Re: RC: Pony Power

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

I have been raising welsh/arab crosses for several years and I
have yet to 
see a "pony" grow in height beyond 2 and mature anymore beyond
3. I train my
ponies to ride at three and they are  more mature then any arab
or horse at 
3 years of age. Pony stallions also are capable to breed mares
at a much
earlier age then bigger horses. This would point out that ponies
mature 
faster then other breeds of horses. You can't compare the age of
a pony
to a horse or arab. There is a big difference as far as maturity
in a 
4 year old pony compared to a 4 year old horse. 

The same holds true for dogs. At one year of age my sheltie is
done growing,
but my German Shepherd is still growing after 2 years. 

Also I have a friend that rides a pony, (arab/welsh cross) who
is 5 years old. 
I ride a 14.3 arab who is 10 years old and used for trail. We
started in January 
training for some LD rides. She lives on base, so the only place
for her to ride
is my place. I put in more miles then she did and have had
access to hills. But, her
pony is more muscled and in better shape then my arab, and my
arab was caring more
weight! When we hit our first LD, the results will be in, but I
would say right now
looking at both horses, that her pony is in better shape and
took less time to
condition then my arab. 

Of course this is just one example and there are certainly
variables, but it is my
experience. I would like to hear from others who have competed
with ponies, do you 
feel that it took less time to condition then for a bigger
horse? Any one else have
experience with this?

And I have said it before and I will say it again. Those of you
who think that it
is too hard on ponies to carry a lot of weight, or cover a lot
of miles, should 
grab one and ride it once. You are in for a BIG surprise. They
are very powerful
and tough horses. You will not feel like you are riding a small
horse, you will
feel like you are riding the strongest horse in the world! At
least this is the
way my ponies are. I have a pony mare out here who thinks that
hills are a piece
of cake and insists on running up and down them. She is three.
When I try to keep
her pace down she just prances and dances up and down them. And
these are some big
hills. A three year old arab would be struggling to reach the
top. There is NO 
comparison!

Lynette



Lif Strand wrote:
> 
> DreamWeaver wrote:  "Define 'pony'.  Is that breed specific, or are you
> talking any critter under 14.1 hh?"
> 
> I'm thinking breeds here, because  the size of a horse probably wouldn't
> change its response to conditioning all that much from that of it's breed as
> a whole (I think!), but it seems that there could be significant differences
> in responses from breed to breed.


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