Important ? for Heather

[hlstarmie]

I sometimes have problems giving aids to my pony as he is quite small for my size.
He is a 12'3" Exmoor Pony and i am 5'4".
My legs just dont fall in the right place to give him good aids and i think that he gets confused at times.
He was bought for my little girl but at the moment he is too strong for her.
is there any advice you could give me on this problem as i dont want to totally confuse the pony.
I have always used my voice to give aids so he does tend to listen to my voice aids which does help but wondered if there was anything else i could do.
Thank you for your time.

 

[Heather]

Probably better that you ride a bit shorter in your stirrups. A German lady, Janne, who sometimes has lessons with me, is a very willowy 5'11, and she rides everything form her kid's 12.hand Dartmoor, her own haflinger mare of 13,2hh, to a friend's 17 hands warmblood! Somehow, Janne manages to fold her legs up into Z bends on the ponies and manages not to look nearly as tall as she is! She never seems to have any problem applying the leg aids, and has even taught the ponies lateral work! So try shortening your stirrups a couple of holes, and see if that works.

All the best,


Heather