# Gaited Pony



## jiterbug (Jan 24, 2008)

What does it mean when someone says that a pony is a gaited pony? Also, how does a 13 hh pony compare to a miniature horse as far as height. I know they are measured different and the pony is measured from his withers and a min. horse from his longest hair on his wither so would you say the 13hh pony is about the same height as say a 48" min. horse?

Thanks,

Terri


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## SweetOpal (Jan 24, 2008)

a 13h pony would be compared to a 52" pony if you were going by withers, if it were by mane hair I would guess maybe a 50" mini...again this is pretty much a guess and based off of the fact that 1 h on a pony is 4"


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## jrae (Jan 24, 2008)

A gaited pony could be one from walking, racking, spotted saddle horse bloodlines. Normally this pony would have a smooth gliding gait rather than a trot. I have a coming two year old gaited pony on my website for sale. I think there is a baby picture of her on the site, you can see her natural tendency is to gait, not trot.

Just checked she is on my home page...the bay and white tobiano.


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## JourneysEnd (Jan 24, 2008)

To non-walking horse people - it means the pony has a 4 beat gait (running walk) instead of a 2 beat gait (trot).

They walk really fast and don't bounce.

Gaited ponies are pretty valuable in my opinion.


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## jiterbug (Jan 24, 2008)

Thanks for such quick replies! I assuming then that I can add about 2 inches between mini and pony right? Also, is there a big difference in the two as far as how much weight they can carry?

Thanks,

terri


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## JourneysEnd (Jan 25, 2008)

A 13 hand pony would be 52" tall.

Minis stop at 38".

13 hand pony, in shape, should be able to carry up to maybe 150 lbs.

Does that sound right pony people?


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## muffntuf (Jan 25, 2008)

Another gaited pony - Icelandic


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## Shari (Jan 26, 2008)

It depends on wither the "Pony" has been bred for adults.

My grey Icelandic mare is 12.3 hands tall...no withered very broad backed(needs a Draft horse wide saddle), good bone, well built and has no problems with carring me and her saddle...which at most is 170lbs.

She has a very smooth Tolt.

There is no other gaited breed quite like the Icelandic.

Other Non gaited pony breeds bred to carry adults are the, Fjord, Haflinger, Fell, Highland and so on.

How much a horse or pony carries, height is not the only factor. The body mass, bone and mucsle mass needs to be taken into account.

Now if I saw a much more refined Gaited pony/horse than say my grey Icelandic mare, at 12.3 hands.. I would not hurt the animal by riding it. Build makes a big difference.

If you have an over sized or larger mini.. personally I would not ride it. They have not be bred for centuries to handle the weight of an adult.


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## Leeana (Jan 26, 2008)

Here in ohio, there is a Mt Hope auction that has a big Draft Horse sale every year, actually i think its coming up? Anyway, one year they had a Haflinger X Paso Fino cross and it was the most beautiful cross (i have ever seen over 46'' lol). With the haflingers knee/hock action and the gait of the Paso, it was just amazing. It was also the highest selling pony in the sale




.

Leeana


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## Shari (Jan 27, 2008)

Leena, I bet that cross was just beautiful!!

Never seen something like that out this way.


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## jleonard (Feb 13, 2008)

We've had several ponies in the 13- 13.3 hand range and all are able to carrie my dad easily (in fact, three have been his). He's probably about 170 lbs, the ponies are of what I consider average build, not refined like the modern shetlands, and not drafty (though we've had a haflinger too, they are characters!) As for a size comparison, if my 31" mini really tried, she could probably squeeze under their bellies. I love this size, pretty much anyone can ride them but they still have all the fun qualities of a pony.

As far as gaited ponies, they can be a lot of fun. We've had a rocky mountain pony and we currently have a gelding who we think has some tennessee walker in him, we also tried a mare who had various gaited breeds behind her. Both the mix mare and the gelding have a normal, two beat trot in addition to their respective gaits, and they can be a bit confusing if you don't know what to ask for, as they kind of make up their own, in between gait if they get mixed signals.


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