What is a Pony?
A pony, as the term is traditionally used, is a small horse, a horse under 14 hands 2 inches. For racing however, a pony is a horse used by trainer to ride among the racehorses while they are out training. The pony might actually be accompanying one racehorse (as was the case for Messaging and Barbaro) or the entire string. A pony is also used to escort the racehorses down to the start for their races. Ponies that are escorting horses are essentially being used to make sure the horse stays calm and under control. These ponies (and riders) are different from the ones used in the morning training. The ponies are typically of horse height, they may be x racehorses (Messaging) or of other breeds (Tim’s Luke). If a horse and rider is “being ponied” it means that they are being escorted by a pony and pony rider.
