Maturity of Section D's

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Carrots&Mints

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After taking M to a couple of shows over the last couple of weeks and being told the same thing 'he needs to mature', at what age does a Section D start to mature??

Im in no rush for him to mature as taking him out inhand is all practise for the ridden job, getting him used to the atmosphere and what not, hell never be a top inhand pony lol.
 
Sorry removed post as misread and thought you were horse shopping.

Hmm as heavily muscled types I think they do mature a little later - mine blossomed around seven I suppose.
 
My mums D is only just starting to look like the finished product at 6. He still has a bit to go but he is finally filling out his frame. He didn't he was get backed til he was 5yo as he was to immature physically. I took him out a few times each year as a youngster to see the sights and sounds but never pushed him. He is a long term prospect not a flash in the pan in-hand job.
 
I have had the same comments about my wpb filly, judges have said she will be lovely when she is older but needs to mature and they have specifically mentioned her top line and neck. Hopefully we will make it out to a show this year she's 3 now and filled out a bit so it will be interesting to see what they say now :)
 
Faracat said:
http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

Go down to page 6 if you want the bit about skeletal maturing rates and breed.

The comment might be relating to your horse's musculature though. I've seen a few youngsters with good top lines that have been considered to be more mature looking than similar aged youngsters with poorer toplines.
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Thanks, ill have a good read when I'm at home tonight. Well I can see hes obviously not as mature as say a 7/8 or older section D as he is only 4. He still got to broaden on the chest and shoulders etc . Hes got a cracking top line at the moment, but could perhaps do with a little bit more and I mean a teeny tiny bit! Maybe the old strapping pad will make an appearance!

EKW said:
My mums D is only just starting to look like the finished product at 6. He still has a bit to go but he is finally filling out his frame. He didn't he was get backed til he was 5yo as he was to immature physically. I took him out a few times each year as a youngster to see the sights and sounds but never pushed him. He is a long term prospect not a flash in the pan in-hand job.
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No Im not pushing mine either, all I want him to do is enjoy and have a pleasent experiance and behave himself, and so far hes doing a good job. As I said in orginal post hell never be a top class inhand pony No.1 hes a gelding, so no use nor ornament in the inhand world :)

epeters91 said:
I have had the same comments about my wpb filly, judges have said she will be lovely when she is older but needs to mature and they have specifically mentioned her top line and neck. Hopefully we will make it out to a show this year she's 3 now and filled out a bit so it will be interesting to see what they say now :)
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Mines 4 and I went to show yesterday and saw a 2 YO sec d colt which is more mature looking than M! Embarrasing :\!!! lol
 
We had a filly many years ago and at 3 she looked like a tall section B really fine and baby looking even at 4 she looked really fine, by the time she was 6 she looked like a proper section D infact she looked like a totally different horse, so I wouldnt worry many mature later than others.
 
Mine a has just turned 7 and is only now starting to fill out properly. I reckon he will be done next summer.

Mentally though... Well I don't think he ever will!!
 
Literally, the day mine turned 17 he chose to stop being an arse and walk on the trailer first time like a normal horse. He had his moments after that but generally calmed down pretty well. He still legged it with me the last time I rode him a week before he died unexpectedly at 27!
 
buddylove said:
I had to re-read that a few times! 🙈
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haha!

Right I've got a second question for you lot then :)

If a judge asks you how old your horse is in the ring - mines 4, he then does a cracking show behaves well but then gets beaten by an overweight section C (c&d class - trying not to have sour grapes but abit annoyed at the situation lol) judge then tells me he needs to mature - no poop Sherlock! He's only 4! You asked how old he was when looking at his conformation - right anyhow my question is - why don't they (judge) take the age into consideration, yes he's not going to be as mature as an 8 year, but he's a cracking true to type straight as a die and very correct section d (I know I am biased but I also know it's true lol)

I suppose that's showing for you, you could be champion one weekend and then total failure the next! Lol
 
My section C took until she was 7 to mature, to be perfectly honest when she was 4 she looked as though she had two legs coming out of one hole - at 7 she had a massive front. Mine was never shown in hand and was never overcooked with hard feed so definitely took a while to mature.
Are you talking about a ridden class? Way of going should count for more than conformation and maturity marks wise. But what I would say is that the judge is not looking at what your horse will furnish up into when he is finished maturing he is looking at what is in front of him on that day. My mare, though she finished lovely, just looked a bit 'ropey' looking as a 4 year old.
 
Carrots&Mints said:
haha!
If a judge asks you how old your horse is in the ring - mines 4, he then does a cracking show behaves well but then gets beaten by an overweight section C (c&d class - trying not to have sour grapes but abit annoyed at the situation lol) judge then tells me he needs to mature - no poop Sherlock! He's only 4! You asked how old he was when looking at his conformation - right anyhow my question is - why don't they (judge) take the age into consideration, yes he's not going to be as mature as an 8 year, but he's a cracking true to type straight as a die and very correct section d (I know I am biased but I also know it's true lol)

I suppose that's showing for you, you could be champion one weekend and then total failure the next! Lol
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Agree with this - I took my 2yo out a few weeks ago to do a small breed M&M "any age" class...she was the only youngster in the class and we ended up pulled last. When I brought her forward for her individual trot up, the judge asked how old she was and I replied that she was 2. He then said "Yes, exactly the wrong age to be bringing her into a class like this"...emmm what?!! It's a small breeds M&M ANY AGE class!! We stayed at the bottom of the line (moved up one space as the judge thought another pony had capped hocks...so not that we were moved up per se, more that pony was moved down!) and I was quite cross because, like you, I felt she should've been judged on her appearance for her age since the class was for all ages of pony (again, like you, I know she is a really good example of her breed at 2yrs old) rather than being compared "like for like" with all the mature ponies around her. On plus side, she behaved beautifully and this was her first outing since last August so the day itself did the job it was supposed to in terms of getting her out and about and having her behave herself...which is never a given!!
 
It's hard to judge youngstock against older horses. You plop a backwards, inmature beast in amongst fully matured, chunky animals which one is going to draw your eye? The youngsters will always look.more behind than they truly are unless they go in like for like classes.

I had my wee 2yo coloured colt out in a mixed age class on Saturday and he stood 5th. Far better than I expected him to and I just wanted him to behave. The judges comments were - he will be great when he is older but it is hard to judge him against horses at least 5 years older than him. Also the fact that he was a shetland in amongst big cobs lol! He was by far the smallest in height which didn't do him any favours.
 
exmoorponyprincess1 said:
Agree with this - I took my 2yo out a few weeks ago to do a small breed M&M "any age" class...she was the only youngster in the class and we ended up pulled last. When I brought her forward for her individual trot up, the judge asked how old she was and I replied that she was 2. He then said "Yes, exactly the wrong age to be bringing her into a class like this"...emmm what?!! It's a small breeds M&M ANY AGE class!! We stayed at the bottom of the line (moved up one space as the judge thought another pony had capped hocks...so not that we were moved up per se, more that pony was moved down!) and I was quite cross because, like you, I felt she should've been judged on her appearance for her age since the class was for all ages of pony (again, like you, I know she is a really good example of her breed at 2yrs old) rather than being compared "like for like" with all the mature ponies around her. On plus side, she behaved beautifully and this was her first outing since last August so the day itself did the job it was supposed to in terms of getting her out and about and having her behave herself...which is never a given!!
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It's so annoying isn't it! We will try again next time lol! At least he was behaved and we actually did come home with a rosette (even though there was only 4 in the class) haha!!!!!

EKW said:
It's hard to judge youngstock against older horses. You plop a backwards, inmature beast in amongst fully matured, chunky animals which one is going to draw your eye? The youngsters will always look.more behind than they truly are unless they go in like for like classes.

I had my wee 2yo coloured colt out in a mixed age class on Saturday and he stood 5th. Far better than I expected him to and I just wanted him to behave. The judges comments were - he will be great when he is older but it is hard to judge him against horses at least 5 years older than him. Also the fact that he was a shetland in amongst big cobs lol! He was by far the smallest in height which didn't do him any favours.
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I'll try post a photo of him a couple of weeks ago.
 
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