Why the Mustang is called a Pony?

[Luffie]

My little niece of 8 years old just asked me why the Mustang is called a pony instead of a horse?

I have no single clue ???

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[GoGoGadgetMachE]

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on this just now.

Everyone agrees Dennis Shattuck, editor of Car Life magazine, coined the term. But nobody seems to know why he chose "pony" instead of "horse." The common theory seems to be that "pony car" implies smaller size and "cute", and sounds better than "horse car".

 

[jhalkias]

I went down that rabbit hole too. But found nothing that I would even attempt to tell an 8 year old.

 

[SashaLondon]

Just to let you know if in the UK to say something is pony. Its slang for garbage as in rhyming slang (pony and trap = crap).

 

[Davedough]

As someone who has horses, ponies are smaller in size than a typical horse but they're also a bit more wily and actually a bit stronger than their full sized counterparts. This may be why pony was chosen since the original mustang was a small muscle car

 

[bluestarct]

As someone who has horses, ponies are smaller in size than a typical horse but they're also a bit more wily and actually a bit stronger than their full sized counterparts. This may be why pony was chosen since the original mustang was a small muscle car

Agreed. Mustang horses are small and are usually called ponies. Most small horses are called ponies. The Shetland pony is an extreme example.

If you get into draft horses like Clydesdales (Budweiser horses) no one calls them ponies. I had a friend who got a Percheron which is a huge huge horse.

Yes I grew up in Texas riding horses but I still preferred dirt bikes.

 

[janitorjim]

Pony car

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

As someone who has horses, ponies are smaller in size than a typical horse but they're also a bit more wily and actually a bit stronger than their full sized counterparts. This may be why pony was chosen since the original mustang was a small muscle car

That's completely reasonable. If we had the original magazine write-up from back then, it might be explained. Not sure where you find that though!

 

[ChasingCoral]

Agreed. Mustang horses are small and are usually called ponies. Most small horses are called ponies. The Shetland pony is an extreme example.

If you get into draft horses like Clydesdales (Budweiser horses) no one calls them ponies. I had a friend who got a Percheron which is a huge huge horse.

Yes I grew up in Texas riding horses but I still preferred dirt bikes.

Don't know if that's the reason but I like it.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Did anyone measure the 1965 Mustang to see if it was less than 14.2 hands at the withers?

We used to informally call all our horses ponies at times. Besides, it sounds much better than "Horsey Car" anyway.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Just to let you know if in the UK to say something is pony. Its slang for garbage as in rhyming slang (pony and trap = crap).

Welp, thanks for taking a dump on one of my license plate ideas. Oy.

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