Remix: Short Riders with Huge Horses – Are we compensating for something?

Krissy Singleton explains what tiny ladies on giant horses have in common with balding men in sportcars.

From Krissy:

Short riders with HUGE horses, are we compensating for something?

I am a little person with big dreams, and somewhere along the way I decided in order to accomplish those big dreams I would need a big horse. It wasn’t exactly a conscious decision, but now I am thinking that possibly I have been compensating for my small stature. After all, there is no way that little old me could ever jump the height and breadth of a prelim fence, but on top of my enormous steed, now that scary prelim table might just look like an anthill. Sure, if you saw me walking down the street you might not notice anything but the top of my head, but you would likely take notice if I happened to be leading an enormous grey Trakehner behind me, right? This makes me wonder, am I like the bald guy with the brand new sports car who feels the need to show it off?

Compensating or not, the simple fact of the matter is that I have created a rather large challenge for myself. It is even a big joke around the barn, “Here she comes again with another one of her giants,” or “Did he just grow another hand in the last few months?” Both of my competition horses stick at 16.3 hands, and I am 5-ft-2 and ¾”. (Heavy emphasis on the ¾” people… a girl this short has got to take anything she can get!)

I suppose I didn’t quite know how hefty of a challenge it was going to be for me until I tried containing one of those 1,200-lb extremely fit mammoths in a dressage test in front of a horde of “horse eating” spectators with these little stub legs. It was then that I realized just how much help an extra 6 inches of leg might be. Well, I guess you live and learn. After all this work and love put into my horses I am not about to sell them, and I think at the age of 34 any chances of me growing anytime soon are slim to none. So maybe this newfound self-awareness will cross my mind next time I go horse shopping.

Or maybe I will just go buy a sportscar….

About Krissy Singleton: Krissy lives on a farm in Parker, CO with her four horses, two dogs and a wonderful horsey-supportive husband! She owns two Trakehners and two OTTBs and is obsessed with all things eventing, dressage, jumping, racing, reining, vaulting, horse whispering… well, really ANYTHING to do with horses (other than being a lawn dart). She primarily competes in eventing, and is truly an adrenaline junky. She also works full time as a Research and Development Manager for a medical device company–not for he adrenaline surges the job provides–but to pay for all those horse bills!