Height for horse for a 5'7 girl?

Question

I care for horses and take lessons and have descided to get my own horse. I'm thinking about a Peruvian Paso, but I'm not to sure how tall I want him/her (can't descide) to be.

I'm 5'7, what's a good height?

Answer 1

i'm 5'7 as well but cos i'm tall and skinny i either look huge on the middle height horses or tiny on the slightly larger ones. my horse is a TB and is 15.1 ish and i look a bit tall on her through my upper body so i'd say 16hh ish but temperament and suitability is a big factor too (:

Answer 2

im the same height and I like horses around 16.2. but that might just be preference

Answer 3

The horse's height should not really matter. The thing is that they are strong enough to hold you.  I work at a therapeutic riding center and  we have a Haflinger pony that we put adults on. She is shorter than 14 hands and when an adult rider is on her, they do look in proportion with her because she is so wide. I personally think anything that is 14.3 hands or larger would work perfectly fine.

Answer 4

well im 5'5 and my mare is 15.1hh and she fits me quite well. so i'd say anywhere from that to 16hh would be good

Answer 5

You don't need a 16hh horse.  People seem to think they need huge horses and that's just not true.  Horses can carry a lot of weight.  I think anything 15hh or taller would be appropriate.  You CAN ride something smaller, but you might look a little funny on it :)

Answer 6

I am 5'4 and I have two horses one 16.0 and he works good but I prefer larger horses. my other is  about 16.4 and works a lot better sometime though it depends on the types of riding you do I do barrel racing and my taller horse Is as tall as i would go with barrels how ever jumping I might wanna go a lil taller.

Answer 7

Those are pretty horses. You could probably get away with one that's as short as around 15.2 but you'd probably look weird riding him. You'd probably need one at least around 16hh to look right. I'd go ride some horses that are different heights and get someone to take a pic of u on them so u can see which height u look best on.

Good luck with your (soon to be) new horse!

Answer 8

I'm 5ft 7 and I won't ride anything under 16 hh

Answer 9

you should see what horses you are riding now and ask your unstructor what horses she thinks will suit you

Answer 10

Peruvian Paso, if ur a beginer strong caution because they are so high spited and spooke at everthing, i dont care how much time you spend with them. But that is besides the point for your height a horse 15 hands and up (but to high) would be ok.

Answer 11

I'm 5'6" and prefer horses 16hh+.  It really depends on your personal preference, though.

Answer 12

You dont need a horse in the 16hh area. Im 5'7 and my morse is 14.2. But thats is a little short. It depends on if the horse is stocky. Mine is so she works fine. For you I would say something in the 15h-15.3 Good sized.

Answer 13

im only 5'1''  my horses that i ride are 14.3hh, 15.1hh, 15.2hh, and 15.3hh(i have 7 horses, two are babies, so i ride 5 of them, all of them are different heights except 2 of them are 15.3hh)  however, the three i ride the most are 14.2hh, 15.2hh, and 15.3hh, i prefer taller horses though, the 14.3hh is mostly a traiol horse, and so is the 15.3hh, i use the 15.2hh, and i am rather short as i told u, so, for u, probably anything over 15.3hh, at least

Answer 14

Height itself isn't so much a primary concern as breed.  Generally, you'd probably need to sit down with your instructor or someone with horse buying experience, and think about what your goals are in terms of purchasing a horse.  Will a Peruvian Paso suit your needs? Are you going to trail ride? Show? Jump?  While I think many horses can be versatile and   good all-around mounts, some riding disciplines are more suited to certain breeds than others.

Height in itself has a great deal of variation between individuals of many breeds; I've certainly seen small Quarter Horses and large Arabians, and plenty in between.  So there should be a range of individual horses in whatever breed you should be most interested in to choose from.  Some breeds are more predisposed to smaller sizes, but there should be plenty of choice.

That said, the tricky thing asking about height on a message board/forum/Yahoo Answers, etc. is that height preference is so subjective.  It's really based on personal preference; you'd have people who would only want to ride big horses, and people who only would want to ride small horses.  For myself, I actually downsized.  My first horse was a 15.3 TB gelding, and I had him 12 years.  After he died, and I finally was ready to look around for a new horse, not only had I grown a good 4 or 5 inches taller, but my riding focus had shifted from jumping to trail riding.  Suddenly, I didn't want a bigger horse.  Smaller was better for me (closer to the ground, could avoid trees easier, easier to mount and dismount on trails, etc.) so I went out to find a horse that suited me.

Now, I'm 5'6" so not much smaller than you, but I didn't want a horse over 15 hands.  My Haflinger gelding is 14.1, built like a tank, and is so broad with a wide enough barrel that he takes up my leg amazingly well.  He's perfect for what I wanted.

I'd suggest trying a lot of different horses, in all ranges and sizes.  Some of the stockier breeds like a Haflinger or a cob (or British native pony) might be better suited to you if they were smaller, but then some of the leaner TB type breeds might be better suited if they were taller.  It's really all about personal preference, and what you feel comfortable with.

Answer 15

I have a 16*1 aqha and a 15*2 aqha and they fit me fine im 5*7 I also look gud on a 14*3 but it depends on the type of horse u want do u look right on him and does he fit you

Answer 16

I'm 5'7 and my horse is 16.1. I would say anything 16+ should be fine for you. My younger horse is only 15.2, and although he has no trouble carrying me, I look huge on him, so I had to lease him out to a kid :(

Answer 17

Actually, the height should be your last concern, but I would say this to you:  my husband is 5'10" and rides a 15 hand TWH.  It seems like a really good fit.  My nephew, on the other hand, who is 6' and maybe a little, rode my American Gaited pony who is 14.2 and he didn't look too odd.

Are you going to use him for something where his height could be an advantage?

They have a really nice Peruvian Paso at the Kentucky Horse Park.  I think he was only 15 maybe 15.2.

Answer 18

It is more important to pick a horse on what kind of job you need it for.  What discipline are you taking lessons for?

Answer 19

I'm 5'7 too. I live on a ranch and we have 45 horses, 8 are mine and they are all in the 16 hh

Answer 20

i'm 5'6'' and the horse i ride is 17.2

but then i also have a 14 hand QH mare

and a 9 hand pony lol

and a couple others all different sizes

do you have extra long legs??

or just a normal 5'7'' ?

i'd say anything 15.2 - 18 hands is good for you!

Answer 21

It depends, do you plan on showing? Because judges don't like to see riders that are too big for their mounts.

If you do, I'd say 15.3+

If you don't, I think you could probably manage a 15h horse though you might look a tiny bit funny.

Answer 22

Probably somewhere around 15.3/16.1. I wouldn't worry about the height so much as the individual horse. I'm 5'9 and have ridden many different zie horses (even a 13.2hh pony....my feet were almost on the ground LoL). All of them were fine for me, and the best rides were on the best tempered horses.