Drawing for Kids: Draw a Running Pony

Recently we learned how to draw a pony, but it was only one, boring pose. Horses are famous for their speed, so we'll make our pony run in its full glory. This tutorial will be a bit different than the last one. You won't only repeat the steps—you'll also learn how to draw any running pose you like!

1. How a Pony Runs

Before we start drawing, you need to understand how a pony runs.

This is the "skeleton" of our pony. Do you remember what's there in the legs?

It's the best to compare the legs of a pony to your own legs and arms:

1. The hoof is like the tip of your finger (horses step on one finger only!).
2. Since the hoof is the tip of the finger, here is where the finger bends.
3. This is the wrist at the top of very long hand.
4. The back hoof is like the tip of your toe.
5. This is where the toe bends.
6. And this is the heel, at the top of very long foot.
   

Let's simplify the skeleton for a while to understand it better.

Now, this is how running works for almost every animal:

1. The animal bends the leg to lift it.
   
2. Then it brings it as far ahead as possible.
3. When the animal can't reach any farther, it hits the ground...
4. ... and pushes it strongly behind.

Then the cycle goes on.

This will make it clearer:

You can guess where the hoof will be by drawing an arc from the first position. The more bent the leg, the higher the arc.

Legs are one thing, but they're attached to a body, and the body changes during a run, too. This is how our pony's body looks when it's standing:

When the legs move, the body moves, too:

2. Prepare the Running Pose

All right, enough theory! Time to have some fun. I'm going to assume you've already done the previous part of this tutorial, but if you haven't, feel free to go back there any time you want.

Step 1

Draw a line showing the rhythm of the run. It can be straight or bent in any direction.

Step 2

Now adjust the body and the hips to this line.

Step 3

Draw the ground level.

3. Draw the First Pair of Legs

Step 1

Go back to the first section and check which position of legs fits the body you've sketched. Use the arcs to get the right length.

Step 2

Now we're going to divide the legs in a normal way. First, find the halfway point...

Step 3

... then the halfway point of each half.

Step 4

Now you can define the widths of the parts:

Step 5

Draw circles/ovals to define the parts of each leg.

Step 6

Now you can simply outline the legs.

4. Draw the Other Pair of Legs

Step 1

The other pair can be drawn in a similar way. This time we're going to draw bent ones, so the lines will be shorter.

Step 2

Again, divide the lines into halves and more halves.

Step 3

Now bend the lines. You can bend them in each of the spots that we've described before. If you don't know how, look at your own body. How does your wrist bend? Or your toes?

Step 4

Just like before, define the widths...

Step 5

... and outline them.

Step 6

Last, outline the legs.

5. Finish the Drawing

Step 1

Once the legs are done, you can add the other parts of the body. Remember to make it fit the rhythm of running you have chosen.

Step 2

Just like the last time, outline the finished sketch with a dark ball-point pen or marker.

Step 3

Put the sketch under a new sheet of paper and finish the drawing. Last thing: you can choose which leg should be closer to us by trying to do the same pose on all fours.

Congratulations!

You can use this instruction to draw running ponies in a lot of different poses. If you need ideas, check out the animations from my tutorial on drawing horses. There are so many poses to choose from!