28 Pony Drawing Ideas With Braided Manes, Ribbons and Meadow Days

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A pony drawing is one of those subjects that rewards you fast: a round little body, a soft eye, a mane you can braid with just a few pencil strokes, and suddenly there is a whole character looking back at you. These 28 ideas turn that into a full storybook world, braided manes and rosettes, foals beside their mothers, a girl reading on her pony’s back under a tree.

Every scene below is built for colored pencil, with a simple order of marks that takes you from first light outline to the last warm shadow in one sitting. Pick whichever pony calls to you first and work down the page as your confidence grows.

Start with the braided mane itself, since a pony with a braided mane and ribbons is really a study in small repeated shapes rather than a difficult drawing. Block in the head and neck lightly in graphite or a pale tan pencil first, keeping the muzzle soft and rounded, then divide the mane into a row of small overlapping bumps running along the crest.

Layer a warm brown or chestnut over the coat first, then come back into the braids with a slightly darker shade along one edge of each bump to show where they tuck under the next one. Add the ribbons last as small bright triangles tucked between two or three braids, in a color that contrasts with the coat.

If this is your first time braiding a mane on paper, draw the bumps a little bigger than feels right. Tiny shapes get fiddly fast with colored pencil, and bigger braids still read clearly from across a room.

Keep one ribbon color per braid group so the pattern reads clearly rather than looking speckled.

Palette: Burnt Sienna,Raw Umber,Cherry Red,Cream

Give the pony a reason to drop its head: grazing in daisies puts the whole body in a relaxed curve with the muzzle low among the flowers. Sketch the body first as a simple oval with a bent neck reaching down, then place the legs underneath, checking that the head is roughly one of the “pony lengths” away from the shoulder so the proportions stay believable.

Layer the coat in a soft grey or dapple grey, working the pencil in small circular strokes to keep the texture fuzzy rather than glassy. Scatter the daisies around the front legs using a white gel pen for the petals once the green ground layer is down, with a dot of yellow pencil in each center.

Where beginners often lose the shape is the bent neck, which can look snapped rather than curved. Draw a light guideline from ear to chest before adding any detail, and keep that curve smooth the whole way down.

Swap the daisies for simple clover shapes if you would rather skip the white gel pen step.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Dapple Grey,Grass Green,Lemon Yellow,Titanium White

Move from a pony alone into a pony with a companion, and a girl brushing her pony is a gentle way to begin that. Draw the pony standing square first, since this pose needs the legs evenly spaced to hold the scene steady, then add the girl in profile beside the shoulder with one arm raised holding a brush.

Work the pony’s coat in warm bay tones, leaving the brush strokes themselves as a lighter streak across the flank to suggest the groomed shine. Keep the girl’s figure simple, a plain dress or jumper in one flat color so she does not compete with the pony for attention.

The scale between the two figures is where this drawing usually goes wrong. Hold your pencil up against the sketch and check the girl’s head sits roughly level with the pony’s shoulder, not its back, before you commit to color.

For a quicker version, skip the brush and simply show her hand resting flat on the pony’s neck.

Palette: Bay Brown,Black,Denim Blue,Cream

Look at reference photos of a person standing beside a pony’s shoulder, not its head, to get the height relationship right before you sketch.

After a quiet grooming scene, a pony jumping a little fence brings in some motion. Sketch the body mid-arc with the front legs tucked up and the back legs trailing, using a simple curved spine line as your guide before adding any bulk to the body.

Place the fence low and small underneath, just two or three horizontal rails on simple posts, so the jump reads as playful rather than competitive. Shade the pony’s legs with quick, directional strokes that follow the line of each leg to keep the sense of movement, and add the mane and tail flying slightly backward.

Where this pose often falls apart is the front legs, which can end up looking stiff and straight when they should be bent sharply at the knee. Draw them as a simple zigzag line first, then build the muscle shape around that zigzag rather than around a straight limb.

Use a lighter grey for the far legs so they recede slightly behind the nearer ones.

Palette: Chestnut,Warm Grey,Mahogany,Sky Blue

Slow the pace back down with a shetland pony in a blanket, a shape made almost entirely of round, soft curves. Shetlands are stocky and low, so draw the body wider and shorter than a standard pony, with a thick neck and a mane that nearly covers the eyes.

Add the blanket as a simple strapped shape draped over the back and sides, choosing a plaid or solid color that contrasts with the coat. Work the shaggy coat texture with short, flicked pencil strokes rather than smooth shading, since that flicked mark is what sells a shetland’s fluffiness.

The mane is the easy place to overdo it. Keep most of the detail along the top edge where light catches the hair, and let the lower part of the mane stay a looser, darker mass so it does not turn into a solid block of lines.

If plaid feels fiddly, a plain navy or red blanket with a simple cream trim reads just as well.

Palette: Dark Brown,Navy,Cream,Rust

Carry the softness forward into a pony in a flower crown, which sits somewhere between the braided mane idea and a daisy meadow. Draw the head and ears first, then sketch a simple ring shape resting just behind the ears before adding any flowers, so the crown keeps its circular form once it is dressed.

Build the flowers as small clusters of three or four petals around the ring, mixing pink, lavender and white so no single color dominates, with a few green leaf shapes tucked between them. Shade the pony’s face in soft layers, keeping the area right around the eyes a touch darker to bring the gaze forward.

Flower crowns can end up looking stuck on flat rather than wrapped around the head. Vary the size of the flowers slightly, smaller near the ears and larger at the center front, so the ring reads as curving with the head rather than floating above it.

Finish with a few tiny white gel pen highlights on the petals to lift them off the coat.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Soft Pink,Lavender,Sage Green,Cream

Give the weather a turn with a pony in a rain coat, a fun chance to draw a slightly comic, oversized shape over the body. Sketch the pony standing first in a relaxed pose, then add the coat as a simple draped rectangle with rounded corners, buckled at the chest and falling just past the belly.

Choose a bright yellow or glossy navy for the coat so it reads clearly against a grey, rainy background, and shade it with a slightly harder edge than the coat’s soft fur to suggest the waterproof shine. Leave small white gel pen streaks across the coat for rain highlights, and add a few simple raindrops falling around the pony using short vertical dashes.

The coat can swallow the pony’s shape if you are not careful. Keep the legs and head visible and fully shaded in fur texture, so only the body itself disappears under fabric, not the whole animal.

A plain grey sky with no raindrops at all works just as well if the dashes feel fussy.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Bright Yellow,Slate Grey,Dark Brown,Pale Blue Grey

After the rainy day, bring the pony back out for a pony at a show with a rosette, a scene built around one small bright focal point. Draw the pony standing proud, neck slightly arched and ears forward, then pin the rosette just below the bridle on the side facing the viewer.

Build the rosette out of layered circles, a larger pleated outer ring in red or blue with a smaller gold circle at the center, and two short ribbon tails hanging below it. Shade the pony’s coat with care around the chest and shoulder, since this is where the eye lands first, keeping strokes smooth and confident in that area even if the rest stays looser.

Rosettes often end up looking like a flat sticker rather than something pinned on fabric. Add one or two small shadow lines where the ribbon tails cross the coat, which is enough to suggest it is sitting on top of the pony rather than floating beside it.

Keep the background plain so the rosette stays the clear star of the page.

Palette: Royal Blue,Gold,Bay Brown,Cream

Keep the mood light and small with a pony eating an apple, a close, friendly portrait rather than a full scene. Draw the head large, filling most of the page, with the muzzle slightly open and the apple held between the lips or resting just in front of them.

Shade the apple first in a simple red and green blend, since it is small and easy to lose once the coat shading starts, then build the muzzle fur in short strokes radiating outward from the nostrils. Add a few wet highlights on the apple’s skin with a white gel pen to give it some shine.

The muzzle is the trickiest part of any pony close up, and it can flatten out without enough shadow. Darken the area just under the nostrils and around the mouth corners, since that shadow is what gives the muzzle its soft, rounded form.

If apples are not your thing, swap it for a simple carrot held the same way.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Apple Red,Leaf Green,Chestnut,Cream

Widen the view again with a pony in a stable with hay, which adds a simple interior setting behind the animal. Block in the pony standing inside a stall first, then add the stable around it last: a wooden half door, a few horizontal planks, and a loose pile of hay in one corner.

Draw the hay as a cluster of short, scratchy golden lines rather than one solid shape, layering a pale yellow base with darker gold strokes on top for depth. Shade the wood planks with a dry brush style pencil stroke, pressing lightly so some of the paper shows through for a weathered texture.

Stables can swallow the pony if the background gets too detailed. Keep the wood simple and the hay loose, and let the pony’s coat carry the most contrast and the sharpest detail in the whole scene.

A single hanging lantern or horseshoe on the wall is enough extra detail without crowding the page.

Palette: Golden Straw,Warm Wood Brown,Chestnut,Soft Grey

Bring a second animal in with a pony and a dog, a friendship scene that works well as a simple side by side composition. Draw the pony standing first, then add a small dog, a terrier or spaniel shape works nicely, sitting or standing just beside one front leg, looking up toward the pony’s face.

Keep the two animals’ fur textures distinct: longer, smoother strokes for the pony’s coat and shorter, choppier strokes for the dog’s, so they read as two different textures even in the same warm color family. Shade the ground beneath both with a simple soft shadow to anchor them together in the same space.

The size relationship between the two animals is the detail to get right here. Measure the dog against the pony’s leg before adding color, since a dog drawn even slightly too large will read as a pony-sized dog rather than a small companion.

A simple collar in a bright color on the dog adds a nice pop of contrast against the pony’s coat.

Palette: Chestnut,Warm Tan,Cherry Red,Cream

Add some gentle motion with a pony pulling a small cart, a scene that leans on perspective to feel believable. Set the pony’s eye level fairly low on the page and place the cart slightly behind and below that line, which makes it read as being pulled along the ground rather than floating beside the pony.

Sketch the simple wooden cart with two large round wheels first, then connect it to the pony with thin shaft lines running back from a simple harness strap across the chest. Shade the wheels with a few straight spokes and a darker rim, and keep the cart itself a plain, warm wood tone so it does not compete with the pony.

Harness straps are the easy part to get wrong, since too many lines can make the chest look tangled. Use just two or three clean strap lines, one across the chest and one along the back, and let the rest stay implied.

A small basket of flowers inside the cart is a nice finishing touch if you want extra color.

Palette: Honey Brown,Wood Brown,Forest Green,Cream

Shift into family scenes with a foal beside its mother, which relies on a clear size contrast to feel right. Draw the mare first in a calm standing pose, then place the foal close against her side, legs a little longer in proportion to its body than an adult pony’s, since foals always look slightly too leggy for their size.

Shade the mare in a deeper, richer tone and keep the foal several shades lighter and fuzzier, since foal coats are usually softer and less defined than a grown pony’s. Overlap the foal’s body slightly behind the mare’s front leg to lock the two figures together as one group rather than two separate drawings.

Foal legs are the one place beginners tend to shorten by instinct, which makes the foal look like a miniature adult rather than a baby. Draw the legs a touch longer than feels natural and the proportion will read correctly.

Keep the background bare so the bond between the two stays the focus.

Palette: Deep Bay,Soft Fawn,Cream,Warm Grey

Change the setting entirely with a pony on the beach, which brings a horizon line and a bit of weather into the drawing. Keep the eye level low, close to the pony’s own legs, so the horizon sits just above the body and the sky takes up a generous share of the page.

Shade the sand in warm pale tones with light, even strokes, then let the water behind stay a simple flat band of blue green with a few white gel pen streaks for foam. Draw the pony’s mane and tail lifting slightly to one side, as if caught by sea wind, which helps the whole scene feel less static.

Wet sand under hooves is the detail that sells this setting, and it is easy to skip. Add a darker, slightly reflective patch of shading directly beneath each hoof where the sand would be damp.

A single gull shape in the sky is an easy way to add scale without much extra work.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Sand Beige,Sea Green Blue,Chestnut,Pale Sky

Follow the beach with the opposite season: a pony in the snow leans on the white of the paper itself to do most of the work. Leave large areas of the page untouched as snow, and shade only the pony, a few bare tree branches, and the soft blue grey shadows the snow casts around the hooves.

Build the coat in warm browns first, then dust a light layer of white gel pen flicks across the back and mane to suggest a few settled snowflakes. Keep the shadow tones cool, a soft blue grey rather than plain grey, since cool shadows are what make snow scenes feel properly cold.

Overworking the white snow itself is the easy mistake here, since too much pencil on the snow muddies the brightness that makes the scene work. Trust the bare paper and add detail only at the very edges where snow meets shadow.

A single bare tree branch behind the pony is enough setting, no need for a full winter forest.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Chestnut Brown,Cool Blue Grey,Titanium White,Charcoal

Bring back some saddled detail with a pony with a cherry red saddle pad, a scene that uses one strong color block to anchor the whole drawing. Draw the pony tacked up simply, saddle and pad in place but no rider, and shade the pad in a bold, even cherry red before touching the rest of the coat.

Work the coat around the pad in a complementary tone, a warm bay or grey, so the red reads as a clear pop against it rather than blending in. Add simple white piping along the pad’s edge with a gel pen for a finished, tidy look typical of show tack.

Flat, lifeless color on the pad is the main risk here. Layer two or three shades of red, darker in the folds near the girth and lighter across the flat top, so the pad has its own gentle shading rather than one block tone.

Navy or hunter green are easy substitutes if cherry red does not suit your pencil set.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Cherry Red,Bay Brown,White,Charcoal

Return to mane detail with a pony being plaited for a show, which works nicely paired with the earlier braided mane idea but focuses on the moment of plaiting rather than the finished look. Draw a pair of hands reaching up into the mane from one side, mid plait, with two or three sections already finished and the rest still loose.

Shade the finished plaits in neat, tight bumps, then let the unplaited mane fall looser and shaggier beside them so the viewer can see the before and after in one picture. Keep the hands simple, a few clean lines rather than detailed fingers, so they do not pull focus from the pony.

Hands are the part beginners often avoid entirely, but a loose, soft-edged pair of hands reads fine at this scale. Draw them as simple rounded shapes with just a hint of fingers, no need for full anatomy.

Showing only three or four plaits finished, rather than the whole mane, keeps the drawing quick without losing the story.

Palette: Dark Bay,Skin Tone,Cream,Charcoal

Slow the pace again with a pony at sunset in a meadow, a scene built entirely around where the light sits. Place the sun low on the horizon behind the pony, which throws the body into a soft silhouette on the side facing away from it and lights the mane and back edge with warm gold.

Layer the sky first in bands of orange, pink and soft purple blending into each other, then add the pony on top once the sky is dry enough not to smudge, keeping its shadowed side noticeably darker than its lit side. Add a thin rim of warm highlight along the pony’s back and ear tips where the sun catches the fur.

Flat lighting is the easy trap in any sunset scene, where the pony ends up evenly lit and the drama disappears. Commit to one strong light direction and keep every shadow consistent with it, even if that means leaving half the pony quite dark.

A few simple grass silhouettes in the foreground finish the mood without extra detail.

Palette: Sunset Orange,Soft Pink,Deep Purple,Silhouette Brown

Focus on pattern with a spotted pony, where the coat itself becomes the main event. Block in the base coat color first in an even, light layer, then plan the spots loosely with a pale pencil before committing, scattering them unevenly in clusters rather than a tidy grid so the pattern looks natural.

Shade each spot with a soft edge rather than a hard outline, blending the spot color gently into the base coat so it looks grown into the skin rather than painted on top. Vary the spot sizes across the body, smaller near the face and legs, larger across the back and hindquarters, the way real coat patterns tend to fall.

Hard, cartoonish edges around each spot are the most common slip here. Use a blending stroke or a slightly softer pencil along each spot’s border, and the pattern will sit convincingly in the coat instead of floating above it.

Try a different spot color combination next time, chestnut on cream instead of black on white, to get a completely different feeling pony from the same basic drawing.

Palette: Cream Base,Charcoal Spots,Chestnut Spots,Warm Grey

Take a quieter working moment with a pony getting new shoes, which pairs a standing pony with a crouching farrier for a nice contrast of poses. Draw the pony first, weight shifted slightly onto three legs with one hoof lifted and resting on a low stand or the farrier’s knee.

Sketch the farrier crouched low beside that leg, simple overalls and a cap, holding the hoof steady, then shade the lifted hoof last with careful attention to its underside, since that upturned angle is the most unusual shape in the whole piece. Keep the farrier’s tools, just a hammer or rasp, small and simple so they read without needing fine detail.

The lifted leg is where proportions most often slip, bending at the wrong joint or looking disconnected from the body. Trace the leg’s natural bend from the hip or shoulder down before adding the final hoof angle, checking it against the standing legs for consistency.

A quick ten minute version can simply show the lifted hoof and farrier’s hand, cropping the rest of the pony out of frame.

Palette: Bay Brown,Denim Blue,Steel Grey,Cream

Open the scene wider with a pony at a farm fair, a chance to add a little festive background without overcomplicating the main subject. Keep the pony large and centered as always, decorated simply with a ribbon or small flag in its mane, then suggest the fair behind it with just a few loose shapes: a striped tent corner, a bunting line, a wooden fence rail.

Shade the pony with full attention and detail, then let the background shapes stay flatter and simpler, almost like a soft blur, so the eye never leaves the pony for long. Bunting flags are a quick way to add color variety, alternating two or three shades along a simple curved string line.

Crowding the background with too many fair details is the easy way to lose the pony entirely. Limit yourself to two or three background elements at most, and keep every one of them simpler and lighter in tone than the pony itself.

A small ribbon tied in the mane echoes the earlier rosette idea nicely if you want the two to feel like a pair.

Palette: Warm Tan,Bunting Red,Bunting Blue,Cream

Settle into a calmer pose with a pony lying down asleep, a shape that reads completely differently from a standing pony and is worth taking slowly. Tuck the legs folded beneath the body, head resting low and eyes closed, with the whole outline forming one long, soft, rounded curve rather than the usual upright angles.

Shade the body in long, smooth strokes that follow that curve from shoulder to hip, keeping the belly and legs in soft shadow where they tuck underneath. Add a gentle highlight along the top of the back and neck where the light naturally catches a resting body.

Beginners often draw a sleeping pony still looking alert, with ears pricked and eyes half open. Soften the ear angle to a relaxed droop and close the eyes fully with just a single curved lash line, and the whole mood of rest will click into place.

Scatter a little loose straw or grass beneath the body to ground it gently into its setting.

Palette: Soft Fawn,Warm Brown,Straw Gold,Cream

Bring a quiet human moment back in with a girl reading on her pony’s back, a cozy scene that needs the pony to stay very still and relaxed. Draw the pony standing with its head low and ears soft, then seat the girl comfortably astride, legs hanging loose, a small book held open in both hands.

Keep the girl’s pose relaxed rather than upright and riding-ready, shoulders rounded slightly forward over the book, which is what sells the lazy, unhurried feeling of the scene. Shade the pony’s coat in warm, even tones and let the girl’s clothing carry a cozy color, a knit jumper or dungarees, that feels at home in a meadow.

Forty minutes gives you room to add a loose tree overhead and a dappled light pattern across both figures; ten minutes is plenty for just the two of them on a plain background.

Getting a seated figure to sit convincingly on a rounded back is the trickiest part here. Let her legs follow the curve of the pony’s belly rather than hanging perfectly straight down, which keeps her looking settled rather than perched.

Try the girl pencil drawing ideas list for more practice with relaxed seated poses before coming back to this one.

Palette: Warm Fawn,Knit Mustard,Denim Blue,Cream

Change the season once more with a pony in autumn leaves, a scene that leans on a warm, layered color palette more than any tricky shape. Draw the pony standing or walking through a light scatter of fallen leaves, body shaded in rich chestnut or bay tones that echo the oranges and reds falling around it.

Build the leaves on the ground and drifting in the air as simple curved almond shapes in varied autumn colors, layering two or three shades per leaf so none of them look flat. Let a few leaves cling to the mane or tail for a playful touch that ties the pony directly into the season around it.

Too many identical leaf shapes can start to look like confetti rather than falling leaves. Vary the leaf sizes and angles across the page, and cluster most of them near the ground with just a few drifting higher in the air.

A soft blurred tree trunk at one edge of the page is enough setting without drawing a whole forest.

Palette: Chestnut Brown,Burnt Orange,Golden Yellow,Deep Red

Return to a small animal friendship with a pony with a bunny, a quieter pairing than the earlier dog scene. Draw the pony’s head and front legs large in the frame, lowered gently toward the ground, with a small bunny sitting just in front of its hooves, ears upright and alert.

Shade the bunny’s fur in short, soft strokes much like the shetland’s shaggy coat, keeping the belly and chest a paler cream against a slightly darker back. Add a gentle connection between the two, the pony’s nose dipped close to the bunny or the bunny looking straight up at the pony’s face, so the pairing feels like a real small moment rather than two unrelated shapes.

Scale is again the detail to watch, since a bunny drawn even a little too large will read oddly against the pony’s bulk. Keep the bunny roughly the size of one hoof for a convincing sense of size.

A few clover leaves scattered near the bunny tie the two into the same patch of ground.

Palette: Warm Grey,Soft Cream,Chestnut,Sage Green

Go bold with color in a pony in a tulip field, which uses straight planted rows to build a sense of depth behind the pony. Place the pony standing or walking across the lower third of the page, then draw the tulip rows behind it as simple repeated cup shapes on short stems, growing slightly smaller as they recede toward the horizon.

Shade the tulips in blocks of one strong color per row, red, then yellow, then pink, so the striped field effect reads clearly rather than blending into a mixed muddle. Keep the pony’s own coloring fairly neutral, a soft grey or cream, so it stands out clearly against all that saturated flower color.

Rows that do not shrink as they recede are the main thing that flattens this scene. Make each row of tulips noticeably smaller and closer together than the one in front of it, which gives the field real distance.

Simplify to just two tulip colors if three rows feels like too much to manage in one sitting.

Palette: Tulip Red,Tulip Yellow,Tulip Pink,Cream Pony

Slow back down with a pony drinking from a stream, a pose built around a low, reaching neck much like the grazing scene earlier but angled toward water instead of flowers. Draw the head dipped down to the stream’s edge, neck stretched in a long smooth curve, with the muzzle just touching or barely breaking the water’s surface.

Shade the stream in simple horizontal bands of blue and green, leaving a few short white gel pen streaks to suggest the ripple spreading out from where the muzzle touches down. Keep the rocks along the bank simple rounded shapes in grey and warm brown, shaded with a flat side in shadow to anchor them into the bank.

A pony drinking can easily look like it is simply sniffing the ground if the water connection is not clear. Make sure the ripple marks and a small reflected shape beneath the muzzle both read clearly, since those two details are what tell the water story.

A dragonfly or two above the stream adds life without much extra drawing.

You Will Need

• white gel pen

Palette: Stream Blue,Moss Green,Stone Grey,Chestnut

Close the list on a playful note with a pony in a straw hat, a scene that pairs well with the braided mane idea as a lighthearted bookend to the whole collection. Draw the ears first, since a hat has to fit around them convincingly, then build the straw hat as a simple woven dome with a brim, tilted slightly for character rather than sitting perfectly straight.

Shade the straw texture with short, crisscrossing diagonal strokes in warm gold and tan, leaving the brim’s underside a touch darker in shadow cast by the dome above it. Add a simple ribbon band around the base of the hat in a cheerful color to tie it visually to the earlier ribbon and rosette ideas.

Hats often end up looking pasted flat onto the head rather than resting on it. Let the ears poke through two small slits or gaps in the brim, and shade a soft shadow line where the hat’s edge meets the forehead, which grounds it properly onto the head.

Finish with a confident, happy expression, since a tilted hat reads best on a pony that looks like it is enjoying the joke.

Palette: Straw Gold,Warm Tan,Ribbon Red,Chestnut

What to Do Next

Pick whichever pony feels most like today’s mood, grab your colored pencils and a sheet of smooth paper, and work through the order of marks in its description from first outline to last highlight. One finished page is plenty for today, and the next idea on the list will still be here waiting tomorrow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to start a pony drawing for the first time?

Start with a simple oval for the body and a smaller oval for the head, joined by a short curved neck line. Build legs and details on top of that basic frame before adding any color.

Which colored pencils work best for a pony’s coat?

Warm earth tones like burnt sienna, raw umber and chestnut brown build a realistic coat fastest. Layer two or three shades lightly rather than pressing hard with one color, which keeps the fur looking soft rather than flat.

How do you stop a pony’s legs from looking too thin or stiff?

Draw the leg as two curved lines rather than one straight line on each side, since real legs taper and bend slightly at the knee and fetlock. Checking the leg length against the body’s own height also helps catch anything too long or short.

What paper is best for layered colored pencil drawings of ponies?

A smooth to lightly toothed white or cream paper made for colored pencil holds several layers without pilling or losing color. Heavier weight paper also resists warping if you add a lot of pressure in the shadow areas.

How can you make a pony drawing look more like a specific breed?

Adjust the proportions first: a shetland is stocky with short legs and a thick mane, while a show pony is leaner with a longer neck and finer legs. Coat pattern and mane style finish the breed feeling once the basic proportions are right.