Pony Power, Little Big Horses?

[Lynette Helgeson <helgeson@lansford.ndak.net>]

I have a 13.3 pony. It is a beautiful pinto half arab and half
pony. I originally started to train this pony to ride for my
children who have taken over riding our purebred arabs. I
figured maybe I could get one of my arabs back. Problem is, the
more I ride this pony, the more I fall in love with this little
guy. He is a beautiful little powerhouse, does not know that he
is small and can out walk and out shine even the biggest of
horses. He is very willing to do whatever I ask and has the
biggest heart I have every encountered in such a small package.
The thing is I am not a small person. I am 5'9" and have been
asked if my feet get wet when we go through water. Actually I
like his height, easier to get up on then those 15+ arabs I
have, esp with my bad knees. 

The question that I have for you pony riders, is why is it that
when I am up on this little guy do I feel like I am on a big
horse! He does not feel like a pony, he feels like a lot of
horse! I have ridden a lot of ponies over the years and I feel
this way on any of them that I have had. If fact if I am going
to check and fix fence I will ride one of the ponies over the
bigger horses. A pony will quietly stand and eat grass while you
are working on the fence, whereas, my bigger guys will whinny
and worry about were the other horses are. 

So what is it about ponies that make them feel so big when you
are on their backs? What gives them all of that strength? When I
get on a 3 year old pony for the first time, they have no
problem carrying my weight, they take right off. But when I get
on a three year old horse for the first time, they can't seem to
figure out how to walk and carry me around on their back. Not so
with ponies. I have a friend who is smaller then me and she
rides a 13.3 hand mare. She has been told by people that she
looks stupid on that little horse. I guess I never even thought
about it much until this past weekend when I rode the little guy
on a trail ride and took so much grief for riding him. But my
size and weight never bothered Cloud Dancer one bit. And we were
going up and down hills for 15 miles. He is three and I have
only been on his back about 5 times. But he handled it better
then any other 3 year old that I have trained. So why is that?
Can anyone explain this to me, so maybe next time I can defend
my riding this little big horse? (I suppose some day I am going
to have to turn him over to my kids, but for know he is green
and needs an experienced rider, so too bad kids, because I get
to ride him for a while :)

Lynette


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