Andy was fitted for his harness – all the pieces had to be let down many holes as he is a bit *** cough *** fat. Anna wants to drive him while she is here and he would love to do something apart from eat.
Next it was Hammy’s turn. Hammy has err, filled out. His britching does not fit but it will do for training now. We will swap it for Andy’s which has more room.
Anna long-reined Hammy in the school while Waffle came in to point and laugh.
Hammy remembered he had been long-reined before and he happily pottered around with Anna. Meanwhile, Daisy had this notion to ride Charlie.
So Waffle had to “help” her as well. Daisy learned to ride on Andy and Charlie, though Charlie was always the speedier of the two.
Does anyone have a saddle we can borrow for Anna that will fit Andy, a 42″ (height and probably width) Shetland pony? It would just be for a few weeks.
The girls want to go out on a trek at some stage.
It was a very good experience for everyone. The Minions were totally bemused by these antics. They have never seen such things and they watched everyone with eyes on stalks.
Eventually, they were sent out in true cowboy fashion.
Anna and Daisy rode their Shetland ponies like gauchos!
Who says adults can’t ride Shetland ponies?
Who says indeed! When I was a little girl ( many, many moons ago) my Dad used to ride my Shetland pony sometimes. Neither pony nor rider were ever any the worse for it. I think it is heartening in fact to see adults riding ponies, you don’t always have to have a 16.2 just because you are bit taller!
ciao mi chiamo roco vincenzo sono un ragazzo di origine italiano vi scrivo dall’italia dalla provincia di monza Brianza a pochi chilometri da milano ho una mia piccola ativita equestre dove addestro e preparo pony shetland comperati in italia puledri pronti per la doma per bambini vorrei chiedervi se potete mandarmi delle foto dove montate pony shetland in addestramento e quanto tempo va montato un pony io lo monto 20 minuti a sella pony lavoro alle redini lunghe mi fate sapere aspetto una vostra risposta ciao un abbraccio con affetto rocco vincenzo dall’ italia.
Thank you so much for sharing! I hate it how adults think they have to ride a HUGE horse to be acceptable. I really want to ride my pony but I was unsure about it because of what everyone has always told me. I have a half Shetland pony that is 10 hh. I am 5 foot 8 inches tall and I weigh 150 lb. do you think it would be ok just for a little while? I would love everyone’s thoughts! Thank you!
hi i’m sure if its just for a bit of training a one off ride would be ok but for minis the general rule is no more than 5 stone and standards no more than 7.5 to 8 stone depending on the specific pony. 150lb is actually 10.7 stone so a little heavy for a shetland to be carrying. Don’t worry though as you can still do so many fun activates with your shetland such as long reining, driving or in hand. I personally wouldn’t risk riding as even though you aren’t heavy that much weight putting pressure on the spine and other areas of the back could be damaging and isn’t worth the risk when you can simply ride something a little bigger. Another aspect to consider is your height as because they have small strides they are pretty bouncy so you may be thrown off balance and that can also affect the shetland if your not experienced enough to balance yourself and the pony as you will have to since your quite tall. even if you still want to ride a small pony a 13hh cob would still be fine for example. Sorry if my comment doesn’t make sense and if you did/do decide to ride for training let me know how it goes!