Page 1 of 1

Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:40 pm
by Tsavo
4 yo Clyde/Han 15.3 HH

The claim is he will finish at 16.2 HH.

Is this person high? Do horses really grow that much past 4??

Thanks in advance,

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:03 am
by Ponichiwa
Can’t vouch for their sobriety, but Kiwi grew 1 hand between 4 and 7. Her sister grew 6".

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:15 am
by Tsavo
Wow! I didn't know that was possible.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:21 am
by Ponichiwa
That said, it’s worth verifying the horse is actually 15.3 to start with...

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:33 am
by musical comedy
I just read (according to Deb Bennet) the neck keeps growing until around 6. What Ponichiwa said...it's the rare horse seller that actually measures a horse when they give the height. It is almost always less than they say.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:37 am
by musical comedy
You'll laugh maybe, but I insisted on a measurement of my mare before I bought her. I bought sight unseen so I could not risk less than
16h.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:50 am
by Tsavo
I guess you trusted them to not have the mare up on blocks or something. :-)

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:56 am
by musical comedy
Tsavo wrote:I guess you trusted them to not have the mare up on blocks or something. :-)
I did. I trust very few people, but this seller I did trust as much as we can trust anyone ;) .

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:26 am
by Chisamba
I would say 70 % of horses are shorter than advertised in my experience

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:48 am
by orono
Agree that most are shorter, but they can keep growing past 4. I've known some to grow til 7.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:58 am
by khall
Rip grew 1 1/2 inches between 6 and 7. Gaila got to 15.2 hh at 3 and has not grown since. String test is a good estimate of height. Rip was 15.3 at 3 and now is 16.2. Joplin string tests at 15.3 which is exactly what I wanted. She is extremely uphill was just noticing today and she has grown.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:23 am
by StraightForward
Chisamba wrote:I would say 70 % of horses are shorter than advertised in my experience


Yep. I was very surprised when I went to see a horse recently and it was actually a solid 16.1 with room to grow.

I bought Maya, my appaloosa, sight unseen. She was 3 and advertised as 15.3. The first question I asked the seller was if that was her current or expected finished height. She assured me she was 15.3 and would finish at least 16H. I was rather :? when I arrived in California and she presented me with a near pony-sized thing. Well, it was $800 and I was out the gas to get there and back, so in the trailer she went. She finished at 15.1 at age 5. The seller was like 5' tall, so I imagine that she honestly thought the horse was big.

To the original question, I think that's a little optimistic, but possible. Obie only grew another inch or so after age 4 to finish right at 17H. OTOH, I looked at a Weltmeyer filly that was around 15H as a 2 yo. The seller swore up and down that she would grow a ton and finish over 16H. Well, I saw her advertised from another seller recently, and she is 15.2 as a 5 yo, so it is a crap shoot.

If a horse is on the lower edge of my size requirement, I would ask for a leveled up, stick-measured height.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:25 am
by StraightForward
Wait, I thought you weren't horse shopping. :o

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:06 am
by Tsavo
StraightForward wrote:Wait, I thought you weren't horse shopping. :o


I am not. That was window shopping. Also that was a gelding which is off the table.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:18 pm
by Sue B
One of my TB's (a gelding) was 15.1 when I bought him at 3yrs old, and he finished out at a solid 16.1. He had his final growth "spurt" at 5.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:42 pm
by Tuddy
My Tuddy grew until he was 8.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:54 am
by Nikiwink
I think some breeds are more inclined to go up late as well as out.

A perch x tb i bred was 15.3hh at 13mths. 16.1 at 2yr...both measured. He topped out at 17.2 apparently. And new owner said he grew that last inch in his 6th yr.

A friends angle was very weedy and narrow and 15.3h measured at 4. By 7 he measured 16.2 and a half. Shocked everyone.... But he'd also gone out substantionally too.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 6:39 pm
by Ponichiwa
In summary-- pretty sure the only time your horse won't grow after 3yo is when you need them to.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:20 am
by Chisamba
It has been scientifically shown that all breeds require 7 years to finish growing. They all mature the same way, with the same growth plates maturing in the same time frame.

Studies of thousands of horses have shown that they receive 95% of their growth height at 22 months.

In my opinion any deviation from that is human measuring error.

If seen the same horse measured three times in the same day "grow" three inches. Lol

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:53 pm
by Tsavo
Chisamba wrote:It has been scientifically shown that all breeds require 7 years to finish growing. They all mature the same way, with the same growth plates maturing in the same time frame.

Studies of thousands of horses have shown that they receive 95% of their growth height at 22 months.

In my opinion any deviation from that is human measuring error.

If seen the same horse measured three times in the same day "grow" three inches. Lol


That is what I thought. Hence this thread.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:01 pm
by Ponichiwa
Tsavo wrote:
Chisamba wrote:It has been scientifically shown that all breeds require 7 years to finish growing. They all mature the same way, with the same growth plates maturing in the same time frame.

Studies of thousands of horses have shown that they receive 95% of their growth height at 22 months.

In my opinion any deviation from that is human measuring error.

If seen the same horse measured three times in the same day "grow" three inches. Lol


That is what I thought. Hence this thread.


That math checks out:
15.3hh = 63". 63/0.95=66" = 16.2hh.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:04 pm
by PhoenixRising
I find this interesting. As a baby I tried to string test Phoenix and if I did it correctly, it estimated 16.2-16.3. Right now she's 4 and almost exactly 16h. I hope she continues to grow as I really like the bigger horses.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:12 pm
by Tsavo
Ponichiwa wrote:
Tsavo wrote:
Chisamba wrote:It has been scientifically shown that all breeds require 7 years to finish growing. They all mature the same way, with the same growth plates maturing in the same time frame.

Studies of thousands of horses have shown that they receive 95% of their growth height at 22 months.

In my opinion any deviation from that is human measuring error.

If seen the same horse measured three times in the same day "grow" three inches. Lol


That is what I thought. Hence this thread.


That math checks out:
15.3hh = 63". 63/0.95=66" = 16.2hh.


The horse is 4, more than double the 22 months at which 95% of the adult height is achieved.

Re: Is this person high? In re horse growth

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:41 pm
by MysticOak
While MOST horses achieve 95% of their growth at 22 months, that is not true of all horses (I'm pretty convinced there is no rule of horses that applies to ALL horses ;-)). My observation (having bred many horses, and having had several other babies grow up at my place)… The rangy, immature looking youngsters tend to take longer to grow up. When you have a 2 year old that looks pretty "finished" and balanced - they are... I've had 2 year olds who put on 2 more inches to maturity, and 2 year old that put on 8 inches to maturity. I had a three year old who was DONE at 3, and another who easily put on another 4 or 5 inches.

Most four year olds will not put on 3 inches, but it DOES happen. I did have one grew almost 2 inches between 4 and 6. But that is pretty rare. By the way, I DO know how to measure.

So if your youngster is rangy and growthy looking, he may put on another 2 or 3 inches. If he's pretty balanced looking at 4, he is probably pretty close to his finished height.

I do think some breeds tend to reach full height quicker then others - such as the QH - you don't see many of them put on another few inches after 3 years old. Drafts and WBs seem more inclined to put on that extra height. If an extra 3 inches is important to you, I think it is a bit of a risk to hope for 3 inches growth in a four year old. OTOH, if you just want the horse to reach 16 hands - it seems highly possible (if the horse is truly 15.3 now).