BTB: Rider size and horse size: Examples

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Rider size and horse size: Examples Posted: 21 Apr 2010 01:19 PM PDT Thanks to Kimberley Beldam-Saylor of True North Dressage, who shared these photos on an  Ultimate dressage forum posting. She kindly agreed to let me repost them here.  A month or so ago I posted an article Am I too big/small for this horse? This is a followup to that post with some fab photos illustrating an important point about matching the horse and rider.  Rider height is not the only part of the equation when you try to find a "right-sized" horse.  Kimberly is 5'8" tall and she is the rider in all of these pictures -- in the same saddle and using the same stirrup length. Comments for each photo are from Kimberly. Let's take a look.. This is a 15.3H eleven year old Cheval Canadien gelding showing 3rd/4th level.   This wide-barreled type horse  holds a riders leg well. This is a 14.3H QH mare. She doesn't appear super wide bodied when you look at her,  but as you can see from the photos she really eats up a riders leg.   This TB gelding is very lean and measures around 16.3 or 17hh.   Kimberly says: " I think people need to focus more on how they "fit" with the horse and stop worrying so much about height!  I had the same preconception about horse size before getting the ride (and later co-ownership) on Patriote [the first horse], figured I just didn't fit on anything under 16hh. But clearly that's untrue!  I don't think I look too big on Sugar [the second horse] at all, and she's well under my preselected height. " :) Thanks Kimberly for sharing this!

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