ANSWERS: 15
  • As far as I have been led to believe it is the height in hands which determines this. Up to the top of the animals shoulder (called the Withers) a pony is up to 14.3 hh (hands high) anything over that is classed as a horse.
  • Ponies are kind of dwarfish looking horses, they have larger heads, and stocky legs. There are miniature horse breeds, and they are bred small, but to have the same build as a large horse, not the pony look. Some people determine whether or not it's a pony or a horse by the height, but I usually take the height requirements as part of the breed standards for various horses and ponies. For example, look at the horses at the miniature horse association of America http://www.amha.org/ and compare them to the shetland pony http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/shetland/ There are some horses, such as the "quater pony" which are minature versions of quater horses that are just small and don't have the pony look to them. The goal of breeding fallabella horses is to create a tiny, but perfectly proportioned horse that looks nothing like a pony. In fact, if you call them fallabella ponies, some breeders take offense. http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/fal.html
  • According to the book, ponies can be up to and including 14.2 hands high, horses are 14.3 hands and above. A "hand" is four inches, originally named for the breadth, not length, of a human hand. In practice, ponies usually also have stockier frames than horses, are more resistant to bad weather and cold, are smarter (sometimes even smarter than their rider!) and therefore a lot more annoying, and a lot stronger for their size than horses. A Shire, the biggest breed of draft horse, can only pull its own weight, but a Shetland pony can pull twice its own weight. There are breeds like Falabellas, American Miniature Horses, Caspians, and more, that are actually small horses, according to the second distinctions listed here, but their size brings them within the pony range. There are also breeds like the Icelandic Horse, which, despite its name, is more a pony than a horse, and, finally, there are many horse breeds in which certain specimens of the breed may be under the height limit, but are still considered horses, because of their breeding. I personally know a purebred Arabian horse who is only 13.2 hands high, as a result of her mother being malnourished while pregnant. So, as you can see, the science of horse vs. pony is far from exact. Even so, I hope I clarified a few points for you.
  • a pony is just like a horse.. only smaller. a pony is from anything to 15hh high.. there after it is classed as a horse. I know its not a very friendly picture but.. this is a horse chasing a pony
  • A horse must be 14.3 hands (high) to be a horse. Anything under that is consiered a pony. (And remember, POLO IS MY LIFE!!)
  • If a pony is simply a horse 14.2 hands and under, then Falabellas are certainly ponies. Why should it be considered an insult? It is merely a size distinction.
  • All i can say is i have a 33 inch 3 year old miniature shetland pony any thing below 34" is a miniature shetland pony after 34 is listed as a standard up to the hieght of 42" in shetlands my daughter is a BHS STAGE 2 she states anything up to 14.2 is a pony anything from 14.3 up to 17+ is a horse Which i have always been led to believe any thing below 30" is a miniature horse (lol) so where is the logic
  • The size
  • A Pony is up to 14.5 hands high (each hand is 4 in) Taller than that at the shoulder is classified as a horse.
  • A small horse can qualify to compete in "pony" classes if they are under 14.2h, but that is something of a misnomer, and height doesn't make a horse a pony. Ponies are a different class of equid. And, just as there are different breeds of horses, there are different pony breeds as well. Ponies are generally smaller than the average horse, and they are quite a bit hardier that horses.
  • The most obvious is height but also it is body structure. Because there are also miniature horses which are very small but they aren't really shaped in the same way as ponies. They are shaped like horses.
  • Ponies are bred and domesticated from native wild horses in America. They are for "real" riding purposes. Miniature horses are bred as a novelty and for pets only. Shetlands are not "minatures". They were bred for a specific kind of job, as were Icelandic ponies.
  • The miniature horse people claim that if there is nothing to show you the size of one of their horses, that you would think it was a normal horse in the photo, since they feel they are well balanced and just like a mini horse, whereas ponies are stockier and sort of coarser boned. I do agree that their legs are tiny and they can have nice heads but they have much shorter legs in proportion to their body, unlike a horse. They can't be ridden but are often used to pull tiny wagons or even like a service horse (similar to a seeing eye dog)
  • The same difference could be said about the way they are bred, a pony is a small hore that is bigger than a miniature horse, ponies are bigger than minitures and that is the difference.
  • Ponny is alot cuter and its for kids under 14 :D so we +14 can use horses !!!

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