Fans of the Larger horse?

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mickey

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Just a randon post really;

I know of someone who has a show-jumper. It is 18 hands plus. Absolutely enormous. And it got me thinking about all the potential downsides to having a horse so large. Like;

- Needing more room in the stable and lorry

- Needing to eat more to sustain it's larger bodyweight and then producing more poo!

- Needing bigger rugs, boots etc at greater expense

- Difficult to manouvre around tight corners esp when jumping

- Further to fall off

I am sure there are some plus points to the larger horse?
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Personally I think 16.2hh would be my max. I prefer a more compact horse.
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The horse must be pretty good to make the turns etc! Amazing!!

I can think of some more disavantages;
It's a long way to fall!!!!
Always need a mounting block!!!

The biggest I've ridden is 17.2 and that was quite comfortable! I'd have no probs going up to 17.2 when I buy one, but probably not any more.
 
I Dont need a mounting block to get on my 17.3/18hh
Also hes only 6ft9 rugs.
I dont have anytrouble finding tack to fit him.
Ben is very clean to muck out also he doesnt eat loads really.
Also ben is quite able to wizz round corners when jumping. He is big but he cant half move when he needs to.
Lol I think I have proved most of your things wrong lol.

I love having a bigger horse you certainly get noticed anyhow
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I don't know about caring for a larger horse, but the safest horse I've ever ridden (besides my own 15.3hh) was an 18.2hh TB X. He was an absolute saint, very difficult to make turns SJing as I'm only 5'5" and don't have the leg to hold him together properly, but he made the 2'9" SJs in my riding assessment at college look teensy and very easy (I'm scared of anything over 2'3"!) He was a total sweetheart, a bugger to get tack on because his saddle was too heavy to lift all that way, and he thought it was amusing to lift his head high so I couldn't get his bridle on (had to get the college FEs to do it, very embarassing for an HE!) but was just a "normal horse" that I found I really liked.
I can imagine though that there are many down sides, but if someone has the money to pay for the things that make caring for the horse easier such as custom made tack, larger rugs, and a horsebox instead of a trailer, then there's nothing wrong with bigger horses. I won't have anything smaller than 15.3hh and nothing bigger than 17hh. Well I tend not to get on with ponies! It may be nearer to the ground but I find I test the falling off far more when I'm riding ponies!
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My lovely boy is 17hh and is the most gentle horse you could meet! Not really had problems getting things to fit him although I can only generally get 7'0 rugs online as tack shops don't seem to stock them.

I don't have to feed him much as hes a good doer, and too much hard feed makes him a bit fresh.

Can't really comment on jumping a course on him as he bulldozes most things!

The only minus side is that it really is a long way to fall, I came off for the first time last week, and I could have made a cup of tea on the way down!!
 
I am most definitely a fan of the larger horse, my boy was 18.3hh and very long, just sqeezing into 7'3" rugs which always looked like mini skirts on him !!!!
Unfortunately you will have a major downside on conformation. Horses so big put major strain on their joints and bones, especially jumping and faster competition. My poor lad had to be retired last year (at the age of 10) due to chronic arthiritis. It came on very suddenly, my vet said it was due to his size and the extra strain on the joints. I did not jump him very much, always worked on a surface, never worked him on hard ground and mainly did light dressage and hacking - so he didnt exactly have a hard life. After all that he very sadly had to be put to sleep in December last year when he developed a heart condition - again the vet explained it was purely down to his size and the fact that ever organ has to work soooo much harder to keep him going - just like larger dogs generally have much shorter lives than small dogs.
Sorry to be doom and gloom but obviously I am still struggling with his loss at such a young age. Needless to say, although I love large horses, I don't think I would get anything much over 17.0hh now.
 
i ride an 18hh coloured shire x tb 5yo ndi feel safe on him, i just always wear steel toe capped boots when im with him cos his feet are e.n.o.r.m.u.s.
 
They'd an 18hh gelding at the place I used to ride, he was very "bendy", and could make tight turns easily, in his head he thought he was about 12.2 and like pogo-ing if he wasn't getting his own way! I fell off him once when he jumped bigger than I was anticipating (being used to smaller horses!) over a 2ft fence, didn't hurt any worse than falling off a 15hh, thing was it was such a long way down I had loads of time to see the ground coming up to meet me *crunch*
 
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