You're not crazy, you're just not giving yourself time to adjust. I went from riding a 16.1 qh to a 13.2 pony when I was your weight and a little shorter at 5.2 1/2 and until you get used to it, it does feel weird. At your size you can ride any good sized riding pony up to as big as you want.

 

I'm 5'6" and 120 lbs I ride a 16 hand horse that is about 1300 lbs and a 14.3 hand horse that is about 900 lbs and feel comfortable on both of them. I also don't think that I look ridiculous on either one of them. When I was a young teen and probably at the grand total weight of 100 lbs I rode a 12.2 hand pony with no problem. Me and my best friend were the only ones that were light enough for him but tough enough to handle him. That little black pony named King was a piece of work.
I think it's just you needing to get used to the feel of it and probably a little bit of your mind thinking that you look ridiculous when you really don't.

 

I'm 5'6" and around 120 and I feel comfortable on small horses. I don't know measurements but our horse's withers are about level with my face, but I actually feel more comfortable on one of the lesson horses, whose withers are maybe chest-high on me. I think I LOOK okay on the taller horse, but I'm a little timid so far off the ground!

 

I am about your height and I ride anything I want to. I have horses from 14.0 to 16.2 and, while I do feel like I'm up in the trees on the big mare, the little ones are comfy too. They all have their abilities. The big mare is smooth as silk and has a rocking chair canter you can ride all day. The 14 handers are quick and catty. They all feel different but they're all fun to ride.

 

I'm 5' 7" and 125 lbs. Just remember it's not the "size" of the horse that counts! As you gain more experience riding different horses, you will begin to feel comfortable no matter how tall the horse is. Lately I've ridden our 15 hand mare, our 16 hand gelding, and a neighbor's 14.2 Quarter horse and was comfortable on each one simply because many decades ago, my riding instructor insisted that we could not ride the same horse that we did in the last lesson, which developed our skills to adjust to the individual horse.

 

I'm 5'2 & about 145/150 & I ride a horse that's about 16H. It's really up to you. I feel comfortable on 15-16H

 

I don't really care about a horses height, I want mass. Best cow pony I ever had, was literally a pony at 14.1/14.2. But she weighed 1000#'s , lots of bone and lots of mass. I could ride her all day, dragging my lard a$$ around, with no issues.

 

I'm 5'8" and 165. I sometimes ride a 13.0 hand pony who is built like a tank. In rough footing or steep slopes, he struggles with my weight. I think I have too much weight too high above his back and he has to compensate. So when I ride him, I dismount for harder terrain. The good news is remounting is a piece of cake.

My normal ride is 15.0 hands and 800 lbs. VERY slender, although he's gaining some weight. He does great with me on rough or steep ground, but we could never work cattle well. Think of him as a car. His wheelbase is too narrow for our height. A horse has an adjustable wheelbase, unlike a car, so he can compensate somewhat - but for real agility, I'd be better off with a cow pony rather than a slender Arabian/Mustang mix. If my 13.0 hand pony was a 14.0 hand pony, he'd be a great match for me.

 

I think the horse that "suits you" or any rider is a horse fit for what discipline you are riding and now long and how hard you are going to ride. If you are showing AQHA at the circuit level tall and slender rules - no matter the size of the rider. If you are a reiner - most of those horses are 15H or even shorter. If you ride primarily in an arena or show environment most horses could carry most riders (even the larger ones) for an hour or so with very little negative effects.

For me personally - I am a larger rider and 5'8" with very short legs and a long upper body. I prefer a shorter stockier horse for ease of mounting and ease of getting around on the trail (low hanging branches, up and down small ravines etc) That is my preference. currently I am riding a 15.2H narrow TWH- she is quite narrow but has a deep girth area. She packs me around with no issues at all- but it was like riding a 2 by 4 compared to the 14.2H really round horse I rode before her.

Size to me is relative to what the horse will be used for and how long/hard it will be ridden.

 

You are of a size that almost any but a small pony could carry, so you don't have to worry about the horse end of the equation. So what suits you is just going to be taste. For most disciplines there is a 'best' size range, meaning all other things being equal the optimal size horse is going to do better. Reining and cutting horses tend to be small. Roping horses tend to be blocky and midsize. Jumpers tend to be tall. Trail horses tend to be medium to short and endurance horses, lighter-built and short. I believe competition dressage is too complicated and style-driven to give a simple answer about height ... right now it seems that tall dominates -- but spanish-influenced cowboy dressage sees a lot of shorter horses. There are lots of exceptions in all cases, especially at the lower levels.

If you have a short leg for your already short height (like me), very tall horses are going to be more challenging -- you have a high center of gravity and your heels are inches above where the cues are supposed to be coming from. Mounting is much more challenging for a short person on a tall horse. But some short people LOVE tall horses and just adapt.

I'm 5'2" (barely) and 118 lbs, and my horse is 14.2 and medium/light built. She is the *exact* right size for me. I've friend with a similar sized horse, but she's more like 5'10" (and skinny). Her heels are lower than her horse's sides, and when she wears spurs she has to position them so they point up, not horizontal, so they have a chance of actually touching the horse.

 

I tend to look more at build, narrow, stocky etc, depth of girth, bone (measurement around the leg just below knee) and how much neck I've got in front of me. My 15 hand mare rides as big as a 16 hand mare we have, our cob types feel much bigger in the body but less neck in front of you, our 16.2ish WB looks and feels much bigger to ride than the 16 hander
I hate being under-horsed and wouldn't ride anything under 13.2 out of choice and not being as nimble as I used to be I prefer 14.2 to 15.2 as I can still get on from the ground if I have too
I'm about 5ft 3 and my weight drifts either side of 136 pounds depending on the time of year and how active I am

 

I'm 5'4" and ~120 lbs, one of my horses is a narrow 15.2 and the other is a narrow 17.2. I have short legs so I can ride the little ponies, the smallest I feel OK on is ~13hh. If I go bigger then I need a narrow horse(my 17.2 has about 1ft of chest between his fronts.) There is a lesson horse who is only 14.3hh, but he's overweight and built like a tank so I struggle to ride him.

 

The size of a horse is also going to depend a lot on what it was bred for. A lot of QH blood lines these days are under 15h, many closer to 14h.

I haven't seen too many pure blood Arabians that are over 15h either, most are in the 14-15h range.

Some of the QH bloodlines are quite a bit bigger, but those are becoming harder to find and have basically been bred to be larger focusing on the older foundation bloodlines.

With QH you basically have two kinds being bred. Ranchy horses, and performance horses. Guess which makes a lot more money.

Basically, 14-15h is a very normal size for QH, Arabians and QH/Arabian crosses.

 

I'm 5'6" and both my horses are 15h. My QH mare is a little narrower than my RMH gelding, but both are equally comfortable for me. I had a 14.2 QH years ago that was tons of fun to ride, and I had a 16.2 appendix QH that was built like a freight train and had a motor like a Ferrari! I also enjoy riding a 17h Spotted Draft and don't really notice the difference - except that branches are a lot lower on him! LOL.

Ride lots of horses and you'll soon not notice the size differences.

 

All of you people are tiny! I'm 5'9" and about 185 lb and I ride a 14.3h QH gelding. He's built plenty thick with sturdy bone and he can carry me for hours no problem.

 

Lucky for you you can ride just about any size! Not really sure what you are asking. If you are asking what you'd look best on, in my opinion I'd say something in the 14-15 hand range.

 

I'm 5'8" and 120lbs. I ride a 14.2 hand horse He is a bit taller than I prefer. I prefer shorter as it easier for me to get on and found many years ago the shorter ones can go places in the woods where the taller ones cant.

 

If you want to really dive into the deep end start looking at form to function, not just height and weight.

I recently went to the annual Legacy Horse Sale here in Aubrey TX. This is where a lot of the top Reining and Cowhorse people sell their yearling prospects. Lots of Gunner and Yellow Jacket babies this year. You can spot the ones that were made to be a "Ferrari" horse from across the arena, even as yearlings they just look like they have the right stuff.

On that point...

A 16h horse could be unbalanced, stiff, and have just the wrong everything (shoulder angle, hock placement, etc.) for anything but easy going trail riding at a walk or slow jog.

A 14h QH or Arabian/QH could have amazing performance horse conformation with perfect angles and lengths to be not only very well balanced but carry a fairly large man through maneuvers that would dump many of us on our butt, without getting sore.

Height/weight is just one of many factors. Good luck with your search!

 

You could really ride most everything. I guess it all depends on the pony/horse.

 

Link to last year's sale results, for anyone interested. The 2016 results aren't up yet.

Legacy Reining Breeders Sale

 

It saddens me a bit to see the higher priced colts and fillies look more like t'breds than QHs! But I do like the look of the two Mercedes babies.

 

I'm 5'2, 200 pounds on a good day. I ride a 14.2 hand app that's around 950 pounds. I feel very comfortable on him, I quite enjoy being close to the ground.
Spirit, our new mare, is only a few inches taller than him (15 hands at most) but weighs 750-800 pounds and is shaped very differently. I can't stand the way I sit on her. She seems to me very tall, leggy and "pointy". Like I'm sitting on a tent or a triangle.

I've also ridden an 18 hand draft. He weighed 1600 pounds and was considered light for his breed. Same as with our mare. Very tall, pointy. Then I rode Ben. 17.3 hands, close to 2000 pounds. He didn't seem half as tall as the other draft, and I had a very nice seat on him. He was my all time favorite ride.

Every horse is different, and so is every rider. Some riders prefer tall, narrow leggy TB type horses. Some prefer bulldog builds. I personally think if you're too big for a horse he WILL tell you. I let a friend of mine ride Trouble, she's 5'9 and about sixty pounds heavier than I. He made it clear he did not feel comfortable with her on. He pinned his ears, swished his tail, threatened to buck, so I got on to correct this, nothing. I chalked it up to this: he thought she was too big for him. I am not.

 

I'm also in my teens and around 5'8" and around 120 lbs as well. Most of the horses I've ridden are around 14 hands. A lot of that has to do with me starting out riding western and many of the horses at that first stable were short and stocky. At that time I was quite a bit younger and therefore smaller, so I felt perfect on them. Later on, I leased a little English mare for a while; she was 14.2. She felt a little small by then and I looked a little big on her, though we made it work. My own mare is only 14.3, though I feel very comfortable on her. She's wide enough that I actually fit to her very nicely, and as she's muscling up and carrying herself better she sure seems and feels a lot taller. My trainer was actually surprised that I fit her since I have pretty long legs, but, amazingly, it works! That said, I've also ridden a few 16 hands horses and felt quite comfortable on them as well, though it took a little bit of getting used to So I think whenever you make a jump from different sized horses it'll take some getting used to. But I think once you get used to your little paint you'll find you like him quite nicely. You're also lot closer to the ground:wink:

As far as discipline, size does matter in what you're planning on doing but I personally find a horse close to 15 hands nice in that they can be an all-around horse. Tess is 14.3, so she's close to 15, but I like being able to do a little bit of everything with her. She rides western nicely, goes bareback and on trails, jumps (though still working on that part lol), and does dressage. I think personality plays into it as well. The mare that I leased was tiny, but mighty. Same with Tess They both are so smart and have such big hearts that they try so hard to keep up with larger horses. Tess is also a very nice mover; she has a long back and moves very nicely.

Best of luck in figuring out the right horse to ride