ARE SHOW PONY CLASSES FOR ADULTS THE WAY FORWARD?

This post was sparked by a conversation with a passionate showie who happens to work in the same non-horsey office as me. Yes, we should have been hidden behind our computer screens toiling away but talking about horses is much more interesting...

Anyway, she has recently decided to take a break from the show ring which is fair enough. I didn't compete for about four years while I was at university. However, the interesting thing is she claims that if there was a ridden show pony class for adults she would not have given up showing. She's a diminutive girl (damn her!) and just wasn't that comfortable in hack classes.

This got me thinking. Why isn't there an option for adults wanting to show ponies? I can't seem to think of one. Surely introducing this class would benefit everyone.
The show organisers would be happy because they would have more competitors and there would possibly be less drop-off after teenagers had grown out of the children's pony ring. The competitors would be pleased because they could ride and compete on a height that suited them.

In the UK, there are a few alternatives for teens not wanting to dive straight into hack classes. The BSPS (British Show Pony Society) offers the Intermediate Show Riding Types classification. A Small ISRT must exceed 146 cm and not exceed 153cm and a Large ISRT must be over 153 cm but not over 158cm. Riders can compete in this class until they are 25 years of age. This provides quite a nice bridge between show pony classes and the open hack classes.

Another popular option for adult pony riders in the UK is to show native British ponies under saddle. Any individual of any age can show a native pony, be that a Welsh B, Welsh D, Connemara etc, under saddle. This is one reason that ridden native pony classes in the UK are so HUGE and highly competitive!

In Australia, there are even more possibilities. You have a whole plethora of classes specifically for adult ridden ponies- the adult's pony hack, for example, which can be as small as 12.2hh and as large as 14.2hh.

So, with all these possible options, why hasn't New Zealand introduced an option for adult pony riders yet? The Show Riding Horse class has recently been added to the Horse of the Year Show schedule which I think is great. However, I think that a ridden pony class for adults would bring even more new blood into the sport and would stop people, especially those coming to the end of their children's riding pony career, from drifting away from the show ring. What do you guys think?

Guide to photos in this post: Number One = Small Intermediate Show Riding Type, Number Two = FEI Dressage Pony and Number Three = Ridden Welsh Section D