So I've always thought of ponies as anything under 14.2 hh but I recently found or that's not the case for everyone. So I was just curious as to everyone's thoughts. This was more pertaining to HP breeds but yea, tell me what you think haha

that's what I have always thought too lol

Anything under 14.2 hands is what I've always known....Might do some more research on this....

14.2 hh has been my rule of thumb as well.

14.2hh BUT. I've heard there's skeletal differences between horses and ponies. Such as the Falabella and Miniature Horse, Caspians, and other very tiny horse breeds are not considered ponies. I've heard of some Arabians being under 14.2hh as well and... well it's the Arabian HORSE not Arabian PONY?

Link Tree

I agree with 14.2 as my rule of thumb for ponies. But I do also side with Chao. There are a few pony breeds I can recognize off the bat, but usually I call everything a pony if it's small enough. I feel like miniatures horses actually do fall into the horses category though.

I agree with Chao...we have an arabian that's under 14.2 and he's still considered to be a horse :)

That is a good point.  My first horse was 14.1 MorganxQH and I still considered her a horse. :P

To be completely honest all horses are ponies if I'm excited enough.

Link Tree

The general rule of thumb is that a pony is never taller than 14.2 hh.  Obviously it does happen, just as horses are under 14.2 hh from time to time.  Miniature horses are of course, not the same as ponys (as was mentioned before).

Pony chuckwagons, for example, are pulled by animals under a certain height, but the breeds vary (they are certainly not shetlands, as it's a speed sport).  :/

What's the big difference between a point and miniature horses?

We have a Minature Horse at the barn and my boss gets mad if you call him a pony cause his breed is a Minature Horse and he is like to my knees and Im 5'4". But then again my mare is 13.3hh and she is a pony. When I worked with Saddlebreds we had some that were really short like 14hh short and they were still horses. So I think it is all about the breed and what people call ponies. Though when I see a horse I call them all ponies.

real life american paint pony assoc is 14.2 and under

my paint horse is .5 too tall as she is 14.2.5 :(

now if i shod her a tad short then she would measure for it!!!

I've always just gone by under 14 hands. But, really, anything under 15 hands is pretty small.

Depends on the usage as to if its small.  barrel horses over 5.2 hh sturggle with the patterns, and cutting horses are often short :/

I think it comes down to the characteristics. Ponies tend to have thicker and more abundant hair. Bigger eyes off the top of my head... There's probably more but I have way too much of a headache to go googling...

Link Tree

I often just look at the horse in question and decide what I PERSONALLY think the horse should be considered.

Paints since 6-8-14

Per Google, ponies tend to be stockier in build than horses with a thicker mane, tail, and coat (like Chao said). Shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bones, short heads with broader foreheads. The Falabella and the Miniature are considered to be very small horses, since they both seem to have a relatively slim bone structure compared with actual ponies. They also (apparently) have calmer temperaments than horses.

It's weird how one breed is considered a horse when another is considered a pony when they're off by just one hand. WEEEEEIRD.