Shetland pony reiner...

[Sue_C.]

pony reiner

I certainly hope this works.

 

[weerunner]

Adorable, now there is a horse/rider combination working together and having fun.

 

[Sue_C.]

Adorable, now there is a horse/rider combination working together and having fun.

They sure are. I have often wished I had a tiny rider to ride Crackers...OM-gosh, I know they would beat the big guys out in barrels and poles.

 

[AnnaC]

Sorry but I sadly have to disagree! Yes they may look cute and the little rider may well be having fun, especially if there are adults around saying how good she looks. But she is not balanced on the pony and is working so hard on him by kicking with her legs and 'driving' with her seat, she is travelling forwards in the saddle and even - it looks - is taking the saddle with her. She is literally driving the pony into the ground.

The sweet pony is doing its best but really needs to get away from that heavy surface to at least give him a chance to move - the flared nostrils are a give away as to the effort he is making, he is simply not fit enough to deal with the surface plus the weight of the saddle and his rider (who has pretty muh outgrown him already.)

The whole picture is one of great effort instead easy, pleasurable forward movement. Such a shame because with a few adjustments all round it could be so so different.

With apologies - just my opinion.

Anna

 

[Performancemini]

I agree some with Anna. Unfortunately the rider is too big for the horse. I do admire the training and ability of the little guy though! As Anna said; with the proper rider (size and ability to go with it) the picture would be much better and the horse would most likely be more comfortable. Still, nice to see that the little equines can do the big "guys" stuff too.

 

[Sue_C.]

I thought too the rider a bit large for the pony, but as he seems to be that pudgy UK type of Shetland, (and I have often seen large(ish) riders on them) that perhaps that was the story here. One would think that if he was capable of losing that extra weight...that all the work he would of had to do to become as trained as he is, would of taken care of that.

I personally think it is great to see a pony on a video doing something good for a change...usually what we see are bad little beggars bucking some poor kid around a jump course or the like.

 

[horsefeather]

Totaly agree with AnnaC. The rider is much to big for the pony. Watch the last slide and see how hard she is on the pony's mouth!.

Pam

 

[AnnaC]

Just to make a comparison, but sorry I simply cannot remember where I saw it, there was a video of a very small sturdy - British type of miniature shetland - 'pony' doing what I think you call pole racing (we call bending). Goodness could that little critter move! Down the line of approx 8 poles he flew, spun round the end one and back he came, to repeat the whole thing 3 times before bounding over the finishing line still flat out! His small rider perfectly balanced all the time. A real pleasure to watch - the pair of them were having such fun!

Anna

ps, just found it - http://youtu.be/h7hegOY3bVO

Its on youtube as miniature horse pole bending, uploaded by ShadeZhedgehog - hope you can find it as I have no idea how to embed things etc!