Is a horse's height predetermined

[Boater]

If a young horse is malnourished having been weaned and then, as a two year old, has regular feeds and proper care i.e. worming, does this affect the growth rate and is the horse likely to be smaller as a result or would it achieve a predetermined height?

 

[scotsmare]

I think if it's been malnourished in the first place then it is unlikely to reach it's full height. Clearly, as a two year old, you're rescuing a bad situation but hopefully you'll get a nice horse out of it in the end.

 

[Spyda]

I am sure I read somewhere that 'experiments' had shown that you can turn a malnourished young horse around to reach its genetic potential, but I'd assume once its growth plates were closed in the lower leg, then the length of the bone was fixed and the level of catch-up would be some what limited. Presumably breed and maturity of the individual would also be an influencing factor. Also, if the youngster hadn't been correctly wormed there's the potential for worm damage to impact negatively, too.

My 2007 filly had a really rough start; bad scours for a couple of months combined with poor milk levels in my maiden mare left her rather small and scrawny at 4 months old in comparisson to the other foals of the same age. Fortunately, once the scours stopped and the mare hit the good grass, things turned around and 10 months later the filly is taller and better filled out any of the foals who'd looked so much better earlier on but haven't benefited from her care regime.

I think the earlier you can catch a neglected youngster, the better the odds for its maximum genetic potential to be fullfilled.