Croup high at 4 years... normal?

L

loverly

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 July 2010
Messages
559
Location
In the middle of nowhere (Devon!!)
Visit site
I went to see a horse earlier today that I really like. Appaloosa x Middleweight mare.

However, she is quite considerably bum high. Would say 15.1hh at wither and 16hh on her bum.

She is currently being broken.

Is this normal? Will she level out?
 
I think so, some horses do carry on growing past that age :) Some horse's are just naturally a bit bum high, it's in their conformation. But I do think at 4 it's fairly normal for them to still have a bit of growth left in them? Do stand to be corrected, of course! But I've seen a 5yo that was still a bit bum high, who then levelled out in her 6th year or so.
 
I think bigger breeds especially take a long time to grow fully, that is quite a difference though! Horse I ride is a 4yo tb and think he will grow another inch or so eventually as is slightly croup high.
 
most horses dont finish growing until 5, and some irish draught dont stop growing til they are 6, so i wouldnt be too worried. my boy is 5 and is still slightly croup high, only cm's, though. that horse will be bigger than he is now, probably 16hh.
 
I would not buy one like this as it is too much of a risk,, he will always be unbalanced untill he has levelled out, and if he is being worked when too young he may develop behavioural and physical issues..
My trotter cross only matured this year aged eight, a long time to wait is four years.!
 
My 5 year old girl is definitely a little bum high still. She's IDxWB with a little American Paint mixed in, mum was 17.1 and dad 16.2 so at 15.2 currently I'm pretty sure she still has some growing to do yet! Unfortunately even with shoes on the front only there's still a good 4" difference between her bum and her withers! :eek:

I keep praying she'll stop below 16hh but I don't think I'm that lucky :o
 
I personally would avoid this horse, purely because in my eyes it doesn't equal the risk. Some horses are conformed in a way that their croups are higher than their withers, it called being downhill. This is one of the worse conformation faults to have in my opinion (unless you only ever plan to do hacking/fun riding) as all of their weight is tipped onto the forehand. This makes them very heavy in the hand and impairs them schooling wise as they struggle to collect themselves underneath, so for example it would be hard to get them jumping well around a showjumping course as they are physically not capeable of shifting their weight onto their hocks.
Good schooling can help however they will still not be able to match a well conformed horse as they do not have the physical ability.

Sadly a downhill horse will always struggle compared to a normal horse, however this can differ depending on how downhill the horse is.

For example, if you look at these two horses you will see that the first one is less downhill and therefore would be considerably easier to ride/school than the second one.
Horse one: https://share.ehs.uen.org/sites/default/files/images/Downhill.jpg

Horse two: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uT-i4wrm9Ec/SUwNKaZFUCI/AAAAAAAADSk/IFU4EjYT9BE/s400/downhill.jpg

Edited to add:
I found this on the internet and it sums up what I'm trying to say perfectly, and a lot clearer than I could put it haha!

"A horse who is downhill is predisposed to carrying his weight more than 50 percent on his forelegs. He’s far more likely to stumble. He’s uncomfortable to ride and it is difficult to teach him not to “prop” on his forelegs to stop. If you’ve ever had two green horses at the same time, one downhill and one level or uphill, you’ve seen the difference in how much harder it was for the downhill one to learn transitions, deal with carrying weight, and move on to more advanced maneuvers. And because all of that weight is in the front end, there’s more concussion on the front legs and you’re likely to see lamenesses like arthritis earlier in life. Not to mention, have you ever tried to equitate on a downhill horse? That conformation tips you forward too. Not a pleasant ride."
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top