My 17h horse was sold because he was too small for his owner. He may be tall, but he is also narrow and doesn’t take up a ton of leg. Meanwhile I’ve ridden 14.2h butterball ponies that made me feel like a child in a Thellwell drawing trying to get my leg around it. You can have a slab sided 17.3 TB that is just a body on stilts, and you can have a 15.1h draft cross that could comfortably take three people around a course at once.
Build is so much more important that height.
My leg fell in almost the same spot on my chonky 16hh ISH as it does on my chonky 13.1 medium pony. I think what really gives the most flexibility is the length of your torso; you will look bigger faster the longer your torso. I’m not tall to begin with and what height I have is all leg.
My goodness, that pony is a tank- and courtesy of the tankishness, also doesn’t look 13.1! I think my leg would fit on that pony, and I was kicked off of ponies at age 10 because I was 5’6" (and also built like a tank.) Lucky you to have your pony years as an adult, when you can really enjoy them!
Your ISH is lovely. If missing from the barn one day, don’t come looking in my house.
I’m going to agree with others on depends on how much the horses body takes up of your leg and length of neck. I’m not sure what discipline you compete in, but when I train my ponies for hunters, I prefer a large pony as they take up more of my leg and I feel my upper body doesnt effect them or their jump.
I’m 5’2" and ride and break mostly medium and large ponies. I feel a medium is too small for me as there isnt a lot of length of neck and my upper body can overbalance them. I try my best to not lie on their necks, but it can be hard when they are green beans! I don’t think I look too large on mediums but I always worry about the balance. For flatting, I have no issue or concerns about riding mediums or even a small.
So I think as long as you feel comfortable and your horse feels comfortable (as in you don’t throw them off balance), there really isnt an issue with height. If you are jumping, this just maybe something to keep in the back of your mind - perhaps just make sure they don’t have a short neck at 16h. Then 2 inches really wouldn’t make a difference. How did you feel on the 16h horses you tried?
Chestnut is a 13.1h pony with a slim build and I felt big on him when jumping and the bay is a tad overgrown at 14.3h and is now a medium build (he was quite slim but is now 9 and is deciding to pack and keep on the weight so his barrel is now really taking up my leg- and you can see how long his neck is. I much prefer this size for me).
![wally jumping4|640x359]Ride what you like to ride… size doesn’t matter. I have to ride all shapes and sizes because it’s my job to do so but my personal horse is 15.1 because she’s the only 4yr old I’ve ever bought that DIDNT grow at least 4inches 
I’m 5’6” and my preferred height is 16 hands. In the pictures below I’m on a GRP who is 14.1 showing him 4th level and a KWPN who is 16.3 showing the GP… I am equally comfortable on both these sizes and I don’t think look to out of proportion. Now on something super narrow regardless of height I feel very unbalanced. Know what you like to ride and choose size and ride ability.
That wee chestnut is adorbs.
@ZuzusPetals - thank you! He sold last year to a little kid and they have been doing so well! Just qualified for Pony Finals first time out and I’m so excited to see them go!!
I can’t comment on rider weight but for height, generally I was always taught a horse is the right size if your foot, when sitting in the saddle, is somewhat close to but not lower than the line of the horses belly when viewed from the side. Feet dangling below the belly = bad. Feet at line of belly - not super great but acceptable.
Of course this is all dependent on stirrup length but if your regular length dressage stirrup is at the line of belly and jump length is above it, great.
I am 5’10 155 pounds. I have long legs so that is where I tend to focus when I am looking to fit on a horse.
Up until I bought my mare I preferred 16.1 + hand horses. As I aged I was looking for something a bit easier to get on . Bought my current mare as a weanling and she topped out at 15 hands! She is built like a tank and I am perfectly happy on her.
My current gelding (at 4 years) is about her height and well built and we are doing well.
My daughter has a 14.1 hand appaloosa cross who is average in build and I feel like I am sitting on a fence post and riding a pony and I am thinking " where is her neck" ??
She just feels all wrong, even though my stirrups don’t hang that far down.
I have no idea how I look on her but my daughter is a couple inches shorter and lighter and she looks fine.
All that to say I think you can sacrifice some height on a horse if the build is stockier. At least I can.
I’m almost 5’10 & did feel borderline big on my 16.1 WB. 
OMG, you just reminded me of a college IHSA teammate that could ride the hair off anything but was 6’2" with a short torso (ie, SUPER long legs). We regularly fought the “please tell me you can’t see her opposite foot” battle with her draws
I’m 5’9" and all torso and tibia. Weirdest build ever. Short forearms. I’m fairly sure I must have been a t-rex in a former life.
What makes me look big?
In the hunters I rode just about anything. If it was a bit wider I could go down to 15h without looking weird. I’ve got a photo of me on a 17.3h slab sided long-necked monster that looked about the right size (although he was ridiculous under saddle and his bucks felt like an ocean wave). I typically found ~16.3h and tankish with a moderately long neck to be the nicest look.
Now I dressage. I have a 15.3h horse who with a dressage leg my leg hangs under his barrel. I look gargantuan on him. I have a 16.1h horse who takes up a bit more leg but is short back to front, and I look pretty big on him too. I also have a 16.1h much wider/longer horse who apparently I look a little more size-appropriate.
But it doesn’t really matter, because dressage isn’t quite as picky about such things so I stopped really thinking about it so much.
I’m impressed!
I’m kinda the opposite of a lot of the posters - I have a long torso and tend to look too big on horses. Just went from a 17.1 ClydexTB to a 15.1 QH. I make him look like a pony, but he’s 1200 lbs and feels great, takes up my leg. So light. Oh, the best part is I can get on him from the ground, and for a field hunter that is marvelous. But for me, it’s my towering torso (I’m 5’8”) that makes horses look too small for me.[/img][/img][/img][/img][/img]
I’m 5’7, and have been having some weight issues the last few years. 185 lbs now, and it’s a fight to get it to go down even a few pounds. I’ve had my heart horse for almost 14 years now, a 14.3 hand little grade QH. If I think about it, I feel so bad riding her and making her lug me around. And I probably look too big for her. But she’s so much happier when I ride her, either dressage or jumping, than she is with even the skinniest little kids that ride her (she’s still great for them though). She’s somewhat stout, takes up my leg nicely, but isn’t a cob type build at all, fine-boned.
She’s also very clear about letting me know if something bothers her, and has happily dragged me around 2’7 courses and popped a little over 3 ft oxers quite eagerly. I’m trying my best to get rid of this stupid fat that just stubbornly is clinging on for her sake, but as long as she is still happy with me on her, I try not to worry too much about it and just stay cognizant of it.
5ft 10 inch daughter on a 18+h Clydesdale she was working under saddle, kind of looks like a child on a pony
the horse’s regular job was part of a team
I have photos of her from the Morgan Nationals but do no own the rights to publish of on her 14h even Morgan, they look fine . The mare is of old blood lines so is stocky
Have to disagree, Clanter. I think she looks fine on a huge horse. Her heels are below the flaps.
20 years ago the kids talked the BO into buying a jet black “Canadian” Percheron mare. They are smaller and more finely built than regular Percherons. They planned to make her a vaulting horse. She was probably at least 17hh. She was 3 y.o. and turned out with her mother and grandmother, who were pulling horses. They were starting her for pulling.
She never became a vaulting horse, nor did she pull anything. She was a lesson horse and anyone could get on her and ride. The really little kids - 7 or 8 yo - loved her but rode on bareback pads. She was pretty good at responding to aids through all that padding.
The only problem she ever had was when one of the barn rats got on her a few days after she arrived. BO and I were watching. BR stopped in the outdoor and sat for a few moments. Then she let loose a huge gob of spit. The mare jumped out from under her, straight ahead. BR landed flat on her back. Surprised but uninjured. We still laugh about it.
This is pulling at the Cumberland County Fair in Maine, for you suburban-types. Note the white line just ahead of the horses. Teams pull a sled loaded with huge concrete blocks. If they make it over the line they move to the next round with a heavier load. The winner is the last team to pull the heaviest load over the line. Plenty of rules protect the horses. It’s a very popular event.
I’m 5’10", my Clydesdale was 18.2hh.
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