Hi, I am 60kg and 5'3. I was wondering what is the smallest pony i could ride safely ? i was thinking just under 14 - what does everyone think?
What is the smallest pony I am safe to ride
- Thread starter Izzy321123
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It depends on you and the pony. As long as you're balanced my 14.1 Welsh cob would carry you with ease, heck he carries me and I weigh a fair bit more than that and am taller, and you'd look fine on him height wise too. A fine 14.1 show pony type may be less happy, but I've known some 13hh ponies that wouldn't have a problem.
I rode a connie for years and years and weigh more than you (mind you she's 15hh so not tiny). Like carthorse says there are some 13hh ponies that wouldn't have a problem depending on how they're put together. The fine show ponies are beautiful though...........sigh..............I would have loved one but need to halve my body weight! Good luck with your search anyway.
My mum's same height and weight, she used to ride a little 12.2 Exmoor. There are so many variables. She's more comfortable on 13.2 upwards but she's ridden all sorts. Depends on rider and horse fitness, tack, what riding you'll do, horses age, breed of horse, rider level and many other things I'm sure.
Yep im of similar build and i rode a 12.2 exmoor. Exmoors can carry more than a 12 hh dartmoor build though. So it really does depend on the horses build. I have a 14.1 and 14.3 both carry me fine.
That feels unreasonable to me, apart from anything else I cannot see how you could sit on one and not be putting weight behind the last rib.
@Frances144 what would be a reasonable range of bodyweight for a healthy Shetland that wasn't fat? While I do think a lot of nonsense is talked about percentages I should imagine 114kg would be a very high proportion of a Shetland's weight even if the rider could somehow sit in a position that wasn't harmful.
Oh crikey! Ummm..... an up to height 42" stallion (lots of bone), should be able to plough the field in the morning and then take a man to his next village in the afternoon - they say.
But in real life, I would say probably 8-9 stone max for an actual ride.
I think the idea of a man riding them even a short distance harks back to the days when most people were a lot smaller and lighter though, don't you? I live in a racing village and I suspect I could find a few men small enough and light enough to ride a good old fashioned one, but they're not representative of the population as a whole and you'd need at least two and a weighted saddle cloth to make 18 stone! Also the Shetlands you and Wally used to breed are, unfortunately, not typical of a lot of the Shetlands found nowadays 
By the way the new member has been banned since all posts seem to be the same and rather unsettling.
By the way the new member has been banned since all posts seem to be the same and rather unsettling.
that does seem a bit extreme 18 stone I am just under 10 stone and would only ever sit on a full to height one or let it walk around for a bit nothing moreI think the idea of a man riding them even a short distance harks back to the days when most people were a lot smaller and lighter though, don't you? I live in a racing village and I suspect I could find a few men small enough and light enough to ride a good old fashioned one, but they're not representative of the population as a whole and you'd need at least two and a weighted saddle cloth to make 18 stone! Also the Shetlands you and Wally used to breed are, unfortunately, not typical of a lot of the Shetlands found nowadays
By the way the new member has been banned since all posts seem to be the same and rather unsettling.
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