Pony power! We are celebrating ponies of all breeds on YourDressage throughout the month of June!
Did you know dressage riders who choose ponies as their mounts are eligible for many Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards, as there are several pony organizations on our Participating Organization list?
Here, we brought six of those breeds together to learn what makes ponies so powerful!
By Jayna Pellett
The High-Stepping Hackney Pony
This breed traces its roots back to the Norfolk Trotter, a powerful riding horse developed in 14th-century England. Breeders sought to increase speed and style by refining the Norfolk Trotter with early Thoroughbreds, and the resulting breed founded the Hackney Stud Book Society in 1883. Pennsylvania Railroad President Alexander Johnston Cassatt imported the first Hackney pony, 239 Stella, to the United States. In 1891, he and other Hackney enthusiasts founded the American Hackney Horse Society.
Today, the Hackney is a compactly built pony with large, strong joints, well-muscled hindquarters, and a reputation for soundness. Another characteristic that sets the Hackney apart from other breeds is its spectacular, ground-covering knee action and distinct shoulder motion. With this type of natural talent, Hackneys make flashy – and successful – dressage mounts.
Lisa Pierson competed her Hackney horse, Baryshnikov, through Grand Prix, earning many accolades along the way.
The Novel New Forest Pony
These ponies are native to the British Isle mountains, specifically New Forest in southern England, and have likely inhabited this area for centuries; here, researchers have uncovered the skeletal remains of various pony breeds dating from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. The New Forest pony is relatively new in the United States, with the first pony, Deeracres Sir Anthony, imported to Ohio in 1957. To promote the breed and encourage population growth, enthusiasts formed the New Forest Pony Society of North America in 2003.
New Forest ponies are hardy, working-type equines with sloped shoulders and strong hindquarters. These horses move with active energy and exhibit a great deal of natural versatility. New Forest ponies are also notably kind and trainable, making technical dressage movements a fun challenge for them!
In 2023, Jennifer Van de Loo and her New Forest pony, Duke of the Dawn, took home the Adult Amateur Intermediate I Championship at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 9 Dressage Championships.
The Determined Dartmoor Pony
These ponies hail from Devon, an area of southwest England subject to extreme weather conditions. Because of this harsh environment, Dartmoor ponies developed exceptional stamina and became vital to the medieval tin industry, hauling tin loads out of mines and across the country. However, the general demand for working animals decreased during the Industrial Revolution, and Dartmoor populations tanked. To preserve the breed, enthusiasts formed the Dartmoor Pony Society in 1924, and American breeders established the Dartmoor Pony Registry of America in 1956.
The modern Dartmoor pony stands no higher than 13 hands (per the breed standard) and sports strong legs, well-angled shoulders, and round hindquarters. In addition, this breed is often kind and reliable, making them excellent youth ponies.
Dartmoors have proved successful in several disciplines, such as hunter/jumpers, combined driving, hunting, rail classes, and (of course!) dressage. This year, 19-year-old Dartmoor pony Collstone Bonanza made headlines after winning the 2024 Royal Windsor Senior Pony Championship, ridden by 10-year-old Myles Hartland.
The Fancy Fell Pony
These ponies originated among the treacherous terrain of the Northern Fells, a mountain range in historic Cumbria, one of the two northernmost counties in modern day England. Like the Dartmoor pony, Fell ponies were vital to mining industries; they transported copper, iron, and lead ores across the country and remained a staple of industry until horses became primarily recreational animals in the 20th century. Though the Fell Pony Society formed in 1922, these ponies were only introduced to North America in the 1990s, with the Fell Pony Society of North America created in 2002.
Fell ponies have an eye-catching profile with a flowing mane, long tail, feathered legs, and solid build. Today, nearly 85% of all Fell ponies are black, but breed registries also permit bay/brown and gray. As long as both parents are registered, chestnuts and horses with excessive white markings are eligible for registration (but only under a separate section called “Section X”). With a strong yet agile body, a stride made to cover lots of ground, and looks for days, these ponies are excellent dressage prospects.
The Incomparable Icelandic Horse
Norse settlers brought these ponies to Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries, where they have since thrived. With little influence from other breeds, natural selection is the primary process by which the Icelandic horse developed. The severe Icelandic weather gave way to a highly resourceful and hardy pony, but in 1783, a volcanic eruption wiped out 70% of the breed. After recovering from this devastation, breeders became more selective and created the Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations (FEIF), an international parent registry for all Icelandic horse registries. In 1969, United States breeders formed the United States Icelandic Horse Congress under FEIF rules and regulations.
In addition to their natural athleticism, surefootedness, friendly nature, and flashy coat colors, Icelandic horses exhibit five natural gaits: walk, trot, canter, tolt, and pace. Although most of us are familiar with the walk, trot, and canter, the tolt is a lateral, four-beat gait used for smoothly traveling long distances on horseback with a footfall sequence of left hind, left front, right hind, and right front. The pace is a symmetrical two-beat gait where each side’s hind and front legs land simultaneously. This gait is smooth, ridable, and very fast, often called the “fifth gear.”
The Gorgeous German Riding Pony
With breeding records beginning in 1965, the German Riding Pony is a relatively new breed, influenced by modern Welsh ponies, Arabians, and Thoroughbreds. Looking to create a high-caliber competition pony for children, representatives of the Weser-Em Ponies & Small Horse Registry of the GOV, an existing German warmblood registry, sought to develop a smaller counterpart to the standard German warmblood. By 1975, breeders had essentially crafted a fun-sized horse, often described as a “mini-warmblood.”
The ideal German Riding pony has petite, lean features and should not resemble the typical stout “pony” look. Similarly, the German Riding pony should move with a “horse” stride that is energetic yet flowy, rhythmic, and exhibits noticeable suspension. Because of the emphasis on athleticism when developing this breed, German Riding ponies excel in most disciplines while remaining rideable enough for a young or petite rider.
At the 2023 US Dressage Festival of Champions, Bennett McWhorter and 27-year-old German Riding pony Littel Joe 2 reigned victorious in the FEI Pony Rider division, earning the highest-scored team and individual tests.
