Usually riding ponies... then suddenly riding a horse!

[Holly B]

Has anyone ever gone for years and years riding ponies then suddenly got on a horse and thought AGGGGHHHHH! I have :D . My sister's friend went riding with us and we swopped ponies/horses and I had a go on her loan horse who is.... duun duun duuuuun! 15.2hh! When I learnt to ride from when I was 6 to when I got my own pony aged 10 I happpily rode horses and ponies from 12hh to 16.2hh without a problem! But when I got on her horse, who isn't exactly a giant, I was practically dizzy from being so high up :rolleyes: :D . It must be 6 years since I rode anything bigger than 14hh! (My pony is 14hh and my sister's pony who I ride nearly as often as my own is 13.2hh). I'm definitely a pony rider through and through! Another thing I couldn't get used to was the really long strides, I forgot how short and round a pony's stride is! Normally I have to rise really fast when I'm trotting so it felt odd to have to do it slowly! :) So, which of you pony riders only really like ponies and find riding horses difficult and who makes the transition without any bother at all? My sister can ride anything of any height whilst I'm pretty much stuck between 13.2hh and 14.2hh, I don't like anything bigger or smaller. :)

[XdenbyX]

Im a pony rider too but at the moment iv been riding our 14.3hh gypsy vanner due to my 13hh Welsh C having a bad leg.:( but whenever iv bin riding my 13hh and iv got on my cob iv felt like its one giant gap.I feel really high up!!!!:p

[notpoodle]

haha! the fund ends at 14hh for me! and ive been exlusively riding my dinky 12.3hh pony for two years now. sat on a friends 15hh 'device' briefly last summer ... i felt like i was on some kind of battleship! helpless and way too high up! i might have a go on said horse again though as my pony is ill at the moment and friend generously said i could take her horse (HORSE!) for a spin whenever i like.

i also have a threat looming from a work colleague who is sharing an 18hh clydesdale - she's hellbent on getting me on there :rolleyes:

Julia
x

[Holly B]

18hh Clydesdale? The very thought brings me out in a cold sweat! :D :eek:

[notpoodle]

yes! same here! mind you, she seemed pretty docile when i met her. i even managed to lunge her briefly - although i quickly discovered that the 'rugby tackle' (ie little pony on the lunge ambles into the middle, you leap up and err shove them back out) does NOT work on such a giant :D

Julia
x

ps: i think what ill do is clamber on, have an evidential picture taken and clamber off again asap before the beastie swings into any sort of motion :D

[carrieh]

My friend has said I can ride her Irish Draught mare, who stands around 15.3hh, but I haven't yet summoned up the courage. Which is silly, because said ID mare used to be mine years ago and I backed her at 4 years old. She's now 17.

The mare seems such a long way up, having become used to a 13.1hh Fell pony - or should I say, a long way to FALL off! :D Being a purebred ID she is also built like a tank and is very wide, and I'm not sure about getting my tiny legs around her!

[Kat8Tootsie]

my horse is actually a pony lol i measured her this summer and last and i had thought she was jus shy of 14hh but i was wrong shes barely 14.3hh LOL but my friends has a 17.1hh QH that Ive ridden many times and when i get off im like O SWEET GROUND!!!!!! :D

[Kazzen]

I had to laugh when I read this thread, cos I'm the other way round! I'm really tall and always feel terrified and totally out of sync with anything under about 16hh.

In retrospect, I think this is because I had my worst fall from a 12.3hh pony when I was younger, we were cantering pretty fast and he slid in a squelchy patch, I tried to shift my weight to help him re-balance and succeeded in making him fall over and land on top of me :eek:

I like the attitude of ponies, but their wee strides terrify me! Anyone else the same, or am I the only weird one?

[notpoodle]

@ kazzen: beware the evil pony :D you might find it easier trying a brick-sh*t-house type pony - much easier to balance :D

Julia
x

[Kazzen]

heh heh......maybe one day! I tell you though, I had NIGHTMARES about that animal for weeks.... he just scrambled up(squashing me a bit more for good measure I think) and then wandered off to graze, looking back over his shoulder with one mad-looking wall eye, as if to say How did you manage that? To be fair I prob could have just walked off, instead of letting him topple and crush me! He was teeny and I was 5ft 11, even then. :D

I had to get back on (as only way back to the yard) but had to be lifted off and couldn't walk for a week!