Curious as to whether I've purchased a giant!

AppyLover1996

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Hi Guys,

So purely for some giggles this morning : -

Late last year I fulfilled my dream and found my next horse. My poor mother thought I was insane as next horse turned out to be a 8 month old colt (who still needs to grow some more "down there" before being gelded!), but I knew as soon as I saw him at the stud (and promptly burst into tears at how beautiful he is, he didn't care one bit - was more interested in a cuddle and neck scratch!), that he would be coming home with me once gelded.

I've since had the absolute pleasure of watching him grow up over the months and yesterday his breeder and I were just nattering over Facetime (with gorgeous colt now nearly a yearling obviously taking part too..) and we were pondering how big he'll actually get.

So just for some giggles I thought we could have a friendly game of how high my yearling is gunna get!

He is 11 months old and when stood squares clocks in at 14.1 hands (measured with one of those height stick thingies - which he spent most of the time trying to eat....). His Dam and Sire are both around the 15.2/15.3 mark, but all his siblings (full and part) are anywhere between 16.1 to 17.1! I read somewhere that foals do pretty much 60 to 80% of their growing in the first year and a half of their lives - so with that rough guesstimate it puts him at about 16.2 ish by the time he's three I'm guessing (very roughly here!), so add a few more years on for physical maturity and I've brought a giant haven't I.....🤣

Any advise on where to find stepladders/really tall mounting blocks are gratefully received!

Also wondering what sort of headcollar would be best for him - he'll be coming with a beautiful leather headcollar, but when I start groundwork, walking him out etc, I'd like something a bit more refined. Would something like a rope halter be ideal? I've plenty of experience and will have my instructor on hand to help, so I'm not doing this on my own by any means....but I was thinking that maybe a rope halter would be too harsh? But if he's gunna get to gargantuan size like his siblings, I need him to be really good to handle (especially for my Mother who adores horses but can be a bit daft with her decisions some times). I know equipment won't fix or cover any issues, and I'm deffo a sort of less is more person (current pony ridden in snaffle with a sheepskin noseband, and a half pad under his saddle as he's an old man now) when it comes to tack - it also means there's less of it to clean aha!
 

AppyLover1996

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19 July 2021
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16.3hh by 8 I reckon, and I use a rope halter for ground work.
So considering I'm currently riding a 14.1 - I need to get a head for heights and fast....😂

Good to know that a rope halter is a good idea - I do like any equine that I'm handling to have exceptional ground manners - most accidents that are serious can easily happen on the ground....
 
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