Horses keep growing?

[LollyDolly]

Ok so I bought my previous horse, an Irish Sports Horse, as a 6 year old. I measured him about a week after buying and he came in at 16.3, which is fine. When he was 8 I measured him again and he came in at a whopping 17.2!!

Now with Sandy (native mutt), I was sold him and measured him at 14.2 as a 5 year old, he is now 6 (pushing 7) and measures 15hh, and he is actually creeping nearer to 15.1!! Which is annoying because I hate .1, .2 or .3 is fine but .1 hit's the ear all wrong in my opinion

So what I was trying to say is that I was always told that horses were fully grown at 4/5, depending on breeds, but both my native mutt and my sports horse have grown from being 5 and 6 years old!

Is this normal? All measurements were taken using height tape and a measuring stick, as well as having a second opinion as I like to be accurate

 

[wyrdsister]

It's not unusual for some types of horse to finish growing somewhere around 7-9 instead of 4-5, particularly the WB, ID, ISH types. I'm dreading how big my 4 year old is going to be. She's 17/17.1 now and still markedly quarters-high.

 

[TandD]

my wb x tb has only recently stopped going up - and is now going out! :O (rib cage expanding/chest widening etc)
shes just turned 9........
and 17.3.....

 

[Janette]

Cobs dont finish growing until they are around 7.

 

[LollyDolly]

Ah that's good to hear that it's not just mine then!

I'm more than happy for my native mutt to keep growing, the taller the better! However I must admit that when my ISH reached 17.2 it was quite an inconvenience, I pretty much needed a ladder!

 

[amandap]

I think 7 is the average age for skeletal maturity but varies between individuals. 4-5 definitely not mature.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Breed makes no difference, surely everyone has read this article about horse skeletal maturing rates by now?

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

 

[montysmum1]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but am very interested in this, and no Faracat -I hadn't seen this article before - but was aware of the principles, however I've really enjoyed reading it!

My main concern is my 'youngster'. She raced as a 2 yr old, I got her on her 3rd birthday, (beginning of Feb last year), haven't sat on her of course, but just left her to be a horse (turned out in the day, bought in at night, rugged, fed and handled a lot!) She has grown nearly a hand in the last 12 months! I intend to start some long reining in the next week, with a view to hopefully starting quiet riding over the summer.

How much damage do you think has been done to her through her early start??

 

[kellybee]

My appy was 14hh aged 4 and is now 14.3 aged 7/8

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I didn't mean it nastily Montysmum1 - it's just that I post the link to that article on a regular basis and thought that most readers would be thinking 'oh no. not again!'

Did your filly get any injuries when she raced? You have done the best thing by giving her some time off to mature as you can't go back in time.

 

[montysmum1]

I didn't think you had meant it nastily at all Faracat, and I really enjoyed reading the article I never seem to find things like that online by myself!!

I don't know if she had any injuries per se, as I got her from a 'low end' dealer so no history apart from her passport. She wasn't sound, but had terrible abscesses in her front feet, and shin-splints behind, so it's not really surprising, and I haven't investigated any further yet, as I figured a good 12 month break would be the best start which my vet fully supported. (she wasn't an intended purchase btw!!)

She had finished all of her races last/nearly last, and has no PU or falls in her record, so hopefully no dramatic injury. She is very petite though, and looked like a yearling when I got her at 2!