How long would an 11hh pony last a nearly 6 year old?

[RainDancer]

My daughter will be 6 in December. On the look out for a lead rein loan pony for her but doesn't seem to be much about. Have seen a lovely Welsh Section A 11hh for sale, but just wondering how long a pony that size would be likely to last her. She is very average size, in fact possibly a little small for her age. Both me and her Dad are very average size so not likely to shoot up ( I think she has inherited her Dad's short legs 🤣) Ideally would like something as small as possible for her so she can just enjoy loving it and having fun on it without too much worry about falling too far! But don't want to buy a pony she will outgrow in a year!

[Jonbb]

Height and weight of rider? Breed of pony?

[Jonbb]

Sorry, you said s A. Should be ok until she's nine or so providing she's slim and doesn't get too tall.

[RainDancer]

Thanks. I must weigh and measure her as I'm ashamed to say I have no idea off the top of my head! But she isn't overweight and is probably one of the smallest in her class.

[mrslaughan]

I have a 11 2 (very fine)out on loan to a 12 year old, who it tiny and no where near growing out of her. However my daughter who it 8 will be miles to big for her by the time she's 10.....it depends on your daughter and the ponies build.

[maxelly]

I think the rule of thumb is that a horse/pony can carry 20% of its bodyweight (so rider +tack). This site has a useful calculator:

good-horse.com/tools/calculator-much-weight-can-horse-carry/

I've seen Welshies (As) happily carry kids up to about 11-12, provided they're not too tall/heavy and are reasonable riders (not slamming down on the ponies' back etc.)

But as others said there can be huge variations between children and between ponies. And of course you would need to consider that she might 'outgrow' the pony in terms of skill/ambition before she's physically too big for it. Brilliant lead-rein types aren't always good first or second riddens!

If the pony works for her now, I would go for it. There will always be a demand for good kids ponies either on loan or for sale so you should be able to find a job for him/her to do when your daughter is ready to move on.

[RainDancer]

Thanks everyone!

[Lolalola23]

Hi my daughter who turned 6 in June has a 11hh Sec A. She’s got a long time left on her yet,our friends little boy who’s 9 rides her and doesn’t look big on her at all just he right size. If it’s the right Pony I would go for it, good luck x

[LaPufalina]

I was a skinny (and short) little thing as a kid and rode my loan section A until I was 13.

[Blagora]

We had a Welsh a as a first pony

He was a nutter and much too much for her, despite being 11.2

Bought a 13.2 cob x in the end and she rode him happily for 5 years. He was a legend.

Temperament is more important than size.

[RainDancer]

Ha! Blagora that made me chuckle. Rapidly coming to the conclusion that pretty much all Section As are nutters 😄 Possibly now have the option of a bigger pony that is known to us, great temperament, as you say that's probably the most important thing.