Hunter Weights

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archiesmum

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I have recently got myself a lovely 7yo ISH gelding who I'd like to do some ridden showing with next season - we have a lot of schooling to work on first! He is by Huntingfield Rebel out of an ISH mare so quite a thick set chap but he is only 16.1hh, maybe 16.2hh. Would he be a middleweight hunter or would he be a heavyweight? He carries the heavyweight sized rider but would he be too small and over shadowed in a class of true heavyweights? In the distant future I'd quite like to try SFAS or the RIHS amateur hunter classes if he enjoys it :-)

Here he is, what do you think...

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What bone does he have?

I'm thinking MW rather than HW, I think HW would have a little more bone...

I love him BTW, great breeding. Best of luck with him.

Fiona
 
He would be dwarfed as a Hw at 16.1. We recently sold a horse who we measured at 16.1hh. She's now doing well as a small hunter.
 
I too think he would look small even in MW - but there is only one way to find out! I think he would look fab over fences as a Worker
 
Thank you for your replies :-)

It seems to be as I feared - a bit small or I am going to need to jump. RoR showing was so much easier! Does anyone have middleweights that I can see pictures of? I don't mind not being at the top of the line but it would be nice to be a little competitive :-)

I haven't measured his height tbh but he doesn't look as big as my TB mare - although both of them were advertised at 16.1hh! Where do I measure his bone from? Is it just below his knee?

Are there many small hunter classes?
 
You will be starting off in novice classes where they are rarely divided by weights, then at the lower levels most will rarely be split, it is only when you get to the bigger shows the weights get divided so until then I wouldn't worry about it, to me he would make a nice worker but is too small for open m/w classes at county level, if he went under 158cm he could be a very useful small.
 
Defo too small for a HW - they seem to be coming in around the 17.2 mark. Some with bone, a lot with no bone but tall and big bodied. Not correct IMHO.

I have a MW. He's a pure bred ID at 16.2 (just). I've shown him and qualified him twice for RI in the amateur MW section, but at that level he doesn't really cut it - not enough blood or expressive movement. In truth, he's a small heavy, but against the real heavies he's tiny. I've stopped showing at that level now.

What he has done well in is breed classes.

So yours would be registered as a Sport Horse on the ID breed register, which means you could compete in Blue Chip qualifiers.

SFAS is just 'Hunters' so no sizing restrictions (and they do a workers class too, and riding club horse, if he turns out to be a handy type).

Unless you are going affiliated then most local classes are just 'hunter' so give it a go. Also worth seeing if you can get to some showing clinics and get a view from a professional. I put mine into the MW section on the advise of Katie Jerram, but she was honest enough to say he wasn't going to cut it in open company due to his size, but that she thought he would do very well in amateur ranks and breed classes. And she was spot on.

By the way, he's rather nice :)
 
and just so you don't get disheartened. Do remember that showing is subjective and at the higher levels, pretty tight on standards. Your boy looks like a lovely type. I echo the idea of going to a showing clinic to have your horse assessed. Just to throw something else out there - if you were interested in sidesaddle, then the type of horse is irrelevant, its about the behaviour and training. Granted it is horribly expensive but I spent a very interesting morning at a Lyn Russell clinic and learnt a lot.. and she had everything from cobs to hacks and my friends 3/4 ID mare in the clinic. All of whom would have done well in a showing class!
 
Yay - I've got a Huntingfield Rebel boy as well, about the same height and frame (although mine is quite base narrow in front). I'm a big convert. Bet your boy will look lovely when he's plaited n trimmed (he looks lovely now, but hope you know what I mean!).

Mine is too small for the bigger hunter classes and although has decent bone, he still looks a bit light for MW. However, we had lots of fun and some success in our first ever year of showing, so def worth a shot if you're interested in doing local/amateur type shows.
 
Looks like a cracking worker to me. I only know about the County level stuff - all the SFAS came in after I stopped showing! He would be too small as a LWT - flat horses are getting taller (correctly or otherwise).

These are the official guidelines - Show hunter horses are divided into three weight sections - lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight. The lightweight hunter should be able to carry up to 12 st 7 lb (79 kg), stand around 16 to 16.2 hands (64 to 66 inches, 163 to 168 cm) and have about 8 1⁄2 inches of bone under the knee.

The middleweight hunter stands around 16.3 hands (67 inches, 170 cm), can carry between 12 st 7 lb (79 kg) and 14 st (89 kg) and has 8 3⁄4 to 9 inches of bone.

The heavyweight stands around 17 hands (68 inches, 173 cm), has 9 inches of bone under the knee and is capable of carrying over 14 st (89 kg).

This was a HWT - he's 17.3 with 10" bone - he's SF x ISH - very quality

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This is also a HWT - pure ID by Creggan Emperor - 17.3hh with 10" bone

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And this is my own Huntingfield Rebel - he's 17.1hh at the moment, with over 10" bone

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Get him properly measured. You will be suprised at how small they can measure. Everyone on the yard swears mine is 16.2 but i had absolutly no problems getting him measured in at 15.2hh for the smalls
 
conniegirl said:
Get him properly measured. You will be suprised at how small they can measure. Everyone on the yard swears mine is 16.2 but i had absolutly no problems getting him measured in at 15.2hh for the smalls
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This - we have a TB that stands 16.1 on the stick at home with shoes on and I was assured by a producer that he would easily measure in at 158cm.
 
minesadouble said:
This - we have a TB that stands 16.1 on the stick at home with shoes on and I was assured by a producer that he would easily measure in at 158cm.
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well for a start they are always measured without shoes! so thats an inch saved normaly!
then if you trim feet, clip all the hair off the wither, stand them properly and get them nice and relaxed you will find they normaly drop a good few Cm's. Also height is deceptive and people actulay have very little Idea of what a full up, well muscled horse of say 16.2hh actualy looks like!
 
Thank you so much for all your replies and all the pictures, they are all stunning :-)

It is looking like he is not going to be flat hunter material - too much bone and not refined enough for lightweight and not big enough for medium weight :-/ but I will look more in to the SFAS and amateur things, and will keep an eye out for some showing clinics... Although we have a lot of schooling to do before we can entertain that idea!

I have measured him (using a tape measure and some wood on the wither, so not very accurate) at just 163cms shod and he is needing his feet doing! His bone is just over 9" if I have got it in the right place. If I have got it right do you think he would measure in as a small? Is this something that he would need to be measured yearly for?

I would love him to do workers but I'm not sure I'm brave enough! I'm not a jumper but if he enjoys it I might need to pop on some brave pants... There is no upper age limit for novice workers is there?! Haha! Are there weighted sections for workers or is it more to do with the height of the fences?

I have him registered with IDHS so we can do the ISH affiliated classes with them. He won his first and only in hand ISH Maturity class with me back in August after only owning him 6 weeks - he is a lovely, well mannered chap :-) the judges comments were 'if I was looking for an ISH this is what I would buy' which was really promising :-)

Whilst I had the tape measure out I also measured my 16month old ID filly by Avanti Amorous Archie - 150cms and 9" bone... I think she might just be my heavyweight horse in a few years! Haha!

Thank you so much for answering all my many, many questions :-)
 
conniegirl said:
well for a start they are always measured without shoes! so thats an inch saved normaly!
then if you trim feet, clip all the hair off the wither, stand them properly and get them nice and relaxed you will find they normaly drop a good few Cm's. Also height is deceptive and people actulay have very little Idea of what a full up, well muscled horse of say 16.2hh actualy looks like!
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Believe me I've had enough ponies measured over the years to know the score!!The point I was making was that people measuring at home are usually measuring WITH shoes rather than without and that what an animal measures at home is not necessarily what it will measure on the pad!
 
minesadouble said:
Believe me I've had enough ponies measured over the years to know the score!!The point I was making was that people measuring at home are usually measuring WITH shoes rather than without and that what an animal measures at home is not necessarily what it will measure on the pad!
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You should try measuring ponies in ireland :p lots of tricks to get them into a height class ;)

I think if you measure him at 163 with shoes then he just might measure in at 158 if tried :)
 
only_me said:
You should try measuring ponies in ireland :p lots of tricks to get them into a height class ;)

I think if you measure him at 163 with shoes then he just might measure in at 158 if tried :)
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Haha! I know many of those 'tricks' lol! There used to be someone near us where you could send them to 'shrunk' ;)
 
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