Problems that short horse riders face.
When it comes to owning horses, it certainly helps to be taller. For those not blessed in the height department, day to day tasks around the yard can come with its challenges. It’s not all bad, being a shortie can come with its advantages like fitting into children’s clothes and pay less! And you can have fun whizzing around on ponies without it being a welfare issue.
We’ve put together a few problems that a short horse rider may encounter…
- Getting on your horse from the floor can be a struggle for some, but a major hurdle for a short rider. Having a mounting block with you wherever you go is really your only solution. No matter how long you make those stirrups, it’s just not happening!
- Like trousers in everyday life, finding a pair of breeches or jodhpurs that don’t need rolling up by five inches is never an easy task. The only solution is hiding the excessive rolling in your boots and looking like you have fat ankles
- Dreaming of a pair of long riding boots? Kiss goodbye to being able to bend your legs again because unfortunately, you’re not 6’ tall so it’s back to short boots and chaps for you.
- Trousers aren’t the only thing that needs rolling up! That’s right, competition jacket sleeves will need to be made short too!
- No, I don’t have my sights set on being a jockey!
- Grab that mounting block again because you need to plait your horse up, unless you’re planning on leaving the forelock and the top half of his mane.
- Who needs the gym? When you have to lift your saddle above your head every day just to get it on and off the saddle rack?
- So, you’ve managed to get your saddle down from the saddle rack, now you’ve just got to get it on the horse. Where’s that mounting block again?
- Don’t you just love riding a psycho pony? Good, because you’re the one who gets asked to ride naughty ponies because no child can stay on them.
- It’s showtime! Your idea of walking a course is not the same as some of your fellow riders and a fair bit of guesswork goes into the paces.
Do these problems sound familiar to you?
If you liked reading this, you might also like to read ‘What your horse would say if they could talk’
