Regarding the Horses in our lives...

[casportpony]

FWIW, in this picture I'm 140 pounds on a 21 year old 13 hand pony, and he would have no trouble with someone heavier.

​

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Here:
Quote:
To put that into perspective, my pony was a stout 700 pounds, so he was carrying just over 20% of his body weight if you include the saddle.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Here's another pony (not mine).


He's 13.2 hands and about 700 pounds. I believe that he was ridden by experienced riders that weighed more than 140, but probably not more that 160.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Here is an 11.2 hand 500 pound pony that could carry me at 140 pounds on the flat, but not over fences.


-Kathy

 

[Bunnylady]

My concern about the snowcap is her build. I have a 14 hand QH that I'd have no problem putting my 6 ft tall husband on; she's stocky and solid with good sized feet. I know cutting horses are usually on the smallish side; as are polo ponies. It's just that this filly is pretty narrow, and there isn't much depth to her body; I'd be surprised if she weighs more than 600 - 650 lbs.

As I said, she's just shy of 3 years old. Her 15-year-old owner has been riding her for about 6 months; the shadow of the first payment had hardly crossed the breeder's palm before the girl was on the horse's back. Recently she told me that she's been jumping her over sections of telephone pole that are lying in the pasture. The adult I've mentioned is the 15-year-old's grandmother; for all of her enthusiasm, she hardly knows one end of a horse from the other but is eager to start taking the filly on trail rides.

I'd heard the 20% rule before; my understanding has been that it applies to mature, fit animals. I know another adult that was being pressured by the breeder to start riding this filly when she had just turned 2 (you can sell 'em for more if you can say they have been ridden, don't ya know), but this other adult, though barely over 100 lbs herself, declined because she was afraid of doing damage to the filly's growing bones.

The grandmother keeps coming to me for advice; my advice was to buy a good, solid, been-there-done-that for a family horse. Instead, she bought this filly, and her granddaughter (who knows everything there is to know about horses - after all, she had, like, 6 lessons when she was 9) has been training her. I feel like I'm watching a train wreck in slow motion. Am I, or am I just being alarmist?

 

[casportpony]

Are you thinking about buying her?

I've started many three year old ponies, but never jumped them at that age... for jumping I wait until they are four.

You could be watching a train wreck in motion, but they might do okay. I started of completely unsupervised and didn't have a lesson until I was in my 20's. Did I make mistakes, am I lucky to be alive, you bet, lol.

-Kathy

 

[Bunnylady]

There are some so-called horse trainers that I wouldn't let within a mile of any animal I owned - or my child, come to that.

I don't have a problem with self-taught; there are lots of things I've had to learn on my own because I didn't have someone around to teach me. I don't deny that this girl has done well in some ways (for example, this filly had horrible ground manners when she bought her, and that is no longer an issue). The problem is, I know that she was told, more than once and by more than one person, not to start jumping the horse before it turns 4. How that gets translated into "it's OK to start jumping the horse when it's only 2, if the jump isn't really big" I don't know (never mind that a horse can get flipped hitting a solid, heavy object like a telephone pole). On one level, I'd really like to say, "I gave you my advice, and I can see that you chose not to follow it" and wash my hands of the whole deal, but whether I will it or not, I seem to still be involved with this family and their horse. The grandmother adores the horse; she has a really mellow, laid-back temperament that could make her a great family horse - in time, and if she grows big enough for more than a child to ride. My fear is that the family's eagerness to get into these activities so soon will result in the horse becoming chronically unsound before she's 10, and though the grandmother could prevent it, she won't know enough to do so. On the other hand, I am concerned that I may be unnecessarily antagonizing and possibly alienating a kid . . . .

 

[casportpony]

Here is the filly out of the gray from my last post:


-Kathy

 

[perchie.girl]

Here is the filly out of the gray from my last post:


-Kathy

Oh shes a cutie pie....

deb

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Thanks, she's super sweet with a rock solid mind!

-Kathy