Growth rate of foals?

NeverSayNever

NeverSayNever

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Id be really interested to hear people's experiences in how foals grow and develop and relation to their parentage?


The reason I ask is as follows. I am interested in buying a native pony to show and have seen 2 I am very keen on. Both are very similarly bred with chunky, up to height parents. The first is a yearling who is extremely mature looking, was a big foal and looks older than the other yearlings Ive seen. The other is an 8 week old foal who has good bone but is petite in comparison to others the same age.

now my question is - would it be foolhardy to assume that the yearling is going to remain big and be the bigger of the 2 at maturity? How likely is it that a smaller foal will catch up as they mature? im struggling to decide between the 2! I definitely dont want anything light or petite but going by genetics, neither should be...

thanks in advance
 
Was the foal's dam a maiden mare? I know a lot of people think that maiden mares have smaller foals, but they will eventually grow up to what height their genetics allow! Perhaps I'm wrong, would be interesting to find out though.
 
I bought a tricoloured mare last year who was 10 months in foal. It was her third foal in three years to the same stallion... a solid little piebald cob called King William. Both parents are full up 14hh apiece. The first colt out of the mare, just rising 2 at the time, was still owned by the man I bought the mare from and was already standing 15hh and was a piebald like his dad. The owner of the stallion had the mare's yearling filly - another piebald - who was already standing at 13.2 on her first birthday.

I bought the mare, expecting a piebald foalie that would mature at around 15.2hh and - instead - I got this... :p

Eye_zps1fd6f98a.jpg


He's now 15 months old and is probably standing at a mere 12.1hh (don't be fooled, he's not as tall as he looks in this pic)

2013-06-16124218_zpsa24bf785.jpg


I suspect he will take after dad and be a short, brick outhouse. It doesn't matter, I love him to pieces however he ends up and if he's too short to ride, I'll drive him instead.

Unless you know can trace the lineage back, there is no way of knowing how they'll end up! After they're a year you can measure their cannon bones or do the string test, but that's a long time to wait!!!
 
Simplest way is the height of their hocks in comparison to their dam......the cannon bones dont grow in length, but do thicken, so this height barely changes
 
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