The French Saddle Pony, also called the Poney Français de Selle, is pony

Pony

A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

 breed developed as a sport pony

Sport horse

Sport horse, or Sporthorse, is a term used to describe a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term generally refers to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving. The precise definition varies...

 for children and smaller adult riders. Thus, it fills a role similar to that of the British Riding Pony

Riding Pony

The Riding Pony was developed in the United Kingdom, and are now bred all over the world. The term is used to refer to as show ponies, divided into classes based on height and type, hunter classes, side-saddle and in hand classes...

 and the German riding pony

German Riding Pony

The Deutsche Reitpony or German Riding Pony is a very popular pony breed in Germany. It is described as a "miniature warmblood" with refined, horse-like characteristics that make it suitable as both a children's pony and as a mount for sport horse competition in Europe...

.

History

The French Saddle Pony was created by crossing native French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 pony mares

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

 with Welsh pony

Welsh Pony

The Welsh Pony and Cob are closely related horse breeds including both pony and cob types, which originated in Wales in the United Kingdom...

, New Forest Pony

New Forest pony

The New Forest Pony or New Forester is one of the recognised Mountain and moorland or Native pony breeds of the British Isles. The breed is valued for its hardiness, strength and sureness of foot...

, Arabian horse

Arabian horse

The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...

 and Connemara Pony

Connemara pony

The Connemara pony is a pony breed originating in Ireland. They are known for their athleticism, versatility and good disposition. The breed makes excellent show ponies.-History:...

 stallions. The breed's section of the French Pony Stud book also includes ponies that were bred through the crossing of Arabian stallions with Connemara, New Forest and Welsh Pony mares, as well as Selle Francais, Connemara and New Forest stallions with Merens, Basque and Landais

Landais Pony

The Landais or Barthais is a small pony from the Landes region of southwest France, and from the area of Pau in particular.-History:...

 mares.

Breed Characteristics

The French Saddle Pony stands 125 – high and can be any color

Equine coat color

Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.While most horses remain the same color throughout life, a few, over the course of several years, will develop a different coat color from that with which they were born...

. The head is small with a straight or convex profile. The neck is long, the withers

Withers

The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of a four-legged animal. In many species it is the tallest point of the body, and in horses and dogs it is the standard place to measure the animal's height .-Horses:The withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the...

 prominent, the chest wide and deep and the shoulders sloping and long. The croup is sloping and the legs are strong with large, clean joints and clearly defined tendons.

Uses

French Saddle Ponies are mainly used as riding horses in competition events such as show jumping

Show jumping

Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...

 and dressage

Dressage

Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...

, but are also used as harness ponies

Driving (horse)

Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way...

.