Anyone else's yard have a 'special' measuring stick??

[poglet1991]

I bought mine at 14.1 rising 5 and everyone on my yard is adamant he's now 15.2 but I'd say 14.2. Got the measuring stick with spirit level on level ground and he measures a touch under 14.3. I think it's because he's filled out a bit.

 

[wyrdsister]

Where can I get one of these special sticks?! I'd love it if my 17.1 youngster could come in nearer the 16h she was supposed to make! Our spirit level stick must be wrong...

 

[R.F.S]

we have alot of 'special' measuring sticks too, my last mare was 16.1 and stated on her passport and i had the life height certificate, when asked by a fellow livery how big she was i was basically called a liar as her horse was 16.2 and hers was smaller than mine :S, upon horse shopping i have also viewed some questionable 15.2's ... more like 14.2's my first horse i bought myself (after parents buying ponies) was a TB sold as 15.3 and measured in on my stick at 15hh, i loved her all the same though.

 

[Paint Me Proud]

People seem to over estimate the size of their horse. I have measued Kasper several times and he comes out as 16.1 (and a bit) every time but ask people and they would say he was much bigger.
Think owners tend to over setimate the size of their horses so the reality of horse height is skewed slightly

 

[Paint Me Proud]

duplicate post deleted

 

[minesadouble]

So it's not just our place then It's crazy, they don't say 'I think' or 'I've never had a stick on him' they are just all convinced they own equine Giants!

 

[Montyforever]

Yep - we have two that are both 15.1 nowhere near each other in height!
My mare is 12hh dead on, she's been measured as anywhere from 11.2 to 12.2 depending on the day, oh and we have a 14.2 who is definitely not over 14hh.

I've come to the conclusion that exact height is not an issue so long as its roughly in the right area!

 

[Tern]

My mare is 15hh on her passport. Stood her next to another 15hh and she was quite a bit bigger. I am sure she is more 15.1/15.2 but i'll be getting a stick on her soon.

 

[kassieg]

I measured mine the other day & they all came out what i thought ! Lucy is 16hh although being half ID stands a lot bigger & quite often makes 5'8 of me look like a midget !

My 2 3 year olds are 14.2 & 14.3

when i bought lucy at 2 she was advertised at 15.1, she was 14.3 if she was lucky & didn't make 15.1 till she was rising 4!

At the event yard i worked at my boss wouldn't ride anything under 16hh so called 1 of the horses 16hh when it was 15.2 at a push! Still went intermediate so hardly an issue !!

 

[fidleyspromise]

Everyone on my yard says I'm wrong when I say that Genie is only 15hh with shoes... I got out my stick with spirit level and showed them and they then said that the stick must be wrong!

That's hilarious - the stick is wrong!

I measured my girl and without shoes she is 14.1 and three quarters so I just say she 14.2.

 

[9tails]

On the back of this thread I've ordered a measuring stick! There'll be fun and games when the titchy "16.2s" get measured.

 

[suffolkmare]

My boy's passport says 14.1 and I'm happy with that ! But have suspicions he might be a bit less. He has a field mate around the same height, but chunkier so looks like a bigger animal, and a mare on the yard is also similar height but finer and so looks smaller. Then of course you get the variation between sleepy, relaxed and little, and giraffe-with-eyes-on-stalks when life is more interesting! So is he 13.3 - 14.3hh?
I went pony shopping with a friend once looking for 13.3-14.2 to drive as a pair with her boy, one we saw was probably nearer 12hh!

 

[NZJenny]

Most Arabian studs have one. The number of Arabians who are "potentially" going to mature at over 15.2 hh is unbelievable.

 

[WindyStacks]

I went to view my 17.2hh boy hoping he'd been measured by a special stick, but no, he is indeed frickin' huge.

Special measuring sticks are prevalent in Wales and only last weekend I met a 15hh welsh D whose withers barely came up to my chin.

There's someone selling a horse on fb scotland pages claiming it's 13.2hh - it'd be lucky if it made 12.2hh. Daft as.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

this makes me laugh so much, see it on FB too...someone who bought a dutch youngster-declared it 17hh.

then a few weeks later had grown to 17.2....then a few weeks after that is back to 16.2hh and now its 17hh again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That said, anything with a life height cert for showing will be confused, Bruce has one at 158cm but is a good full up 16.1/2 IRL lol! you can shrink anything if you try hard enough!!!!!

 

[criso]

I have one who is a little over 16.2 that everyone think's is bigger. No one believes me and I've even had the argument with the vet. He didn't believe me and got his measuring stick out of the car. No matter how much he adjusted and checked he couldn't get bigger than 16.2 1/2.

 

[Annie B.]

There is an abundance of 16.3 round were I have mine people seem to like to say their horse is nearly 17 hands but most will be about 16.1. On the other hand I have a 18 hand Hannx ID and when I have had various people to my yard like instructors, grooms and physio's who have been shocked at his size even though I have told them they're very surprised on meeting him.

 

[Merrymoles]

No idea how big my horse is! I think I bought him as 15.1 but there is no height on his passport. I was shopping for something not too big as I have short legs anyway so would have been happy with anything between 15hh-16hh. At a guess, he's probably 15.2 with shoes on.

 

[crabbymare]

I think you all need to learn how to measure. first stop using sticks with spirit levels. then using a tape measure stand close to the shoulder of the horse and to make sure you are accurate stand on the bottom 2-3" of the tape. measure to somewhere around the withers or bottom of the neck and take the measurement

 

[Pennythetank]

I ride a 14.2(at a push!) pony who managed to get a height cert (for life i think?? not too sure on that point) with the SJI as a 16.1h! The owner isn't sure how it happened as it got sent on to her by the previous owner...

 

[Grinchmass]

Must say I find this far more annoying when viewing horses - going to see an advertised 16hh that is 15hh at best, or one advertised as 16hh that's more like 17.2...

Before buying my mare I went to see a 15.2, that wouldn't be 15hh wearing platform shoes...

 

[fatpiggy]

Reminds me of a dealer who brought a pony out for someone I knew to try (she didn't drive so paid the dealer to bring the animal over). It was advertised as 15hh but my 15.1hh towered over it and it was also no bigger than another liveries 14hh pony. Still the dealer wouldn't have it and produced a magic measuring stick of the folding variety which bent permanently at the hinge, insisted on measuring it in the arena so just pushed the stick down into the surface (!) and would only measure with saddle on. The girl who was trying the animal was a novice where horses were concerned but as hard as nails and the ensuing slanging match was the best afternoon's entertainment we'd had a long while The poor pony which was supposed to be quiet and regularly ridden by a ten year old child bucked like a pro and it turned out had only been broken in 5 weeks. When the threats of violence to everyone on the yard were emitted by the dealer she was told to sling her hook. So if you ever think of buying from a woman dealer from Blackpool who probably still drives a beaten up old Volvo, think again!!

 

[ljohnsonsj]

Yes, my old yard. A girl with a small cobby pony that is 13.2 max insists it's 15hh. And when I brought my youngster (at rising 3) they said she was to big for them to handle as was nearly 17hh.... she was 15.2 max. I am now on a competition/working yard and mine are correctly sized and so tiny compared to the hunt horses they had over the winter

 

[Kezzabell2]

A horse on my yard is "16,3" because he has really high withers

My horse is 16'1 with normal withers and towers about the 16'3. :/

I actually haven't measured him for a while but he was 16'1 last time I checked and he certainly smaller than another 16'3 who is stabled next door

 

[pansymouse]

I think yard horse measuring sticks come from the same supplier as their land measurement devices - I've seen some very small acres in my time...

 

[little_critter]

Ahhh - that much be why I struggle to get on my 14.1hh pony from the ground (not that I often try). Clearly she's actually 16.3hh and the height in her passport is wrong.
(I've never actually measured her to be honest but 14.1hh looks about right)

 

[criso]

I think yard horse measuring sticks come from the same supplier as their land measurement devices - I've seen some very small acres in my time...

And the one they use to measure stable sizes ...

 

[Summer pudding]

My pony is six and his passport doesn't record his height...it was issued just before I bought him in Ireland where he was 5 stage vetted...when does the height get included in a passport? I've put the stick on him and he's currently 14.3, supposed to be 14.2.and def still six.

 

[gryff]

What about the stick used to measure the height of jumps? Anything above a small pole seems to be 1.10m around here!

 

[armchair_rider]

Perspective is definitely a factor. The 13hh(ish) we use for RDA normally looks quite small. Today we got a 12hh(ish) and he suddenly looked rather big (though still small next to the 15 hander)