A pony is anything under 14.2 right?
But 'anything' under 14.2 is not what is being suggested. Very specific breeds - which just do not 'happen' over 14.2, and which are specifically bred with the conformation suitable for weight-carrying and taking-up leg - are being recommended.
If you're looking for an equine companion for yourself and hubby to be in regular work for some years, I would suggest going over the 14.2 threshold and looking for something with good bone around the 15hh mark.
The problem is that you don't get real weight-carrying native breeds at 15hh. Welsh Sec Ds are apt to get leggy and less 'solid' when their height increases; the old-fashioned steady types - not the more showy types - are usually around 14hh from what I have seen.
It is all well and good that a smaller native could carry 16 stone for an hours riding a week. Long term, lets say you own this horse for the next 10 years of its life, the possible damage caused does not outweigh the benefit.
If a native such as a Fell, Dales or Highland could only carry 16 stone for an hour's ride once a week, they wouldn't be much good for the purposes for which they were AND STILL ARE used and bred, with active working lives into the high teens/early twenties and longer.
Carrying stags is all well and good, but these stags don't clamber on board the horse, putting a foot in one stirrup and hauling themselves up there. They are placed, with no added strain, into the saddle/carrier.
You are clearly unaware of the much greater difficulty that carrying a dead weight presents to a horse, the topography of the countryside and the footing below, over which the stags must be carried.
Being short myself I can sympathise with the getting on and off. But IMO if you are fit enough to ride a horse you are fit enough to get on board unaided also. Be it from a wall or gate or whatever takes your fancy. I am 5ft1 and have owned a 17.2.
Try finding a wall or gate or whatever takes your fancy in miles of trackless open moorland, or on a beach.
Try it 20 years or so post-menopause, when osteoporosis, hormones and natural wear-and-tear has reduced your height by an inch or so, and you have arthritis in your back, your knees, your shoulders and your hips ... you'll still be plenty fit enough to ride - in fact riding and swimming might be the only exercises with which you are still totally comfortable - but will dream of a portable hoist to get you on and off - or a shrinking horse!
Any tack fitting problems (and lets face it, horses change shape throughout the year) are going to be magnified if the weight in the saddle is higher too. A tiny tot riding about in an ill fitting saddle will not do as much damage as a 16stone man for example.
Another issue to take into consideration is that of the rider's ability. A horse or pony can carry a balanced heavier person more easily than a lighter unbalanced person.
True - and no-one would argue with this.
BUT the smaller the horse/pony and the taller the rider (on average men are taller than women) increases the centre of gravity and the whole set up will be more unbalanced.
I'm not sure what you mean by " increases the centre of gravity ". The centre of gravity doesn't have a size, it has a position. And which or whose centre of gravity? What 'set up' is more unbalanced - and 'more unbalanced' than what?
It is not *just* the size of the horse/pony but also the conformation which needs to be considered.
Exactly - a very important point, and that is why the Highland, Fjord, Fell and similar types are being recommended. They have, generally, EXACTLY the type of conformation which is required for weight-carrying ability.
As a personal opinion, I would not like to see a 16 stone rider on anything below 14.2 for regular work..
Of course you are entitled to your personal opinion. but you would see a lot that you don't like if you went to any of the many shows where large native ponies are exhibited in ridden performance classes. There are many things I don't like to see, but I have to put up with the sight, or look away.
) Frances! The OH won't let me have anymore & I can't possibly get rid of Jim or Little Un (who's starting to look like a proper Sec D now & quite misnamed except when stood next to Jim 
) but everytime you put up pictures like these I start getting itchy fingers because they're so cute. So please just STOP IT 
