Handy Pony Event

[Weaving]

So I know there's a long list of things that will get priority to this kind of suggestion (and rightly so!) but I was wondering if anyone else thinks handy pony could be a nice new event option? I've seen it on other horse sims and it would give some of the small(er) creatures on here a chance to strut their stuff.

Also 100000% cuteness factor.

[Scythian]

Besides In-Hand Jumping? Many ponies are pretty good at Obstacle Driving too (which is open to all heights).

As it is, In-Hand is restricted by height from minimum to 9.1 h. Tends to attract Shetlands, of course, but some of our recent best are miniature-sized Arabians! The traits for this event are Intelligence, Agility, Strength, and Stamina (in that order), and the desired BCS is 4-5 (not sure how big a factor that is).

Adorable ponies can be found at (a couple of examples) ...

North Star Ponies (home of many In-Hand champions)
http://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/view/8121

Neon4's Little Ponies
http://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/view/16975

and the gorgeous and talented tiny Arabians live at Dance With Me Training Stables (KayaineII):
http://www.horseworldonline.net/farm/view/10210

[Weaving]

Oh most definitely, there is always in-hand jumping and the events that don't require a rider just a suggestion, I suppose actually Handy Pony could be anything from minimum to 14.2 (being the pony cut-off.) Those are some lovely farms you've linked to.

I supppose if anyone else did like the sound of this then sensible traits for it could be intelligence, balance, strength, stamina (you'd need quite the endurance to put up with pony-club-kicking children all day!). Obviously bomb-proof ponies would perform better. I just thought it would be a cute idea I guess?

[Xant’hippe]

Absolutely! Ponies bring teh cute, always.

***Special thanks to fakethislife for sponsoring the ONLY In-Hand Jumping classes at levels 4-9. WIthout this ladder several current champions would not have made the climb.***

I wish I could sponsor events for a class of breeds, like Harness Racing for Ponies, or for a range of heights (say 14.2 and under). My experience in sponsoring breed-restricted classes is that not even Shetland (by far the most numerous pony breed)* classes fill in a reasonable amount of time. All Racing disciplines, Western Pleasure, and Saddleseat classes only allow one entry per each account, and that restriction also delays many classes in filling.

*The Breeds Wiki needs some editing. Several pony and draft breeds are still mistakenly listed in Light Horse.

We'll see what develops -- as it is I'm sure Larissar (and maybe Tom) are still dealing with the results of the Upgrade.

[Argent II]

I highly doubt you'd see ponies in Obstacle Driving. That's a high intensity FEI sport. Perhaps they would be competitive in lower level Driven Dressage. Fine Harness would also be an option if it were added. And Shetland racing/steeples are a thing in Europe.

Horse are not mistakenly sorted in the Wiki. It's just incomplete. Because the admins have other things to worry about.

[Scythian]

There is a Scurry Driving event in Great Britain in which teams of very little, very fast ponies pull small, light carts through a twisting course at at gallop. There's a driver and another person whose job is to lean out of the cart as a counterbalance to keep it from falling over in the tight turns.

Of course there can and should be size-based divisions for many disciplines. An Obstacle Driving class restricted to Shetlands would be the closest possible approach to the U.K. Scurry.

Let's leave it at: The Admins have a lot on their agendas right now.

[Weaving]

The scurry event is a good point! I did write in the original post that I didn't think this was a suggestion suitable for right now as there are bigger fish to fry, but maybe in the future it would be nice

[Kintara]

There are lots of great obstacle and other harness events for ponies in the real world! The harness classes seem to be full of welshies etc