Mongols

Alam ed Din, Adnan · Post by **Alam ed Din, Adnan** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:42 pm

I disagree, Bede. Despite their small size, they are horses, not ponies. They lack certain other traits that are commonly associated with ponies.Maybe in Australia just any small horse within a certain body height is called a pony? I hope you are doing well, Bede, greetings and all the best,

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:00 pm

An animal under 14.5 HH is classified as a pony.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:03 am

Adnan,
In English usage and for competition, pony is a technical term for a horse fourteen hands or under in height at the withers (140 cm). It does not refer necessarily to the breed of horse.

Small steppe horses are attested from the excavations of the frozen tombs of Pazyryk where they appear to have used for drawing wagons. There was a taller horse type in the same burials used for riding (they had their saddles in place).

It is likely that after 1,500 years of breeding both types would be more refined.

redhawk · Post by **redhawk** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:27 am

Everytime someone is calling my pinto- mere a pony I feel somehow offended. But with her 137cm height she is a pony, 140cm is the term for to call a horse a pony.
Anyway I feel like riding the best horse ever.
If you study history or talk with real horse experts they will tell you that ponies are much stronger, cleverer, agile, healthier.............
..........the Mongols or Native Americans knew very well what they were doing.

Michael

Alam ed Din, Adnan · Post by **Alam ed Din, Adnan** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 2:58 pm

For me these are 'horses' incl. pintos, arabs, mustangs, nez perce's, appaloosas, mongol horses, sometimes English terminology sounds like....I don't know.... [They called brown people "boys" not long ago and it was completely normal to them]. Will you forgive me if I keep calling them horses?

Patrick Menzies · Post by **Patrick Menzies** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:30 am

The term pony is erroneously used to differentiate small equines from larger ones. It is nothing more than a term of convenience for the horse trade.
In actual genetic terms that is entirely incorrect. A horse and pony in their natural state would be as different as a Wolf and a Coyote.
There are actually miniature horses which have been bred down to miniscule size that are still derived from horses rather than ponies. They are still horses despite not being tall enough.
There is quite a radical difference in body structure in the two animals and those features are just as prominent in a "giant" pony that happens to be tall enough to qualify as a horse or a dwarfed horse that still actually has horse features.
In their natural wild state the two types would have been extremely reluctant to interbreed even if they existed in a mixed zone.
You can still see this if you introduce a number of of pure ponies into a field containing horses. They tend to try to keep to themselves.
The Mongols rode horses despite their mounts being on the small side.

Mongols

Mongols..............