrier had once been a D1 wrestler and then a power lifter. He didn’t much enjoy it, but he was willing to work on the chunky bois. In exchange, I was willing to basically hand him a blank check. Nothing like watching a former D1 wrestler who is as wide as he is tall surface from under your horse just long enough to take off his sweatshirt and yell explatives when your sweet but 2000+ lbs Shire leans 500 lbs of weight onto his back.
Hop on the Nervous Riders page on FB sometime. Lots of horse owners terrified of the young, giant full draft horses they purchased on the belief they were calm, confidence-building gentle giants. Most of them aren’t aggressive or ill-tempered. It’s more that their size amplifies the effects of normal horse behavior. They like people. It just doesn’t register that the existence of humans is relevant to their life in any meaningful way unless you make it so. Many of those pulling horses are Amish-broke, or trained by English that use methods that are regarded as unacceptable in the riding horse world. Your friend’s Belgian is likely Amish bred and broke (the docked tail). My aged Percheron gelding had a dent near his eye from where he’d been “polled” with a 2 x 4. It’s unfortunate, but most older drafts that are steady Eddies have been worked half to death or had the crap beaten out of them to arrive at that state. 
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My lifetime “Heart Horse” (I hate that expression, but I can’t think of a better one) was 18h even. I’m 5’2".
My advice:
~ You WILL get used to it! Give it a couple of years, and normal horses will look like minis.
~ As others have said, ground work is great - for you as well as for your new monster. A little person with a big horse needs to know how to move the beast around easily and smoothly, and this takes practice when you go up a couple of sizes.
~ Get your big guy used to lighter and lighter signals on the ground. Be sure he’s good with human body language. Move over, back up, whoa - make sure he responds to the slightest gesture, and you’ll feel much less intimidated by his size.
~ Correct your horse every single time he accidentally moves into your space. Be gentle and patient and give plenty of rewards, of course, but don’t let things slide.
Big horses are the best! Congratulations on your new guy.
Sorry to be so late, but I just saw this (read for comprehension, 2Dogs )
19H came from a Show Hitch breeder in WI, not Amish.
He was a Wheeler in a 10 Pickax hitch, but also drives single, double, etc.
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Can… I just comment on how much I appreciate your horses being named “William Tell” and “Hugh Jackman”
That honestly just made my day.
Keep us posted!
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