A Pony Is Defined by Height, Not by Age
Ponies are small horses. The distinction is a measured height, and a pony is not a young horse.
Ponies are horses under a defined height, usually 14.2 hands — about 147 centimetres — at the withers. They are not young horses: a young horse is a foal, then a yearling, then a colt or filly. A pony stays a pony for life. In British slang a pony is also twenty-five pounds, from Victorian betting terms.
- Small horses. *Shetland ponies.*
- Twenty-five pounds (British slang). *That will cost a pony.*
- Pony up — to pay. *Pony up the money.*
- Ponytail — a hairstyle. *A neat ponytail.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | pony | A grey pony. |
| Plural | ponies | Two ponies. |
| Related | foal | A newborn foal. |
| Related | hand | Fifteen hands high. |
| Related | withers | Measured at the withers. |
How it is used in a sentence
- A pony is under 14.2 hands.Measured at the withers.
- A hand is four inches.An old body measurement.
- A monkey is five hundred pounds.Another slang amount.
British money slang
- Pony — twenty-five pounds
- Monkey — five hundred pounds
- Ton — one hundred pounds
- Grand — one thousand pounds
- Score — twenty pounds
From Scots *powny*, from Old French *poulenet*, a little foal, from Latin *pullus*, a young animal.
Is a pony a baby horse?
No. A pony is an adult horse under a defined height. A young horse of any breed is a foal.
Why is a hand four inches?
It approximates the width of a human hand, and was standardised at four inches for measuring horses.