smaller horses as jumper prospects

[LilRanger]

@weixiao

An excellent current example is Catoki with McLain, who I believe is only about 15.1. Not sure how tall McLain is exactly, I think he is a few inches shorter than me but he has quite a tall upper body. https://jumpernation.com/watch-mclai…s-ever-ridden/

Holy Smokes! I watched that video, and McLain should rename that horse Honey Badger, she took it all on like it was nothing!

[BigBlackDog]

@weixiao

I’ve always attributed some of the penchant for larger horses in the timid AA ranks relating to balance and strength of the rider. A larger horses with a longer neck, in my mind, is going to be easier for someone who is in less control of their balance and upper body than something smaller with that short pony neck that disappears out from under you when/if they have to take a stutter step or something to recover from a bad distance.

As mentioned up thread, I am quite tall and I like a smaller horse personally, but jumping big fences I do have to be aware of how my height can easily influence their balance and I can attest to how quickly the smaller ones can disappear out from underneath you when they are naughty or something goes wrong. Although the average rider (men as well as other women haha) is shorter than me, I have always still felt or assumed that the longer necked horses provide a bit more of a “seatbelt” for a less fit or balanced greener rider and that’s where some of the trend towards them came from.

I prefer a long necked horse because I do struggle with my upper body since I’m both tall and have a long torso. When I’m riding a hunter type I find long neck, long back works for me. Also because when I’m on a large horse, I prefer stick and spur slow. My hunter was big, slow and a back cracker, so I appreciated that big long neck! However, I also do like the zippy little ones for quicker things even though I don’t jump big fences. My favorite jumper ride was a 15hh, very lightly built Welsh cross mare with quite high head carriage. Her high head made it a bit easier to keep my body back and also she collected quite easily to get nice and springy. She was like driving a mini-bike and I had a lot of fun with her. The biggest struggle I had with her was staying tight in the tack since she had a hard jump, but it never felt like she was struggling. With a speedier ride, I kind of prefer the small horse as I feel I have more control, being able to leverage my upper body more. It comes down to what brings me confidence. Overall I am more comfortable with a slow, long neck type of ride.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

@NaturallyHappy

Good thing no one told Stroller or Touch of Class smaller horses will have skeletal limitations!

Or Charisma…I swear she was barely 15 hands. She would disappear in the lines and you would just see Leslie’s head. She was long backed and covered distances and spread with ease. I have generally found size is not an issue regardless. Finding a true 1.6m horse is hard. And not all big horses have the scope or stride either. I’ve sat on many 16.3+ horses with crap short strides and 15.3h ones with 15’ strides. Just depends on the horse.

but I agree, you need better body control as a rider on a small horse. But I’m a tall enough rider that I have to have good control regardless of the size of my horse…and prefer sensitive horses anyway.

[Xctrygirl]

Someone asked earlier up thread how tall McLain is to ride Catoki at 15.1.

This pic came up in my memories today from Omaha.

I’m 5’8. McLain is right around there as well.

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