Is it possible for horses to grow taller than both parents?

[Izzwall]

I measured my 2 and half year old filly today and she's 14.2hh at the bum and 14hh at the wither, did the string test and that says she's expected to reach 15.1hh!! Which has left me very confused since mother is only 12.3hh and father is only 14.2hh with a push! My farrier and vet told me she'll mature at around 14hh when she was a yearling. Is it possible for horses to grow taller than both their parents? Or do you think when I sent my mare off to the stud farm she possibly mated with the wrong stallion, which is playing a little on the back of my mind as she is supposed to be crossed with a HW piebald gypsy cob.... any ideas????
Most recent picture (she's got bigger since though!)

Last summer

Mother

Mother and Daughter

And just cos it's cute Kayla 30 minutes old!!

 

[Cazzah]

Definitely possible. My TB is 3" taller than his dad and 4" bigger than mother - genetic freak!!! Very cute baby btw

 

[Stacey6897]

Yes, Mike's parents are 16hh and 16.2hh but he's well over 17hh now, I guess there's a big big horse somewhere in his lineage

 

[DosyMare]

Yes they can grow bigger than both Sire and Dam.

 

[rhino]

Yes it's possible, and with parents who are mixed breed there is always the chance of 'throwing back' to something in the pedigree.

 

[horsestar]

Absolutely, we have a homebred 'accident' out of a 14.2hh mare and a 15hh stallion,who at 6 yrs old now stands at 16.3hh!! Impressive and a throwback I think. Dad was a useless racehorse who was signed over to us as a three year old for no money but had to sign to say we would care for him in every way. As he was rising four he managed to climb in to the neibouring field with our mare and youngsters and covered the mare! As we weren't sure if he had or handnt we actually thought she was in foal to a coloured who we had paid for to cover her and the dates didn't tally! She was too overdue for it to have been the coloured! Along came jack! Naughty jack at that!!!

 

[Holly Hocks]

Oh this has lifted my spirits!! I have a two and a half year old New forest X filly - found out from the man who had her on the forest that she was out of a one-eyed coloured mare who was also a New forest X and was only 13hh. Doesn't know which stallion as dam was in an area were 3 stallions ran, but I can't imagine any of them would have been over 14.2hh. Mine is currently 13.1 (and a half!) and originally I was hoping she would make 14.2hh, then realised that she might not........can I get my hopes up again??

 

[AdorableAlice]

Not much heavyweight piebald cob showing through yet on your youngster. But yes, they can grow bigger than parents. If you can research your mares breeding you may find a bigger horse and likewise for the stallion.

Looking at the youngster I can see why you are wondering about which stallion was used.

 

[nirikina]

If it were impossible for a foal to be taller than it's parents, then horses would gradually become smaller and smaller as we bred them.

Think about it. Two 18hh parents produce a foal that grows to 17.2hh, that foal bears offspring that are only 17hh, next generation reduced to 16.2hh etc.

 

[rhino]

Oh this has lifted my spirits!! I have a two and a half year old New forest X filly - found out from the man who had her on the forest that she was out of a one-eyed coloured mare who was also a New forest X and was only 13hh. Doesn't know which stallion as dam was in an area were 3 stallions ran, but I can't imagine any of them would have been over 14.2hh. Mine is currently 13.1 (and a half!) and originally I was hoping she would make 14.2hh, then realised that she might not........can I get my hopes up again??

Or you could be like my friend who bought a 13.3hh NFx 2 year old to make 14.2hh.

He made 13.3hh

 

[mulledwhine]

I don't get it nirikina ?? we as a species are getting taller, I am from a 5 ft mother and a 5 5 father and I am 5 6??

Surely the same goes ? Btw my sister is 5 8

 

[Holly Hocks]

Or you could be like my friend who bought a 13.3hh NFx 2 year old to make 14.2hh.

He made 13.3hh

LOL!! Bring on the roller skates!

 

[Izzwall]

Well mum is a bodmin moor pony so she has all sorts but has apparently never thrown a foal bigger than 13.2hh.

Sorry now I think about it, it's not impossible for them to be bigger than their parents but it's a lot more rarer hence why I'm wondering if it really was the cob who sired her! There was one other stallion there who was a 16hh bright bay hanoverian and jumped anything and everything who the breeder (also my ex farrier) was trying to get me to use but I declined.

At a year old, Kayla climbed and jumped a 6ft hedge and likes to jump out of her field, even over a 5ft post and rail fence! hmmmmmmmmmm

 

[AdorableAlice]

I have given my foal a choice, she can either be a maxi cob and win Hoys in 2015 or a heavyweight hunter and win in 2016.

Sire 16.3h 10inch bone RID out of 15h irish vanner/cob with Shire in bloodline somewhere in the past. Sire by Crosstown Dancer who has put size into his stock.

9 months old now and 14.3h, what do you all think ? If she doesn't meet my order she still has a home for life but I haven't told her that yet !

 

[DosyMare]

It's dangerous for a small mare to be covered by a large stallion - was your foal really little when she was born?

You have to consider the Sires parentage might be tall.

 

[Izzwall]

No, she was quite big to be fair. I had the vet round a couple of hours after she was born and he said she was the healthiest foal he'd seen all week!

I was very lucky to watch her be born and even helped her out of the birth sac so she's very special to me Even when she's going through her terrible twos atm!

 

[Dexter]

My coloured is out of a 15hand Section D by a 15hand MW stallion. He is 15hands, which is fine, except he is only 18 months old! I keep saying hes 14hands ish to make 15hands ish. I suspect I'll have to revise that estimate to 16 hands ish shortly!

 

[Sparkles]

18.2hh.

Parents were 15.3hh and 17.2hh!

 

[rhino]

It's dangerous for a small mare to be covered by a large stallion - was your foal really little when she was born?

You have to consider the Sires parentage might be tall.

Actually there's a lot of evidence to show that isn't the case, the build of the stallion is more important than the height if anything..

 

[jeeve]

No, she was quite big to be fair. I had the vet round a couple of hours after she was born and he said she was the healthiest foal he'd seen all week!

I was very lucky to watch her be born and even helped her out of the birth sac so she's very special to me Even when she's going through her terrible twos atm!

Our maiden mare is 14.1h and the stallion was 15.2h, (but may have an inch or two to grow). The foal was big, but no trouble at all foaling. Very straightforward and again the vet said very healthy foal.

 

[Maesfen]

Harry is out ofd a 14.2 tank and by a small (under 15 hands) TB. He's still growing at 16.2; he was meant to be a show cob but nobody told him!

 

[Kallibear]

The fact her mum is a small pony does bring the stallion into question. I also agree she has very little gypsy cob look about her. I'd expect her a lot heavier and hairier!

If she makes 15.2ish, that is massively bigger than mum and would be unusual, and fit with a 16hh dad.

However, mum and dad may never have reached their potential full height if they were badly nourished as youngster, which i'd imagine isn't uncommon for moor ponies.

 

[DosyMare]

Actually there's a lot of evidence to show that isn't the case, the build of the stallion is more important than the height if anything..

I always thought the stallion should be no more than 2 hands bigger, but I'm no expert.
But my comment was in general - small mare large stallion. Height wise I wondered how big the grand sire was ect.

 

[Megibo]

Yes, we hoped our yearling would be 15.2 but 3 height tests say 16 hands!

Mum is a 15 hand 3/4 tb and dad is a 15.3 welsh D.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Lovely pictures, I was with mine when she was born thankfully, I had to break membrane over her nose as she was gasping.

I still can't see the piebald heavy cob in your foal !

 

[natalia]

I disagree I can see cob in your foal! I have a 14.1hh connemara x very heavy cob, and no one can see the cob in him! What you'll prob find like with my boy is that although she has minimal feather and no colour she will have the hair! My chap has a very thick cob mane and tail and a thick coat. Our pony has to be clipped out all year round so he can work. He often gets mistaken for a purebred connie but I know his secret! Lol. I've had him 11 yrs now and he must have been to a thousand pc rallies. Good luck with yours!

 

[Zimzim]

Yep they certainly can do. My rising 4 year old is already 2/3 inches bigger than both his sire (16.1hh) and dam (16hh), with the possibility of still having some growing to do!!!

 

[NooNoo59]

Yes absolutely, I have a 14.2 appaloosa and when I looked into the information on his breeding papers, both parents were shetlands!! and few spot. He is very spotty!!
I call him a genetic throwback, but he is beautiful!! Also I am 5ft 2 in and both my kids are taller than me, which puts me at an disadvantage at times!

 

[shoo]

My rising 4 year old is currently standing at 12.2hh, both parents were under 11hh.

 

[Potato!]

Yes i had a youngster whos dam was 16.1 and sire was 16.3

He made 17.2