What size pony for a 5.5 year old

[sideeyes]

used to own my own ponies/horses in teenage years but only started riding at 10 and am massively tall so never had a wee one. My girl has been sharing a little Welsh section A and I think is about ready to have her own pony. Thinking in the longer term, how big would you go? 12hh? She’s average height. I’ve also got a massive 8 year old boy so wouldn’t mind something he could sit on too, but she’s so dainty and he’s so tall and heavy I think that’s impossible? Thanks for any advice.

Sadly we missed this stage of my daughter’s riding; I wish she’d got the chance to have the little Section A grey.

Anyway, best bit of advice I had was by the right pony for now. Don’t try and future proof as you want the pony to help your daughter now, or you might risk putting her off.

Go small - my friends son rode his 12hh until her was 12! It sounds like your daughter will be the main rider while your son just wants to sit on now and again? 11hh or smaller, the older and more experienced the better. Good luck!

Thank you. Sound advice!

I’d look for an older little pony around 12hh, though wouldn’t rule out up to 12.2 if pony was slight and very polite. I’d also try and loan as opposed to buy as in reality you’ll end up with a string of ponies otherwise!

I think it depends a bit on the pony - build/physique wise and also temperament. I think there is a pony out there that can be ridden by both a petite 5 year old and a well grown 8 year old (particularly if the 8 year old is a good well balanced rider) but they may be few and far between and if the pony is mainly for DD I'd treat getting something suitable for her as the priority. And like others say I'd buy the pony for now not look too much to the future...

Some 12hhs Welshies or other natives or cob crosses are built like barrels and while that might be great for their ability to carry your older son I'd be concerned (a) about that not being comfortable for a very dainty 5 year old, it's not great for their hips to ride a very wide pony regularly (b) her legs may not come very far past the saddle and she won't then be able to use her leg aids properly and you don't want her to get into the habit of flapping or booting...

Is she mainly riding on the lead rein at the moment or does she need a first ridden? First riddens are certainly harder to find but also probably have more longevity as it's easier to pep up a quiet pony to do more exciting activities as their capability and confidence improves than to try and transition one that is only used to plodding on a lead rein to become an off-lead pony - so if you are lucky enough to find a really saintly, kind first ridden then I'd be inclined to jump at it whatever the size (so long as she feels safe and balanced on board of course).

What I certainly wouldn't do is buy a pony that has the potential to be what she needs in a couple of years (whether that's size or capability wise) and hope you'll be able to muddle through for now or that they can learn together. I know it's tempting to try and buy one pony to see them through rather than either having to accumulate retireds or sell a much loved pony on, but I've more often seen that approach end in disaster all round than a bargain being had and then you still end up with a pony on your hands with no job to do...

I think height probably matters less than the right type of pony for what you want, I'm not saying buy a 14.2 if it's perfect in every other way, but my DD started on a 12.2hh who was the best LR & then first ridden pony I've ever known, she was small for him, but he would ride lead/walk lead without any fuss, stand for hours for around the world and all those exercises without fidgeting and was pretty much voice activated so there was no need for flapping or kicking because she could do the gentle squeeze even though her legs barely reached at first and say walk on and he'd go, he had a soft mouth and so would turn and stop really well from the lightest touch which is so important when you're teaching the basics and how to not maul a mouth.
He was an older been there and done it type and she learned so much that stood her in good stead for going on her own and he was really good for that transition because he still pretty much behaved like he was on LR but she was 'flying solo' which gave her confidence to gradually ask for more as she went on.
She was cantering off LR with me on my horse and in control with a good seat after 18 months.

But ponies like that are hard to find and that little fella taught so many kids so much in his latter years, I rode him as a capable tween and he was much feistier with older kids, even as he aged, and had he been younger she'd have stayed on him until she outgrew him because he just adjusted himself to who was riding him.

Word of mouth and reputation is a good way to find these ponies but like I said they're rare, but it all depends on what stage she's at and if she needs full LR, transition or FR and you might have to accept that you need 3 different ponies at these stages, I was incredibly lucky to loan one that was all 3 in one pony!
Bigger at the LR stage isn't too much of an issue, but can be challenging at transition and FR stage.

If you went for something chunkier it may be ok for both . We have an 11.1 Dartmoor x ( basically looks dartmoor but not registered ) and she was fine for our fairly tall son between 6 and 8 yrs old - which is when he gave up riding . They were both 33 this year .

11-12hh

I would think an 11.2hh would be ideal. It would need to be able to do both the lead rein and first ridden job (rare - but worth spending the time and money finding one!). We had a lovely 11.2hh Section A which my very tall daughter stayed on until she was 8 years old.

My son is diddy and he's had his 12hh Welsh A from age 8 til 12..