Has anyones youngster not grown big enough?

[J1993]

So all i ever post is height questions and i know it takes time but im impatient ha ha! Just for fun...

Has anyones bought/bred a young horse and they havent grown big enough?

My rising 3 year old warmblood(May baby) is probably around 15.2 just. Dad was 17h mum was around 16.2! I just want her to grow!!!

 

[ihatework]

Ask me in 18 months time.

My 3yo measures 155. Mum was 168 and dad 170.

I did not order a midget

 

[Snoozy]

My 2-and-a-half year old by H Tobago (bought as a yearling) is currently only 14.1hh (dam is 15.1hh, sire was 15.2hh).
He’s fab though so he’s a keeper!

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I've cheated and bought one that's already the minimum height I wanted lol. He's 2 years, 8 months and a touch under 16hh. His parents are 15.3 and 16.1. I'd be happy for him to grow some more but I don't think he will.

 

[sollimum]

Gah, vet came out this afternoon looked at my 2 1/2 year and said he has done most of his growing - we bought him as a yearling and he has been well fed since. Farrier looked at him on Tuesday and said the same. I know he is going to grow but I don't think as much as I need.

 

[Red-1]

I wouldn't write them off too early though. Charlie horse was barely 16hh at rising 5, but 3 years later was a good 16.3.

 

[Jinx94]

Me! My rising 5yo is 14.1, his dam was 14.2 and sire 15.2...

Thankfully I can get away with it, but an extra couple of inches would have been nice

 

[Marigold4]

Mine was 14.3 in June last year when just turned two, still 14.3 now. I was hoping for at least 15.1. Vet says he'll grow once the spring grass comes through. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cortez]

Sometimes a first foal is very small, smaller than both parents, but usually parents' height dictates (although I had a stallion who always sired horses larger than himself). The string test is pretty accurate, try that?

 

[Britestar]

Wish mine had been under height. Mum 15.2 dad 16.1.
First foal, now 16.3hh ☹

 

[ihatework]

On the other end of the scale this came out of a welsh sec D mare .... I’m 5’6”

 

[Louby]

Im praying for another inch or 2. I bought her as a 3 yr old, advertised at 15.3, some reckoned she was smaller. She has definately grown, possibly a midge over 16hh, cant get the stick next to her to do it acurately but has just gone bum high again, yippeeeeee. She's technically not 5 until late Summer. Shes quite fine so I feel we would look better together if she grew just a bit more.

 

[Nudibranch]

I had a WB who grew a good hand between 3 and 6 so I'd give her time yet.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Yes, ordered a 16.2 brown boy, got a 15.1 very nearly ginger girl.

 

[hollyandivy123]

On the other end of the scale this came out of a welsh sec D mare .... I’m 5’6”

Wow impressed that fitted ....

 

[sport horse]

Or too big? Dam 16.3 Sire 16.2 I have a 7 year old that is 17.3HH. Not exactly what was ordered!

 

[EventingMum]

Yes, dam was a full up 14.2hh, sire was 16.2hh and she only made 14hh - with the most fantastic, can do temperament and so much scope - if only she'd made even 15.2hh she'd have been amazing. Sadly we sold her on and she did really well as a WHP and her small adult owner jumped her successfully in senior BS classes.

 

[J1993]

Thanks for the replies. Shes a second foal the first had only made 16h when i last asked when she was 5.

I would look fine on her if she was 16h but I was hoping for at least 16.2.

I dont plan on doing anything with her till next year. Its amazing how many people are asking me when im starting things with her when shes a weedy 2 year old still!

 

[JJS]

I wouldn't worry just yet. My then six year old grew three inches in the first year I had him, and my current six year old has definitely gone up in height since I got her at four. They do go through fits and starts. My rising two year old (who's daughter to the six year old) doesn't seem to have grown in ages, whilst her mum is having a growth spurt as we speak. I'm sure Flower will also gain a few more inches at some point, but there's no point stressing or second-guessing either way. Frustrating as it is, you just have to wait and see!

 

[PoppyAnderson]

My 3.5 yr old is stubbornly refusing to grow. She needs to crack on cos she's a shade too small for me at the mo.

 

[JanetGeorge]

Gah, vet came out this afternoon looked at my 2 1/2 year and said he has done most of his growing - we bought him as a yearling and he has been well fed since. Farrier looked at him on Tuesday and said the same. I know he is going to grow but I don't think as much as I need.

Don't worry - vets know NADA abou growth, believe me. I've nearly lost count of the 16-2 - 17hh's I've sold at 4 that have ended up a LOT bigger. (one is 18.2 now - but it did go to Exmoor, where horses grow stupidly big.) I confess I DO have one who was 15hh at Grading at 3 - and is now 15.2 at 9 - and her dam was 16.1, sire 17hh.) But you'd have to be unlucky for a 2-3yo not put on a hand at least. Especially if it looks level at that age.

 

[Leaping]

Geldings tend to grow on more than mares and colts/stallions do, and most of the stories about horses growing massively relate to geldings. I am another hoping my rising 3yr old will grow another couple of inches, string test suggests an inch or so. My current riding horse didn't grow any after she was 2 (she has deepened and filled out and takes my leg) she got to 16hh and stopped, despite her father being a good 16.2 and her dam being a good 16.1hh (and her older half brother growing to 18hh but he was gelded early). She still wears the same rugs she wore as a 4 year old, 10 years later.

They are meant to be 90% of their adult height when they get to a year old.

 

[TGM]

I wouldn't panic too much - our warmblood youngster was only about 15hh when we bought him at 2 and a bit and he is probably 16.1 or 16.2 now at 5 years old.

 

[Coblover63]

My traditional cob gelding was 13hh at a year, 13.3 at 2 and then only grew another 2" to maturity. He's rising 10 now, so no more growing. When he reached 7 and was still stuck at 14.1, I sold him to a friend who is shorter than me!

 

[sollimum]

Don't worry - vets know NADA abou growth, believe me. I've nearly lost count of the 16-2 - 17hh's I've sold at 4 that have ended up a LOT bigger. (one is 18.2 now - but it did go to Exmoor, where horses grow stupidly big.) I confess I DO have one who was 15hh at Grading at 3 - and is now 15.2 at 9 - and her dam was 16.1, sire 17hh.) But you'd have to be unlucky for a 2-3yo not put on a hand at least. Especially if it looks level at that age.

Thank you JanetGeorge, he does look mature and level, not very babyish which is why everyone thinks he has stopped. I am waiting to see what the grass brings this summer ….

 

[Jellymoon]

I think they do have growth spurts at different stages, even when they are a bit older. One of mine was 14.3 just over a year ago when he was 6, and has gone up to 15.1 now. And another of mine grew from age 5 to 6 nearly two inches.

I have a 4 yr old who is 15.1, I’m expecting him to end up 15.2/15.3.

But it’s not just height that’s important, the filling out and muscling up makes a huge difference. One 5 yr old I bought at 16.1 looked very weedy at that age, but by the time he was 8, he was a huge big strapping lad. Had to buy him much bigger rugs etc. I thought, I bet he must have grown loads, but when I measured him, he was still 16.1, but had just bulked up and maybe grown longer.

 

[Jellymoon]

Do people thing they grow a bit when they start work? Hence why mine seem to get bigger from 5-8??!!

 

[JanetGeorge]

Thank you JanetGeorge, he does look mature and level, not very babyish which is why everyone thinks he has stopped. I am waiting to see what the grass brings this summer ….

A litle test - does this filly look mature and fully grown?

 

[_HP_]

My mare was 14.3hh when I bought her as a 2 yr old. She's 6 this year and is 16hh. Her dam was 16.2hh and her sire was 17hh. String test says 17hh.

 

[Leo Walker]

Im always surprised by how many people say horses have grown lots after 4. I just never see it. not in my own or others i've worked with or seen on yards. They fill out and generally mature and do look bigger, but I honestly dont think I've ever seen anything thats actually grown significantly. But then everyone seems to think their 16 hand horse is an enormous 17 hand beast anyway so I'm a bit suspicious of horse heights generally!

Mine is 14.1hh. She was 14.1hh when i got her. She looks dramatically bigger now. Shes lost a lot of belly and gained a lot of muscle, she stands taller. The overall impression is that she has grown. Even I thought she had. She hasnt. Ny friend was adanant shes 15hands. The only way shes 15hands is if you measure halfway up her neck