British Showjumping Pony Distances: 128, 138 & 148
Club nights still set related distances in showjumping off the horse column, then wonder why the 128s look long. The official British Showjumping Distance Guide already prints three pony bands: 128cm, 138cm and 148cm. A 128 is not a short horse. It is a different stride and a different number between the wings.
This post is those pony tables. Horse numbers sit here only so you can see the gap. YardForge is not official British Showjumping software. Figures come from the Distance Guide, October 2018 v2 (https://www.britishshowjumping.co.uk/_files/Officials/Distance%20guide%20October%202018%20v2.pdf), in the units the PDF prints.
Why pony tables exist
Put a 128cm pony on a horse four-stride (59ft - 60ft) and you have not given it a slightly roomy four. You have given it the 128 five-stride. Same cell, different column. The pony is not being naughty. The line was built for an animal that covers more ground.
The 128, 138 and 148 classes exist because height at the wither is a rough proxy for stride. A 148 can live closer to a small horse. A 128 cannot. Shrink the fences but leave horse relateds in the ground and the test changes. The first element still jumps. The second arrives early, or the rider adds, or they chip.
You see it most on one- and two-strides, because there is nowhere to hide. Horse one-stride in the guide is 24ft 6" - 25ft 6". 128 one-stride is 19ft - 20ft. That is five to six feet. On a double, five feet is the difference between leaving on a stride and leaving on a guess. Related distances for ponies are not "horse minus a bit." British Showjumping already did that, band by band, and printed it.
How to read the official guide
The file is one landscape page: Distance guide October 2018 v2 (PDF). Header: "A guide to the measurements used between fences for specific pony height classes and in horse classes." Four columns. Six rows. Strides 1 through 6. That is all it prints. No bounce, no seven-stride, no metric conversion.
Under the table, in full: *These distances are for guidance only. Consideration must also be given to site circumstances and material to be used.
Read that as the instruction, not a skippable footnote. Ground, going, gradient, fence type (vertical to oxer is not vertical to vertical), and the pony in front of you still decide the number you set. Holding ground rides shorter. A springy, downhill related rides longer. An oxer that jumps you out eats more of the distance than a skinny upright.
The table does not replace a measuring wheel or a tape. Affiliated measurement still needs one of those. Units below are copied as printed: feet, hyphen ranges, inches only where the PDF uses them (the horse one-stride cell).
Horse table, for contrast
Same source, horse column only.
Number of strides | Horse
1 | 24ft 6" - 25ft 6"
2 | 35ft - 36ft
3 | 47ft - 48ft
4 | 59ft - 60ft
5 | 70ft - 72ft
6 | 83ft - 85ft
If the number in the ground matches this column, it is a horse related. It is not a generous pony related.
128cm pony
Number of strides | 128cm Pony
1 | 19ft - 20ft
2 | 29ft - 30ft
3 | 39ft - 40ft
4 | 49ft - 50ft
5 | 59ft - 60ft
6 | 69ft - 70ft
Each extra stride adds ten feet, and every range is one foot wide. Short ends on a tape: 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69. That is why a horse four (59ft - 60ft) is a 128 five. Do not split the difference and call it a "forward four" for this band. Set the 128 four at 49ft - 50ft, or admit you have built a five.
138cm pony
Number of strides | 138cm Pony
1 | 21ft - 22ft
2 | 31ft - 32ft
3 | 41ft - 43ft
4 | 52ft - 53ft
5 | 62ft - 63ft
6 | 72ft - 73ft
The three-stride cell is 41ft - 43ft. That is a two-foot range, not a typing error. The PDF prints it that way. On the day, going and fence type decide the short end or the long end. The four-stride does not sit on a neat ten-foot step from the two-stride either (31ft - 32ft, then 41ft - 43ft, then 52ft - 53ft). Use the printed cell, not a pattern you have decided the table should follow.
148cm pony
Number of strides | 148cm Pony
1 | 23ft - 24ft
2 | 32ft - 33ft
3 | 43ft - 44ft
4 | 54ft - 55ft
5 | 65ft - 66ft
6 | 76ft - 77ft
A 148 one-stride (23ft - 24ft) sits just under the horse one-stride (24ft 6" - 25ft 6"). Close enough that people copy the horse double and tell themselves it will do. It is still a different leaving point, especially into an oxer. The two-stride is only a foot longer than the 138 two-stride (32ft - 33ft against 31ft - 32ft). The bands are not evenly spaced at every stride. Read the cell you need. Do not interpolate between horse and "pony."
Mixing heights in one class, or one collecting ring
One arena, one pair of practice wings, and a timetable that runs 128s, 138s, 148s, then horses: that is where club days come unstuck. Or an unaffiliated mixed-height pony class that is really three stride lengths sharing a track.
If you leave a single related in the collecting ring at horse two-stride (35ft - 36ft):
a 128 two-stride is 29ft - 30ft, so the horse two is a long two heading towards a 128 three (39ft - 40ft)
a 138 two-stride is 31ft - 32ft, still short of 35ft
a 148 two-stride is 32ft - 33ft, closer, but not the same cell
Build the related for the smallest pony using it, or do not leave a related at all. A single upright to pop is kinder than a horse two-stride that teaches 128s to launch. If you can spare the wings, set two practice relateds and label them. If you cannot, pull the second fence.
On the course, a mixed pony class cannot be fair to every band with one number. Pick the band the class is named for. If the schedule says 138 and a 128 is guesting, the 128 will find the relateds roomy. Say so on the course walk. Do not quietly split 128 and 138 cells and hope both leave at the same point.
Horse numbers in a pony class are not a "proper" test. They are a different test. If you want a 128 four, set 49ft - 50ft. If you want them to show a five, set 59ft - 60ft and number it honestly.
Walk it, then check it, then (if you want) place it
Walk the line. Do not trust the last person who always puts the two-stride on those holes.
Rider-walking rules of thumb are written for horses. Horse & Rider use a 12ft canter stride, plus about 6ft of landing and 6ft of take-off. On that arithmetic a 60ft related is a four-stride, walked in 3ft steps: four paces per canter stride, two for landing, two for take-off. Useful on a horse course walk. Not a 128 walking rule. A 128 is not covering 12ft. Use the pony column first, then watch a couple of the actual ponies go if you can.
Once the tape matches a cell in the right band, check the same line in the stride calculator. Set the height band and the fence types, and see whether the number on the ground still reads as the stride you meant. Planning check only: not a substitute for the guide or a wheel.
If the related has to live with the rest of the track, place the line on a scaled arena in the designer so you can see whether the four-stride still fits after the turn. Then go back to the wings and measure what you actually built.
Take the numbers with you
Start with the pony column that matches the class. Guidance only. Site and material still get a vote.
Open the stride calculator, set the pony band, and check the related you are about to build. If you want the same figures on paper in the collecting ring, take the free stride chart (printable PDF, no card).
The official source remains the October 2018 v2 Distance Guide. If a number in this draft and the PDF ever disagree, the PDF wins.
