Ponies, their size, and kids

[zippyrider]

I am shopping for my daughter’s first pony. She is almost 8 years old and has been leasing a small horse for about a year. Before that, she rode at a nice pony schooling barn for a year. She is a solid walk/trot rider, but she’s ready to learn more. Her current lease horse is not a great candidate for teaching her to canter and begin jumping, which is why we are pony shopping.

So, here’s my problem. We found a wonderful large pony (14h), who is well-trained, kind, gentle, and sensory trained (i.e., bombproof). My daughter had an instant connection with this pony, and I feel that we should move forward with vetting this pony. BUT, I have a few friends telling me that my daughter really needs to be on a smaller pony for learning to canter and jump. We did try a small pony and a medium pony, but we all loved the large pony. My daughter is 4’ 2" tall.

Just wondering what people think about children and pony sizes? Any opinions or guidance you can share? Thanks so much!

[clanter]

![](y youngest daughter grew up with my Morgan. The mare was 14.1

Daughter rode her in everything until she got her eventing horse at age 17.

A large pony is one you don’t have trade in when the kid is 12 or so as they can still use the pony

her is my daughter at 7 with Foxie
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/AimeeandTheFox.jpg)

at 15

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/hunterpleasure.jpg)

here they are at 16 or 17
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/trail.jpg)

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Or you can get a kid broke horse. My youngest is 1" shorter then your daughter and she rides my 16.1h and 16.3h horses with no problems.

[arapaloosa_lady]

The only reason I could think of people saying that is if she competes in the pony divisions at hunter/jumper shows. Ponies are divided by size, so she’d be competing against the older kids on large ponies.

That said, I’d vet this pony. He sounds perfect for what she needs & it can be emotionally difficult for kids to outgrow their ponies. She can ride a large pony for many years, so it’s nice not being forced to sell him just because she grew.

[zippyrider]

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your experience and photos!

Is there any safety argument with having a child on a larger pony? In other words, is the 4" difference in height between a 14h and 13h pony, for example, a safety concern (in the event of a fall)?

Is there any legitimate argument that it is easier for a child to learn to canter or jump on a smaller pony?

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter! I’d just like to feel confident in tuning out the peanut gallery!

[zippyrider]

[QUOTE=clanter;7848928]
![](y youngest daughter grew up with my Morgan. The mare was 14.1

Daughter rode her in everything until she got her eventing horse at age 17.

A large pony is one you don’t have trade in when the kid is 12 or so as they can still use the pony

her is my daughter at 7 with Foxie
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/AimeeandTheFox.jpg)

at 15

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/hunterpleasure.jpg)

here they are at 16 or 17
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/clanter/trail.jpg)[/QUOTE]

Gorgeous photos! What a beautiful record of them growing up together!

[poltroon]

If your child likes the large pony and it’s a great match, I wouldn’t hesitate. A smaller pony can sometimes be a little easier for a child to handle and tack up on the ground, maybe. The difference in falling from the height is not significant. A good pony is a good pony.

Variations pony to pony in temperament are going to be more important for learning to canter or jump than the pony’s height.

Vet it and good luck!

[tpup]

My 9 year old and 12 year old both ride my large 14.3 pony. And he is my show, trail and general riding pony as well. (I am 5’3" and 135 lbs.) He is SO versatile, virtually bombproof and forward enough for all of us to continue to learn on. He IS the perfect pony in so many ways. I love, love large ponies. I say go for it!

[McGurk]

It’s true that if your daughter was competing at rated or very competitive local shows, she would do better on a small or medium. That may be the perspective your friends are viewing this from. However, it sounds like either that is not your ambition or that it’s a ways away.

If you have found a nice large that is child safe and bombproof, can teach your daughter to canter and jump, and your daughter has clicked with, that is PRICELESS. Buy the pony.

She can show it SS and in the local divisions happily and learn everything the pony has to teach her. At that point, she may be ready to show it in the larges or you could lease a medium for a season to give her some mileage.

It’s safe and your daughter clicks with it. BUY IT. Having watching a good friend shop for a YEAR for a safe local large pony for a tall 10 year old, I can’t tell you how lucky you are to have found it.

[Luseride]

The larger pony you can get on and fix if need be. I also like that the larger ones usually have nicer gaits, important when learning.

My youngest son Hated ponies, a bad experience, and always rode horses.

[ozjb]

I would vet that pony! Good schoolmaster ponies are ridiculously hard to find and if your daughter feels happy and safe on him and YOU feel happy when she is on him, then size really isn’t an issue.

Every one will have an opinion, so learn the art of nodding and saying yes as you go about doing what YOU know to be right.

I actually thought this was going to be a thread about NOT putting kids on ponies because Americans tend to skip the pony stage and put kids on horses. We moved to Australia 15 years ago and that was what I noticed straight away . . . kids here start on the little ponies and progress up. My daughter went from 11.2 (cracker of a pony that we still own) to a 13.2 pony we only just sold. Then went onto a saintly old schoolmaster who was 14.2. We kept him until he passed away. He taught her to event. Daughter is now 19 and I soooo miss the ponies! Smallest we have is 15.2.

Have fun! Kids and ponies are sort of magical.

[KBC]

@McGurk;7849131

If you have found a nice large that is child safe and bombproof, can teach your daughter to canter and jump, and your daughter has clicked with, that is PRICELESS. Buy the pony.

THIS in spades

[Mallard]

Larger ponies will have longer, bigger strides, which (I think!) makes it easier.
Small ponies usually have shorter, faster …choppier…canters.

My granddaughter is also 8 and has started canter on the longe at her lesson barn. She manages much better on the 13.3 bigger-striding pony than she did on the 12.3.

My current mount is a 13hh pony, and his canter is shorter and faster/ more bouncy than my 14.2 guy.

And I think it’s important for the child to ‘click’ with the pony…that’s very high on my list of priorites.

[AndNirina]

Our two children, 10 and just 6 by a few weeks share our pony mare, who is a large. Actually the pony is the worst measurement, a very small “large” at 13.2 3/4. That said she will be their SS pony at best because her lead changes are sometimes sticky.

Our daughter, the 6 year old, is rather tall for her age but is already WTC on the pony with no fear. Safety-wise if the pony is suitable, the height shouldn’t be an issue. Our daughter stepped off a 10.1 hh (yes you read that correctly, 10.1 hands, a Shetland/mini cross) to the large and has done so well on her. Best of luck to you! At least at the bigger height, too, you’ll have less chance of her outgrowing the pony sooner rather than later.

[tikihorse2]

I was a horse-crazy girl who never outgrew what her parents thought was a “stage”, and would have killed for a pony. I’m going to repeat what I’ve read on this forum so many times: a good pony is worth its weight in gold.

Kim

[mroades]

the answer is it depends on the pony!

[danceronice]

If it’s a good pony and she feels comfortable on it, go for it. Like people said, that means it takes longer to outgrow.

[PNWjumper]

I think anything your daughter feels safe on is perfect. And a pony that she fits for longer…great!

With that being said, I will add that when shopping for a pony for my 6yo I wanted to step up from her small and wanted a medium because the pony division holds mediums at 2’6" versus 3’ for the larges. But with the number of other divisions (e.g. short stirrup, short stirrup pony, etc.) there’s really not a restriction on being able to show…just a difference between the fence heights in the rated pony divisions. That’s the only difference I could see people trying to get at if the comments were directed at showing? But for learning? My daughter has a small pony and also frequently rides my 15.3h mare, and I think that for learning diagonals and learning to canter the mare has been a lot easier for her to get the concepts on. So as far as the learning part, I don’t see any drawbacks on a large versus small pony.

[One_Two_Three]

As others have said, the only real concern is if she were showing in rated pony classes.

I learned to ride, start to finish, (beginning through jumping) on horses. I didn’t ride my first pony until I was schooling greenies at the show barn as a junior.

There’s nothing wrong with learning on a large pony or a horse.

[joiedevie99]

Another thing to consider is that very, very few horses/ponies will remain saints when exclusively ridden by true beginners.

The advantage of a larger pony is that a wider range of large children/adults can get on and school it so that it remembers to mind its ps and qs with its kid.