short people riding big horses.

suzanne7575

suzanne7575

New Member
Jul 25, 2007
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Scotland
I know there is a lot of discusion about adults/tall people riding ponies, but what about the other way around.

I am 5'2" and was wondering how big a horse i could manage effectively. I am sure some of these professional showjumpers are not much taller than me and are riding bigger horses no problem but for everyday riding?

I have ridden bigger horses and did used to help exercise a friends 17.2hh occasionally but that was when i was younger and he was huge!!!!

Any short members on here riding big horses and how do you manage? Would like some piccies too please :D
 
im not a short person 5ft 8 however i did own a 17.1hh and getting on was a total nightmare,putting rugs on ect,did end up throwing them on him as i couldnt reach,ive come down in height just a bit nelly is 14.2/3hh :D:D
 
Me, me, pick me !! I am 5ft and barely half an inch, with a 28 inch inside leg. I ride a 17hh ex-SJer and a 16.3hh TB at my RS, and prior to that I used to exercise my friend's 16.3hh eventer for her. I absolutely LOVE big horses, call it Napoleon syndrome or what you will, but for me, there is nothing to compare with having a really big horse working under you. I probably do look like a pea on a drum (I have no photos - must get some), but I really don't care.

I am very tentatively looking for a horse at the moment, and my criteria is up to 17hh, but at that sort of size, temperament and manners are paramount for me. Both the Big Friendly Giants I ride currently are very well-mannered on the ground, and the 17hh puts his head down for the bridle. The only real problem with either of them is plaiting - it takes ages cos you have to keep moving the blasted step-stool !
 
i find it much harder - i had a big moving 16.2 stressage-bred WB, and went back to ponies with a sigh of relief. i just found everything annoying - heaving saddle onto him, heaving wet rugs onto him in wonter, reaching the top of his back to get the mud off, trying to get fly gel in his ears, getting on...

also my legs did'nt come very far down his sides, and he could ping me off bucking much more easily than a 14hh could.

that said, i had to ride horses for my exams, and was on anything up to 17.2. it was cosiderably harder on the 17.2 than on the 16hh, but i got on with it because i had to and did fine. too much like hard work to do by choice for me though.
 
Hi Suzanne

I'm 5' (actually a bit smaller ;)) and have a 16.2 heavyweight mare called Lady. She is built like a tank, absolutely huge - I look quite small on her :eek:! She's very strong, and I don't have a lot of strength - but she is manageable and very very comfortable to ride (its like sitting in a big armchair).

I feel more confident on her than I do on my 15' pony. I think it's because there is no badness in her, she's just strong - the worse she would do when your riding her is throw a huge buck the first time you ask her for canter, but I got used to her doing that very quickly!

Getting on her is the only hard bit :p No pictures, but I will try and get some posted next week!
 
My old instructor was about 5 ft 1 and she rode our Joe who is 16.2hh no probs at all!!! She looked quite small on him, but she didn't struggle to ride him. Another lady on old yard was tiny, and her horse was 17hh - she didn't struggle either. I think if you are a good enough rider then it doesn't matter. Personally its way too far down for my liking - I'll stick with the tiny's! Storm is 15hh and plenty big enough for me thanks........
 
When I worked/helped on the beach I was riding a 17.2 and I'm only 5'3, I did feel huge on him and he was scared of water, kites etc etc but I just relaxed with him

I did have trouble getting on him sometimes as the bloke who owned it used to make you get on from the groun and the one day I'd just got off a shetland :eek:
 
I am 5'1" and I used to ride a 17.2H Thoroughbred, 16.2H Tenessee Walker and an overweight 15.2H Spotted Saddle Horse with a huge barrel. Now my horse is a 14.2H Quarter Horse and it is a lot easier to be effective with my legs. On the 17.2H horse, my legs did not even reach half way down his sides. Now I feel like I can wrap my legs around my horse. I will never buy a big horse for me to ride again.
 
I am 5.2ft and I did ride a 15.1 with no problems, also at riding school ride 16.2's but they are narrow tb's and to be honest dont feel 100% safe as feel I dont have enough leg to be effective if they did anything untoward.

However am now looking to buy 14-14.2 as want to be able to get on and off easily eg if out hacking and needed to get off to open gate or fell off would want to be able to get back on again without having to look for something to stand on.

Secondly I find it harder to tack up and groom the larger horses as I can't reach head very easily and rugs are tricky too. I imagine plaiting as well.

Generally I think if you are able bodied and cant get on from the ground then the horse is too big.;)
 
I'm 5'2" but very inflexible so I am only comfortable on 14.2hh. I rode a 15.2hh (i think thats how tall she is...!) and OMG she was wayyy too wide for me, perhaps this was becuase she was a cob? But I am overweight, so I can't ride a spindley narrow but tall horse, as they may not be able to carry me. Ah well, ride what you feel comfortable on, I too cannot get on a 14.2hh from the ground (well I think I haven't tried really becuase I am scared of hurting horse or tack by leaning and pulling on them!) Hope that helps a little. :D
 
I'm 5'2" but very inflexible so I am only comfortable on 14.2hh. I rode a 15.2hh (i think thats how tall she is...!) and OMG she was wayyy too wide for me, perhaps this was becuase she was a cob? But I am overweight, so I can't ride a spindley narrow but tall horse, as they may not be able to carry me. Ah well, ride what you feel comfortable on, I too cannot get on a 14.2hh from the ground (well I think I haven't tried really becuase I am scared of hurting horse or tack by leaning and pulling on them!) Hope that helps a little. :D
 
I am just 5"3 and cant manage anything over 15.2 - literally! i tried out a 15.3 once and had to get off as i couldnt sit it!
jerry is very big strided though and its taken me a good year to get used to him as my other 15.2 is pony strided.

horses are powerful animals and i like to have the least amount of horsepower under as possible!:p
 
I'm 5ft1 and I have a 16hh welsh sec d x tb who I ride daily, a 17hh appalloosa stallion who is at stud but gets driven/riden a few times a month by me and a 15.3hh cob mare who my mum (who's 5ft3) rides.

So long as you can use your leg/seat aides effectively and are strong enough/you have control I think it matters not.

Although with my gelding Ace, he is one strong boy and I found circut training and a few light weights twice a week keep me strong and fit enough to handle him. I'd reccommend that to all riders though!


Who cares that I look like a pea on him lol!
 
Hi,
im 5'2" too i love it as I can ride anything from 13.2 upwards ;-) I dont think theres a height limit. At a comp a few weeks back siog pulled off a shoe so I rode on of the school horses who is 17hh i looked v small but I was fine on him. Im jumping /schooling it wont matter after all a horses height doesnt indicate his behaviour or manner siog is pnly 14.2 and harder to hold that any bigger horse I have been on. The only thing is in dressage or showing you can look 'overhorsed' on a bigger horse.
 
I'm 5'4'' and my horse is a 16.3hh draft cross HW, but I manage fine, with the help of mounting blocks!

(oh, apart from the dirty stripe along the top of his bum where I can't reach to brush!)
 
I'm 5'4'' and the biggest I've ridden has been 16.2hh, I used to ride a light-middleweight gelding and a middle-heavy weight mare and I liked riding both of them and felt comfortable (even though it took me ages to get used to their stride because the biggest I'd ever ridden was a 14.2hh before that!) but jumping them was way easier than jumping ponies because they just dwarfed fences that seem big when your on a pony lol.
about getting on from the ground, even if I am able to mount a horse/pony from the ground I still prefer to use a mounting block/wall/ditch/beer keg whatever, just so I can swing my leg over without actually using the stirrup to get up unless I have to because I don't like dragging on the horses back.....
 
I am 5ft4 and a few years ago i rode an 18hh horse. I was probably only about 5ft at the time though.
I rode him for about 20mins to his field ... oh i forgot to mention i was riding him bareback aswell.


I dont think size matters really just depends on the horse and if you can handle riding the horse.
 
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