Amanda Stoddart-West, a welfare officer at the Royal Three Counties Show in England, asked 12 riders to dismount after they were deemed too big for the ponies they were riding and presented an equine welfare risk.
This was the first year the show enforced a rule stating that all riders must be “suitably mounted” after last year's event at which several larger riders were mounted on show ponies, reported Horse & Hound.
Stoddart-West also works for the Great Yorkshire Show, which began enforcing a 20 percent weight limit for all riders seven years ago. Show secretary Betsy Branyan said that a weight limit rule will most likely be enforced in 2024.
The discrepancy in rider height to pony size was unacceptable, says Branyan, though one case was related to weight of the rider to pony size. Though Branyan is proud of the show's efforts to protect equine welfare, Stoddart-West said the reaction to the rider removal was not taken well; some riders had to be asked to dismount more than once.
Stoddart-West said that correctly matched ponies to riders is important to help ensure positive public perception of riding and equine welfare, and that the rider removal was not only to protect the horses' welfare, but to protect the ability to ride horses in the grander scheme by addressing public perception.
Read more at Horse & Hound.
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