Size Matters

When it comes to horses, anyway.
Today I'm going to show you these horse/rider combinations:

• Pony with a large rider
• Pony with a small rider

• Horse with a small rider
• Horse with a large rider

Let me forewarn you though, the size is definitely not the only thing wrong in the "bad" pictures. You can look forward to the idiocy only usually seen on Craigslist and Youtube. I'm talking huge teenagers on tiny ponies, or 1 year old babies stuck in the saddle of a massive QH. Oh yes, idiocy abounds.

Let's start with ponies. 

The first one is an example of when kids on ponies is a bad idea for all involved. I see it all the time, big kids on little Shetlands, no tack whatsoever. It's not cute, it's dangerous to your child and painful for the pony. You are too freaking big for that pony, get off the poor thing!

The pony's expression says it all.

And here is a small pony with a small rider. 

Oh look, it's in appropriate tack! I never thought I would see the day. Cute horse wearing nice, well-fitting tack, with a size-appropriate rider who has obviously been given lessons. Why can't all ponies be as well cared for as this little guy?

Now some people out there would say "That's unfair, because obviously in the second picture they have more money to spend on their pony, gear and lessons". Is that so? Ok, consider this:

Don't buy a pony if you can't afford to look after it.

Saying no to buying a pony for your child is not being a bad parent- it is being a sensible person. If you cannot afford riding lessons with an accredited trainer, safe and humane tack, and a suitable horse/pony, then you shouldn't buy one. Keep in mind, children grow really, really fast! What are you going to do when your child outgrows their tiny Shetland pony? What if it happens in less than a year and you feel like you haven't got your "moneys worth"? Let the kid ride it anyway and cripple it?

Let's move on to horses. This is another one I see way too much of: little kids on big horses. Make it even more dangerous with this common combination: little kid on a big, hot-tempered horse. Great.

This video says it all. The child's feet are obviously tied in to the stirrups, the horse is way too big, and way too strong for her. Add that to the fact she has no helmet and zero control over the horse, and you have an accident waiting to happen. Which it does.

Here we have a similar situation in that a little girl is on a horse with no helmet, no tack and another child underneath the horse, about to get trampled. Now I don't care how safe you say this horse is, every horse can, and will have a freak-out moment. Do you want that moment to be while your children are on and under the horse with no protective gear on? I think not.

And then we have a horse with a rider that is size-appropriate, in quality tack. Hooray!

All I want you to take away from today's blog is this: If you are too big for a horse/pony, don't ride it! If all you can afford is a horse/pony that you are too big, or too small for, then don't buy it! If you can't afford proper tack and lessons, don't buy a horse! It's common sense people, please, use it!