how big were your baby's???

luckyjac

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Hi, I have been a little concerned about the size of my filly for a little while now, she will be 1 year old on the 2nd may and is currently about 13-13.1. Her mum is half an inch under 15hh and dad 16.2. I am worried she wont even be the size of her mum, not necessarily because of her height now, but because her legs look quite short?? I see so many foals with beautiful long legs!! She is in very good condition so maybe this makes her look short and dumpy?? So how big were your babys at that age and how old and big are they now???
 

flaxen

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My arab x appaloosa colt is 10mths old today and he is exactly 13hh. His mum (arab) is 15hh and sire (appaloosa) is 15.2hh.
 

amy_b

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mine is out of 15.2(ish) mare and 15.2 sire and is 14.2 at a year old. but he has a lot of TB in him (which grow faster) and sire and dam are both from larger breeding and the sire throws bigger foals...
so I dont know if that was helpful now I think about it...!!
 

luckyjac

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ah thanks everyone! how do i load photos? having trouble, managed to create an album but its says failure to upload??
 

RuthnMeg

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I've been told to measure foals on their first birthday, and then add 2 hands to get their adult height.
My NF yearling filly was 1 on April 1st, measured her at 11.2hh. Her mum is 12.2hh and dad was a 14.1 3 year old, so, going by both she should make 13.2hh - and I am thrilled!
 

micramadam

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Well, when our colt was born last year he was 108cm. He'll also be 1 yr on 2nd May and we are intending to measure him next weekend. Last time we measured him (about 2 months ago) he was 149cm, I think that's about 14.3hh. Expecting him to be over 150 when we measure him about 152cm or thereabouts so he's gonna be HUGE.
 

luckyjac

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Well, when our colt was born last year he was 108cm. He'll also be 1 yr on 2nd May and we are intending to measure him next weekend. Last time we measured him (about 2 months ago) he was 149cm, I think that's about 14.3hh. Expecting him to be over 150 when we measure him about 152cm or thereabouts so he's gonna be HUGE.

wow he is big, let me know how big he is next time!
 

amy_b

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How big are the sire/dam micramadam?
as I said earlier mine was 14.2 a couple of months ago and both of his parents are 15.2 but he has alot of TB in him...
 

luckilotti

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One of my mares foaled the 13th May last year so.... mum is a 14hh rescue mare (wasnt in good condition throughout her pregnancy), dad - i was told he was a palomino section D (she would bought infoal, no covering cert etc.).
At birth, i'll be honest, i cant recall what height he would have been but he wasnt that much taller than my shetland (10hh), so he was prob no more than 11hh?
Today, he stands at 13.3?, he is taller than my rising 3 year old mare and shes 13.2. He still has a lot of filling out to do obviously. He looked rather leggy as a foal and his knees were more or less the same height as his dam.

She may just be slow growing. My 2008 filly, was tinyyy at birth, had to go and buy her an extra small foal headcollar as foal size was far too large for her. Her dam is 13hh and her sire was 13.2. It is only from about 20 months onwards that she has grown height wise and now stands at 13.2, i honestly never thought she was be taller than her dam from the size of her at birth. She will be 3 in June.
 

zizz

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my filly was a tiny foal and now 8months stands at 12.2. Mum is 14.2 and dad 16.3 was hoping she'd make 15.2 but not looking likely at the moment.
On the other hand my 10month boy 16.3 mum 16.1 dad currently stands at 15 hands in front and 15.3 behind am hoping he is going to stop soonr rather than later or he's going to be mahoosive!
 

Dexter

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I've moaned about this several times before, but I'm happy to oblige again :D

Mine was 12.2hh ish at 11months old and expected to make 14.2/15hh. He is now 15 hands, at 20 months old! His mum was 14.2hh and dad was 17.2hh, so the middle is 16hands, I expect him to be a little bit bigger at 16.2hh give or take, as the stallion is reknowned for throwing big stock.

On the basis of all this growing I bought a foal to make 15hands. Mum was 15hands, dad was 15hands so seemed a pretty sure thing. I couldn't really get close to him when I viewed him as he was feral. He seemed big when he arrived, but I've never measured him. Hes currently out with my 14.2hh mare, and I realised the other day, he is just a little bit smaller than her, so I reckon 14hands. Hes only 9 months old!

I clearly have a gift for growing on babies on nothing more than decent grazing and a handful of Surgreow! Send yours my way, I'll send it back in a few months having grown to 17hands! :D
 

LMsporthorses

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Hi my yearling was 1 on 14th March and she is about 14.2 She should make 16.2 as dam is 16.1 and sire is 17hh. So I'd say add 2 hands is about right. The best thing to do is Turn youngsters out and forget bout them for the summer (obviously not completely) and 6 months down the line they look much bigger and more filled out. when your looking at them all day every day you think there not growing ..... like when long distant relative, who you havent seen for a while say .... oooo havent u grown!! haha lol
 

Magicmadge

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My filly turned 1 on 29th of March. She is 13hh at the wither and 14hh at the bum. At the moment she looks like 2 different horses stuck together!!!! a real ugly duckling. Not sure how big she will be, all i was told was 14hh plus. Measured from mid knee to coronet a few months back and i got 15 1/2 inches so if that is correct she should make 15 plus. My 2 year old filly is out of a 12.2 mare and supposedly by a 15 hh stallion (i bought the mare in foal) filly is now 13.2 and 2 next month so she should make 14.2. mid knee to coronet 14 1/2.
 

competitiondiva

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I've been told to measure foals on their first birthday, and then add 2 hands to get their adult height.

I've also been told this.

My boy was 14.2 on his 1st birthday, he's currently 15.3 on his 2nd birthday, out of a 15.2 mare by a 16.1 stallion (bigger grandparents!) he's set to make 16.2 (maybe a push to 16.3)
 

GinnieRedwings

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The add 2 hands thing only works for a horse that will mature at 16.2 - 17hh. if you think about it, how could it be so of a small pony? My 10.3hh Section A would have had to be 35" at a year old? I don't think so...

A better way of looking at it would be to consider that most horses will have reached 90% of their adult size by the time they are a year old. So the OP's youngster is 13.1hh should finish at 14.3hh... if it hasn't been over or under fed up to now when the rate of growth would have been altered..... so, how long is a piece of string?
 

LynneB

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the 2 hand bit would never have worked for one of my boys either. As a 7 month old he was the smallest in his group by far - I thought I had bred a couple of dwarves as my filly was also the smallest - both were out of maiden mares, I was told many foals from maidens are smaller - I never measured him but he was likely 13.1 or something. At 20 months old he was the biggest of his group standing around 16hh. He is not 2 til June but I expect him to stop around 16.2hh.

One of my mares I have owned since she was a few days old. As a yearling she was teeny too - she ended up at 16hh. Her cousin was not as small and around 14hh as a yearling, when I lost him at 22 months he was apprx 15.2 and I think would have made 16.2hh.

If you still have a shorty at 2 that's likely what you will end up with but they can grow a great deal in the next year so good luck lol
 

cruiseline

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I always find that once the backing process begins at say 3 1/2 - 4, you can actually add another inch (or even two on some of the bigger horses) to their height (and I'm not talking about shoes :p ) over the next couple of years, giving you the final mature height at 6 years old. :)
 

luckyjac

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Do you think the grandparents determine the overall height very much, I ask this because I don't know anything about my mares breeding, we think she is tb x sec d, something pony like anyway and I am worried about ending up with a throwback from this part of her breeding?? Could this happen or are parents pretty much the factor in size?
 

competitiondiva

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I've also been told this.

My boy was 14.2 on his 1st birthday, he's currently 15.3 on his 2nd birthday, out of a 15.2 mare by a 16.1 stallion (bigger grandparents!) he's set to make 16.2 (maybe a push to 16.3)

oops I put the height stick on him today after grooming him and thinking eyup! and lo-and-behold he's now pretty much 16hh! scarey!!! whatsmore, bottom's at 16.1!
 

competitiondiva

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Do you think the grandparents determine the overall height very much, I ask this because I don't know anything about my mares breeding, we think she is tb x sec d, something pony like anyway and I am worried about ending up with a throwback from this part of her breeding?? Could this happen or are parents pretty much the factor in size?

Most definately grand parents can dictate type and height, my mare 15.2 (grandsire 16.3), stallion of foal 16.1 (sire 17hh) foal at 2 years old is already now 16hh, and is the spit of his grandsire on the stallion side!
 
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