Am i too heavy???????????????

Question

im 90 pounds and 4'11''. i have a shetland pony that is 6 years old and about 10 hh. shes a tin y litle shtland! i am wanting to use her for pony rides but she isnt trained and when i put a 7 year old experienced rider on her it wasnt pretty. when asked to go into the trot she took off bucking like a rodeo horse! i need to ride her because i am the smallest person that is experienced enough to put her through some training. idk if im to heavy though! im anxious to know. im going to contact the vet and ask his opinion also.

Answer 1

I dont want to be mean or anything but unless ur under 10 right now u weigh waaayyy to much to still be on a shetland pony! you should try to get a real horse that can support the weight, no offense. hope this helps!!!

Answer 2

to the first poster- too heavy is over 60 pounds!! I don't think so... I have heard adults riding ponies and the ponies don't seem to mind. Horses and ponies are strong... (though don't get me wrong.. I wouldn't constantly have an adult riding a pony...) but someone over 60 pound can ride a pony... remember, ponies go up to 14'2hh;)

10hh sounds a little small for you, I mean if she doesn't mind you getting on and riding her, then by all means, train her. If its the only way she can be trained then its probably not going to hurt her. I would contact your vet just in case, because 10hh is a bit small to be ridin by someone whos 90 pounds.

Answer 3

If she has a short back, you should be fine. You're tiny (no offense- I would love to be that small so I could ride a pony), so you should be ok.

Answer 4

I personally don't think ponies should be ridden unless by small children.

They're backs, and other joints can be permanently damaged by someone riding them who is too big. I wouldn't put anyone over 60 pounds on a pony, but even then it's a stretch :/

Answer 5

You are not too heavy. We rented ponies for a party and they were like smaller thank ten hands and the weight limit is like 110. I went on and I was like four pound over the limit. I'm not someone who just rented a pony so you know. I jump. Been doing it for a while.

Answer 6

You shouldn't be too heavy for her.  One thing to watch out for - you will have very little horse in front of you, so when she starts bucking, you might find it hard to stay on.  Do you know what you're doing with training?  Are you being helped by an actual trainer or instructor?  As you found out with the 7 year old, you can't just hop on an untrained pony and "train" it.  You must go through certain steps of training before getting on and trotting away.  You might also want to reconsider using her for pony rides, if she could possibly act up at all and hurt someone's kid (then they decide to sue your parents).

Answer 7

You should be fine as long as the pony hasn't had any injuries that could cause her to have trouble carrying you.  And if nothing else, just get on and see how she carries you.  You might be surprised how much weight a Shetland can carry.

Answer 8

Don't you worry about a thing. I am full grown and an adult. I am thin but not really really really skinny. I run a horse business, I am a trainer, a rider, etc, etc. One farm I work at has a small shetland pony. The first time the owner asked me to exercise it so it will behave for her kids I thought she was kidding. She was not and she said she would be fine. Mind you personally, I don't like riding ponies. Well.. Let me tell you that pony can carry me just fine. Goes around and even bucks when she is feeling happy go lucky. So the answer to your question is no you are not too heavy. I cannot remember what exactly my vet said but their is a specific weight a horse can carry verses weight and size and I know you are not near the max. Have fun and be careful Sounds like a naughty pony. :-)