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[Mels]

I am so glad that I found this site ! I'm 24 and I had a riding lesson last week. It's the first time in a long time that I have been on a horse. I had a few lessons as a 10yr old but not enough to be of any help to me now! Only recently did I make up my mind to give riding another go and I am glad I went ahead and started however did anyone else find that the horse was BIG ! All I kept thinking was "this horse it BIG!" This horse is SCARY! EEEK!
Anyway my stomach was in knots even before I got on the horse. I felt better once I got on and when I did start to relax and not think about it was nice but I'm wondering if anyone else was as scared of the horse as me I like them but is it a common thing to be scared of them? I felt much better at the end of the lesson but their size still makes me very wary I assume I'll get over it as time goes on I was just wondering if anyone found them BIG too!!!
Thanks

[Mivs]

Hi there Mel. My name is Miriam and I am 25. Started riding 3 months ago and YEs, I was afraid of how big the horse was. It led me to feel afraid of falling off . I was also afraid of approaching any of the horses at the school; You wil ifnd that quite a few people hfelt the same when they started; Now, though, I don't find the horses that big; The horse I ride is 15.2hands and he doesn't look big to me any more.... so there is hope. My biggest fear was falling off!!! So is most people who have started riding in adult hood;.. we think too much

[Leesar]

Yes I thought horses were really BIG too when I started riding and I was scared of them. This lasted for a few months. I would especially appreciate their size if I went in a stall with a horse to bring it out for a lesson or untack it. Now I don't even think of their size and one of my favourite horses to ride is one of the biggest at the stables. Its all about time!!

[Wally]

Don't worry, I've been riding for years and have lots of nags. All small, 13.2hh-14hh at to most. I went to England on a training course and was given normal big horses to ride and I thought they were BIG too, in comparison to what I normally ride. You'll get used to the gentle giants.

[Horse Girl 5000]

Yes, they can be VERY big. Just remember, YOU are in control and you will get used to the height. Once you learn more about horses you'll be less afraid. So find somemore info about them you'll be less scared.

[Emarmite]

Hi,

Yes I agree. I am 40 and have been riding for a year or so now. My stomach used to do somersaults at the thought of getting one of the big horses. I am a lot better now, and find that the bigger horses are usually better to ride, even if it is further to fall. I fell of one last week who is I think just over 16 hands, I was jumping her and she stopped dead at the second fence, but I ended up on my feet and managed to keep hold of her reins. I thought good you can fall off and not hurt yourself. It does get better I think, but I still get butterflies when I first get on a new horse, but I think that is down to my age and starting to late in life.

Anyway good look to you and keep us posted

Beverley

[random2]

i know what you mean. There is a horse at the barn I ride at who must be 16hh. Any rider who is new and rides him would be scared. Even if they did ride before. Remember, you can also be hurt on a stobborn pony sometimes more then ia calm horse. THe horse that I ride is a schoolhorse and very calm. She is a 15hh (about) horse. She is calm. One say when I was barn an adult fell of a PONY and had to go to the hospital. Candy, a (horsewould never do that but Pony did. Size does no tmatter.

[Wally]

I agree that it is easy to fall from both horse or pony. It is a tempting fate to say a horse would never do such a thing. Riding any free thinking prey animal has it's dangers.

When you say a pony what do you mean?

There is no such thing as a pony in the Icelandic language! Icelandics are all under 14.2hh though, all are refered to as horses. In Shetland you will rarely hear an old crofter call a Shetland, a pony, they are small horses.
In cockney rhyming slang a pony is £25.00!!
Polo ponies are all much bigger than anything I own.

WHAT IS A PONY! WHAT IS A HORSE?

[Allie]

Technically, ponies are anything under 14.2H. But, as you have pointed out, many breed associations and people in general, redefined it to whatever they wanted, and now it is just one big confused mess! Call your horse/pony whatever you want, and as long as it is not a 17H monster it is doubtful anyone will ever argue with you!

Allie

[Wally]

My definition is:

If a breed of horse has it's history in agriculture or industry, and was bred for hard physical work on which man's living or indeed, life depended, then is it a small horse.( Shetland Ponies were never bred for children to work with.)

If, however, the animal was specifically bred for children to learn on or to be transported by in a small trap, then this, in my humble oppinion is a pony.

I would never ride a pony, I'm 5 feet 8 and 14 stone. All the equines I ride are small horses.
Vikings rode Icelandic HORSES not ponies.

[Gill]

Interesting, Wally! Then I most certainly ride a horse as my Highland pony was bred to work and is built like a gentlemans hunter on short legs. But his character is pony..clever, far too clever for his own good I should say.
Gill

[Peace]

Hi, Mels! I too love horses, but spent about three months terrified of what these half-ton behemoths with big rocks at the ends of their legs might do to me. I'd thought that this was not helped by the horse I presently ride, who is 15.2 hh and who apparently has not read the books that say quarter horses are sweet-tempered. Although quiet under saddle, she is feisty enough on the ground to keep your reflexes sharp. Then, 3 wks ago, as I led her into her stall, a large rat was perched on her water bucket. Startled by our approach, the beast fell into the bucket and splashed around in a panic. Just as the mare moved between me and the door, the rat caught the lip of the bucket and heaved itself out onto the poor horse's face! I am proud to say she never twitched a hoof, only looked at me out of one big, brown eye (the one not covered by wet rat) and, with a sideways toss of her head, calmly flung the rodent to the floor. I suspect that, had our roles been reversed, I would not have reacted with half her aplomb. I will always be grateful to her for putting a decisive end to my fear of horses!

[Horse Girl 5000]

Hey, everyone! I thought that Icelandics were ponies and so were Shetlands! I had them in a book of mine, and they were both labeled over ponies in the magazines I read. But hey, I may be wrong, that's just what I think.

[Horse Girl 5000]

Sorry! I take that back! Icelandics are horses but Shetlands aren't.

[Mels]

Thanks for all the advice. I went to my second lesson and I found that I felt much better around the horses that I did the last time. I'll just have to keep in mind what you guys said.Thanks again.
Mels

[Wally]

Horse girl 5000,
If you come to Shetland you will rarly hear the old crofters refer to Shetlands as ponies, to them they are horses.

They may be among the smallest in the world but they are small horses, not ponies. They were never intended for children, My friends grandfather says that a good Shetland will plough all morning then carry you to Eið and back in the after noon (Eið is 12 miles away) He refers to full grown men, not kids.