Why does everything have to be 16.2+?

[greysfordays]

I’m 6’ tall, with a fairly long torso. One of the biggest factors in whether or not I look good on a horse is where they carry their heads. If they naturally carry a little higher, I look just fine on a smaller horse.

Honestly, I"m quite happy on a smaller horse, they are like little sports cars to ride. My own horse is 16.3, but he carries his head a little low naturally. I think we just fit. The horse I almost bought was an inch taller but carried much higher and we matched better visually. But he wasn’t as quality as my grey.

I rode a friend’s 16h horse last weekend and when I look at the video, I look totally fine. It’s only when I pet the horse as we go that you get a sense for how long my arms are as they quite easily could reach his jowls. :lol: I LOVE smaller horses, I wish I could ride the really small ones but I don’t like the sensation that my heels are surrounded by air. :no:

[billiebob]

I’m 6’, 35" inseam, and the two horses I ride are my 16.3 TB and my uncle’s 14.1 cowpony. Balance-wise things are much easier for me when the horse has a big barrel and long neck. My preferred size is generally 16.3-17.3 (have never ridden anything bigger). The last time I was horse shopping I didn’t look at ads for anything under16.2 because I figured in real life they’d be shorter. I’m an excellent measuring stick for anything between 15.2 and 18h–my chin is 15.2, my lips are 16h, nose is 16.2, and if I can see over their back they’re not 17h.

Plus, as much as I like riding the cowpony (he’s definitely a quick sportscar-type and groundmounting is ah-mazing), I can’t imagine jumping around a grand prix or 4* eventing on the likes of a Stroller or Teddy. It’s gotta be weird jumping something bigger than your horse!

[PonyPenny]

Mine has a measurement card, which you can get for any horse at a rated show regardless of whether you are showing in the junior hunters.

[emipou]

Well, I am fixated on taller horses because I have ridiculously long legs and I am a ridiculously large framed person. So it’s for the horse’s well being, my comfort and aesthetics. But I ride a 16hh horse at the moment. ANd yes- I look and feel ridiculously big on her sometimes because she has a narrow barrel. Alternatively, when I ride a 16hh gelding at the barn with a much larger barrel, I don’t look too big on him, or feel too big on him.
I have a more distant trainer that I ride with sometimes. She puts me on a wb that is 17hh+. And I feel like the right size on him, though he can easily feel out of control at times, he has a LOT of power.

So when I finally, one day, hopefully some day go to find my own horse for purchase, I will only look at horses OVER 16-16.2hh.

But I would tend to agree, that many shorter people are fixated on these large horses than they then are unable to control. It’s a status thing maybe. I’ve seen these ladies in some of the big equestrian centers in LA. They wear the really expensive breeches and boots, have these ginormous imported things that they paid a ton of money for but cannot ride. Not sure if I completely understand it personally.

[AndNirina]

I’m just under 5’10" with super long legs and I feel like I’m going to squash anything under 16.0. I just passed on a lovely, otherwise perfect WB mare who was 15.2 and not a hair more. I just looked and felt ‘big’ on her. All the horses I’ve had have been 16.3+ with the biggest being an 18 hand behemoth of loveliness (a Swedish mare with lop ears… swoon!). I just feel like a bigger horse takes up my leg better, and it makes me feel like it’s a better picture equitation-wise (especially in medals.)

I did do well on a 16h horse who was pretty sprung through the ribcage and his body type didn’t feel small too me. I just feel more comfortable on something bigger.

[4THEHORSES]

It always amuses me how so many people grossly mis-jusdge the height of horses.

My 15:3 draft maRe is of the hitchy variety (carries her head very high). Vast majority of people thing she’s at least 17hh. LMAO!!! Not even close.

Then there’s my 16:2 TB. In relation to above mare, people always think he’s smaller in height. He’s downhill built, not as stalky as her, tends to carry his head a little lower but is, without doubt, 16:2.

Then there’s horse number 3. The youngest at the bunch (just coming 3). Mare. Also a draft but not quite as hitchy (carries her head a little lower then the other draft mare) and is growing fast so not stalky looking. She’s always assumed to be the smallest of the three. In reality, she’s 17:2 and growing!!

[SmartAlex]

I am 5’9" and long legged. My current horse is 16.3 barefoot and high headed.

I think length of neck and spring of ribcage has a lot more to do with fitting a rider than height does.

Whenever my husband sees “normal sized” horses in the movies he comments on “how small” they are. Because he’s used to my big horse.

[Canaqua]

It used to irritate me (at 5’9") that everyone, even tiny people, thought they needed a big horse, making it harder for me to find a tall horse! I thought I needed 16.2 + and that’s what I rode for ages. Now, I’m on a 15.3 mare and she’s just fine. She’s a Trakh/TB cross and has a pretty substantial build. I look OK on her in the pictures I’ve seen, she’s big enough to take up my leg, so it’s not hanging below her belly ;). And, she can be a lot of horse sometimes, if she were 17hh, she’d be intimidating.

[chism]

HA! I’ll admit I’ve read NONE of the responses. One of my friends and I got into a disagreement the other day because she called a 16 hand horse “small”. She breeds 17H+ dressage behemoths, so that’s her “NORMAL”. I tried to explain to her that a 15-16 hand horse was AVERAGE and she simply did not agree.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I’m short and I have short legs, but I love riding tall horses. I’ve owned them from 14.3 to 17.1 and my appreciation for each had nothing to do with their respective heights, but I always get a huge kick out of sitting on a big horse. :yes:

[Foxtrot_s]

Sometimes, with genetics, good feed and management, they just grow large…mine were not designed to be 17.h.h. horses, they just grew that big.

[Meredith_Clark]

When I started my horse search a few months ago I specifically went looking for something UNDER 16 hands. Not only because I’m 5’3, but I knew they’d be cheaper!

I will say though, I am NOT comfortable on a thin framed horse. Narrow, thin horses make me feel fat and awkward. If the horse’s butt is smaller than mine we have a problem! :lol:

I ended up with a 16.1 guy because I fell in love with HIM, I would still have purchased him if he was a hand shorter.

[billiebob]

[QUOTE=chism;8032472]
HA! I’ll admit I’ve read NONE of the responses. One of my friends and I got into a disagreement the other day because she called a 16 hand horse “small”. She breeds 17H+ dressage behemoths, so that’s her “NORMAL”. I tried to explain to her that a 15-16 hand horse was AVERAGE and she simply did not agree.[/QUOTE]

Out here is cattle country aka the land of the Quarter Hony my 16.3 TB is considered a gigantosaur. The “big” QHs you see up for sale are 15.2. :lol:

[OTTBs]

[QUOTE=PNWjumper;8031637]

With all of that being said, I recently bought a medium pony for my daughter…The pony is only 13.3h [/QUOTE]Isn’t medium only up to 13.2?

One of the other responses reminded me of my lesson last year where my 16.1 mare did a two-stride in one stride.:lol:

I do see way too much “gotta have a huge horse but I’m scared of him.” At our barn, one boarder is on at least her third huge beast. I know she was scared of the last one, and I’ve never seen her on this one (which she’s had for several months already.) I’m not sure how tall any of them are/were, but all appeared to be draft crosses.

[GraceLikeRain]

I wanted something smaller. At not quite 5’1 and a very petite frame I looked like a nugget on my big barreled 16h mare (a trim 1,350 lbs). My horse search focused on 14-15.2 and I ended up with a 16.2 leggy TB. I actually hoped the seller was stretching his height before I met him since 16.2 seems to be some sort of magical cut off. Unfortunately, he was actually the height he was advertised.

[Ajierene]

I am 5’2" with short legs and leased a 17.2HH horse over the summer. He was great and we learned a lot, but my trainer used to laugh and say I looked like a kid on her mom’s horse when I rode in my jump saddle. I also had to use spurs on him in dressage because my stubby little legs just weren’t enough.

My filly is currently 15HH 3/4" and may grow another inch. Her dam (my mare) is 15.1 1/2" and fit me just fine. Even when filly was around 14.2HH, I looked fine on her. Hopefully I will get another inch or two out of her, but really do not need more.

My average height for horses is 15.3 to 16.1 and have noticed a trend that the height more people are considering average is more like 16.2 to 17 and do not quite understand why you need so much horse.

The 17.2HH horse I leased was a bit harder to fit into trailers, needed new girths and bigger blankets. Overall, harder/more costly than keeping an average horse.

My filly, on the other hand, could practically fit in the back of my car and wears a 72" blanket - which are the most common size on clearance!

[clanter]

You never see the Queen’s carriage pulled by New Forest Ponies… they use Windsor Greys which are at least 16.1 hands

size projects power

[todaysspecial]

I’m 5’2, 16h is the biggest I would consider anymore. I figure, if I’m still the same size I was when competing large ponies, I don’t need a giraffe!

[rockymouse]

Just stopping in to say that I’m the opposite of the 16.2 seekers. I love a short horse. I’m 5’8" with a long body and a tricky back. Both the Quarter horse and the Rocky Mountain we own happen to be 14 hands or maybe 14.1. We didn’t go out looking for shorties, but it’s what we ended up with and what I prefer.
When I get on our friends’ horses, I feel sooo tall!

[b]

So how is one to advertise a horse? I advertise giving the true height but I have to think after reading this thread that everyone will assume that the horse is smaller?

I have a mare that everyone refers to as my “big” mare. She is substantial and has a very vertical neck placement. People assume she is 17 hh because she towers over everyone. Her measurement at the withers is just over 16 hh.

I try when possible to give the height of the rider when posting photos of horses under saddle. But then, people might think that the rider’s height is not accurate either!