Confidence and size of horses?

I think when things are going well size doesn't bother most people, but if things start to go wrong I've noticed that a lot of people lose confidence more quickly on a big horse (by big I'm not just talking height but bulk too). It's the sheer power & casual strength that can be daunting, and big horses aren't always that much slower in their reactions than little ponies!

On Little Un - 14.2 welsh cob - I know that I can hold him, pull him up if I need to & that he'd have to put in some serious effort to unseat me. Jim - 16.2 ID - is much much harder to hold if excited or upset, I never want to be in a position where I need to pull him up (I try hard to avoid it, rides are planned with military precision) & has enough power that unseating a rider is no effort at all for him & in fact he's done so accidentally more than once. If Jim was Little Un's size he'd still be quirky but he'd be a whole lot easier, if Little Un was Jim's size then God help us all - he's a poppet but welsh cob attitude with ID power :timebomb::help:. On the ground an awful lot of people seem intimidated by Jim's size & bulk but are perfectly happy around Little Un, yet I'd say 95% of the time Jim is the easier one to handle - the remaining 5% is probably best not discussed :giggle:
 
I don't think size matters. My grey evie is 15.1 but huge and powerful. When she goes its like sitting on a very big engine with no brakes or seat belt, you can feel the power coming up from behind but I feel totally safe on her because she is so safe and sane. Cherie the black one is small 14.1 but if she has a mind she can scare me witless. I have ridden all types of horses large and small, I think it depends on the individual personality of the horse/pony whether you feel safe or not. Even the tiniest pony is stronger than us humans. Go with what you 'feel' is right, loads to chose. Some Connies are great, other can be right b...ers:giggle:
 
Just to add, my confindence is so bad I very very rarely ride anything that isen't one of my own. I know my horses inside out, I worry about other peoples, are they schooled? will they flap at this or that? stuff like that, its crazy. Riding school horses are a no no for me. I have worked on yards and been subject to riding the 'new ones' OMG one day we could be sorting them out the next riding school managers/owners would be putting begineers on them. No thanks. It really scares me, I am a very compitent rider and have and can cope with most, yes even the 'nutters' but not by choice. I am very wary these days, not because of anything that has happened to me but it really worries me what they might do to others. I once had a 'nutter' on loan at working livery, BHS approved school and all that. He was mad (even by my standards) one day I rode him he was fine, next day they stuck a 13 year old on him (not a bad rider) and he literally chucked her into the railings of the out door school, took off for no reason chucked, he knew what he was doing. Poor girl had broken ribs and a sorts. I was away a few days at the time so very experienced rider got on him next day and he sent her packing too. I got on him and he tried the same trick, no chance (his name was chance I wonder why?) I worked him out of it but they still put him back in the school, mad or what. I gave up the loan as I felt it was totally irresponsible to put him in the school
 
My 2 criollos are both 14.3 and that's plenty big enough for me. I'm getting so creaky I doubt I could get on anything bigger, and it's a confidence booster to be able to get on from the ground, even if one of them tends to dance around a bit when I'm mounting when we are out. Sometimes they look really small when I'm handling them, but once I'm on they feel just right. I'm 5 ft 7, and my OH is 6ft, and he occasionally rides one of the boys.
Just a point here - western horses tend to be much smaller anyway, and it doesn't seem to be an issue. I guess you wouldn't want to be leaping off a 16.2+ at a gallop to wrestle a cow to the ground.
 
I must say my ideal preference is a small compact horse/pony? So easy to get on and once you are there, just as big/fast as a horse and comfy too but with shorter legs.

My 'pony' is extremelly comfy, she has great strides, nothing short or choppy big neck big shoulders (big arse:giggle:) ok she wouldn't make a show jumper but depends what you want. She would easy take me anywhere I want to go and try her hardest (once she realises I know better than her which is an ongoing issue, we are like two sisters lol and sometimes shes right!)

Its still about finding the horse to suit I think:smile:
 
I have had huge confidence issues in the past, but the horses that I have always bonded with have been really big. My old shire horse was 16.2hh and built like a tank, and my Ben is at least 16hh (really must measure him) and equally chunky.

It's always been the smaller ones that I have found difficult.
 
With a big horse it takes time to get the bulk on the move so you can feel it coming. It's in slow motion. With a smaller horse they don't have a lot of their own bulk to shift so when they do buck, spin, shy bounce or whatever it's so quick you never felt or knew it was coming.
 
Hmmm interesting question, I don't think for me personally it's a height issue, I know from experience that a panic striken TB going hell for leather backwards, rearing, spinning and bucking I found alot more scary than my much smaller Haffy legging it up the road, she can move but she has so far never done anything that makes me get back to the yard with jelly legs or wanting to throw up, whereas Oscar my TB used to do that frequently, for me it's the fact that Oscar had four hundred years of breeding to produce an amazingly quick, sharp and reactive horse, who once he got his nickers in a twist was impossible for me to calm down and would explode like a bottle of pop where Belle is much more level headed and possibly due to her bulk slower to react and definately not sharp.
I've ridden lots of tall horses over the years in fact one regular I used to ride age 12 was a 17hh Clydie X Percheron driving horse who was a saint, all of them bar Oscar were Shire's, Clydies or other 'heavies' all of whom I felt safe on, so for me it's more about the horses personality and physical make up rather than the height. I just find getting on and off much easier on somehting smaller now too.
 
There are some breeds that are perhaps a bit livelier than others i suppose, but in my experience size doesnt come into it. I am old enough to remember the Clydesdales on the farms and at age 10 or 11 i was sent by an old farmer to spread dung off the back of a box cart with a big Clydie called prince. I couldnt lift the head collar over his head but that horse was as calm as could be. Looking back i thought i was working him but in fact it was the other way about, he knew exactly where he was going and how many steps he should take to stop for me to pull off some dung with a dung hawk. He would plod away all day never complain and had other kids climbing all over his back, hanging of his ears and tail but he just stood there, i think he liked the attention. But by then the tractors had practically taken over and i remember my grandad saying it was the end of the world and he was glad he was to old to work anymore as he didnt want to sit on a machine all day, you cant talk to a bloody machine he used to tell all us youngsters, we thought he was bonkers all that hard work with horses, but now i am not so sure and he may have had a point.
 
That's a really good question. There was a time where I wouldn't go near anything over 16hh. No particular reason just I seemed to feel that the bigger they were the longer there was to fall! Then I started riding a Clydesdale and bigger cob types and my confidence grew so I'd pretty much sit on any height depending on temperament! There are still heights and builds of horses I feel more comfortable with (I'd rather a heavy hunter/ native/ cob than a TB and 18.2hh is getting a bit too big hahaha!) I have known a few other people who are reluctant to get on taller horses. Think it's all just psychological really...

Scariest encounters I ever had were being galloped off with by a 14.1hh pony and an 18.2hh Shire X beast deciding that it wasn't a lesson it was a rodeo! They can be eejits regardless of size unfortunately.
 
For riding I have been more scared by and 'dismounted rapidly' from a lot of quick reacting smaller ones than big ones however if a horse misbehaves on the ground I feel much more confident with the little ones... I think it is the ability to see over/round them that helps!!

I find as I have got older I prefer smaller if only for ease of getting on or off. Not all Connies are sharp, you rode my saintly Misty and he was one of many I had in the RS, yes they are quick and intelligent but the good ones will work with you!
 
agree with EML - being able to see over them is a bonus!

i have no qualms doing the 'pony tackle', snatch&grab, headlock of bridleness .... you get the picture ... with the smaller equine. but ask me to try and get a 16hh to behave on the ground and i get all 'uhm .... someone! help!'
 
Tina2011 said:
I must say my ideal preference is a small compact horse/pony? So easy to get on and once you are there, just as big/fast as a horse and comfy too but with shorter legs.
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I have one of these too!

I don't mind much about the size, but seeing Tommy the TB knock his owner around as if she was a horsefly, not because he was being bad, just because he was anxious, made me realise quite how powerful they are, and he is just 16hh.
 
carthorse said:
I think when things are going well size doesn't bother most people, but if things start to go wrong I've noticed that a lot of people lose confidence more quickly on a big horse (by big I'm not just talking height but bulk too). It's the sheer power & casual strength that can be daunting, and big horses aren't always that much slower in their reactions than little ponies!
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People are surprised when i say the cob is only 14.1hh, her sheer bulk having Shire in her means she is one strong young lady. Getting my legs round is already interesting and she is only 4 and i have long legs. :bounce:
 
newforest said:
People are surprised when i say the cob is only 14.1hh, her sheer bulk having Shire in her means she is one strong young lady. Getting my legs round is already interesting and she is only 4 and i have long legs. :bounce:
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I suppose it depends on what you mean by big! We have tall TBs on the yard but I find hard to think of them as big, they're more like a well stretched 14.2:giggle:, but my 16.2 ID is a big horse & his bulk & presence makes him look taller than he is - may people find him daunting despite the act that he's a gentleman. What surprises me is when a few people have thought my 14.2 welsh cob is big - really?!?!

I do wonder when people say big horses are slower off the mark though. I can promise you that Jim has, on more than one occassion, done something that left me thinking "what the heck happened there?", trust me the fabled slow motion movement & warnings that people believe they have with a big horse are a fairy story! There is the advantage that with more horse under & around you it can be easier to sit though (unless the intent is to get you off, then power dooms you), little ponies just seem to have nothing to sit behind & so it's easier to go out the side door.
 
There is the advantage that with more horse under & around you it can be easier to sit though (unless the intent is to get you off, then power dooms you), little ponies just seem to have nothing to sit behind & so it's easier to go out the side door.
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Good points, power can often be your downfall on a big, powerful horse. I'd rather sit a smaller narrower horse as legs act as a counter balance to hold you on. (unless you are self concious and taken your stirrups up to jockey level and have a chair seat) If you ride a small, narrow horse, with a long leg, in spite of there bing nothing infront or behind you I find you can sit most spins as your leg keeps you anchoured.

You know what I don't like, it's not the size, it's not the breed, it's the manners. A nasty little pony is enough to knock the confidence of anyone as is a bolshy big horse. ANY horse can be a confidence giver. But it's easy to overhorse yourself with a sharp little pony as it is to over horse yourself with a 17hh monster.

I'd been out driving the team of 17hh horses with my driving instructor, I am used to handling SHetlands and Icelandics, nothing bigger than 14hh. I took all 4 down the the field and let them out one at a time. Walking down the road with two rope in one hand and two in the other, safe as houses. Manners gives confidence, not size.
 
First of all - I salute your bravery being run away with in full gallop! To address your question, because I'm tall and well-built, I've only ever ridden big horses. The smallest horse I ever rode was a 15hh sturdy little cob - who was built like a barrel!!! I must say, I feel quite safe and comfortable on big horses, having observed the behaviour of some of the naughty little ponies!
 
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