My yearling has been ridden!

[throughtheforest]

Have you got a passport for him now and if so, what age does it say he is ?

That he will be two around December time as that is what the vet who completed the passport aged him as. He was very clear that he felt he was younger than what I put him as interesting. Farrier puts him at rising 2 as so did the vet who came out to do his 2nd vaccination.
Next time a dentist comes up ill ask him too, but I agree with both vets and farrier tbh I've seen and owned horses from 3 up, each one having a more mature set of teeth than what he has. He doesn't have emerging hooks or the cracks on the side either putting him at around 2 or under as the teeth are very young in presentation.

 

[bonny]

That he will be two around December time as that is what the vet who completed the passport aged him as. He was very clear that he felt he was younger than what I put him as interesting. Farrier puts him at rising 2 as so did the vet who came out to do his 2nd vaccination.
Next time a dentist comes up ill ask him too, but I agree with both vets and farrier tbh I've seen and owned horses from 3 up, each one having a more mature set of teeth than what he has. He doesn't have emerging hooks or the cracks on the side either putting him at around 2 or under as the teeth are very young in presentation.

If that’s right then that clipped photo would be of a horse aged around 1 or less, something isn’t adding up here

 

[Leo Walker]

Teeth are not an exact science. That is not a yearling in the photos. I would imagine your pony is roughly the age you were told he was.

 

[throughtheforest]

Teeth are not an exact science. That is not a yearling in the photos. I would imagine your pony is roughly the age you were told he was.

Don't take this the wrong way but 2 vets, a farrier and various other people who have actually seen him, including myself we have all put him as 2 or less and you are both judging from 2 photos.
I was wondering if it was possible for the above photo to be photoshopped tbh because it looks like him but it doesn't as he does not carry the muscle in the first photo

 

[Gloi]

Well at about 2 1/2 he will get his first adult incisors so you will know then, if he has no adult teeth now. From the pics I'd say he's not far off that now.

 

[throughtheforest]

Well at about 2 1/2 he will get his first adult incisors so you will know then, if he has no adult teeth now. From the pics I'd say he's not far off that now.

He has no adult incisors as of July 2019 when they were looked at thoroughly.

 

[Gloi]

He has no adult incisors as of July 2019 when they were looked at thoroughly.

Look again now then, my youngsters seem to get theirs around this time of year.

 

[Bellaboo18]

Umm, those two pictures aren't of the same pony.

 

[ycbm]

He's definitely under 2 it's blatantly obvious looking at his teeth.

I had a three year old, bought at two, chipped and passported as a foal, aged as two by his teeth by a very experienced person. He was definitely over three years old when he lost his first front tooth.

 

[lannerch]

Umm, those two pictures aren't of the same pony.

I think they are no two horses would have the same lovely markings

 

[milliepops]

looks the same to me as well, just in the clipped one there seems to be some grot obscuring some of the white areas.

 

[Shilasdair]

Vets have been known to be wrong.
If you post pics of his incisors (from front and side, and if you can, the tooth surfaces) the HHO forumites will be able to age him for you.
Without seeing his teeth, I'd say he's well past two, and rising three (in the spring).

 

[ycbm]

Umm, those two pictures aren't of the same pony.

I agree. Very, very similar but the markings on the front legs are nothing like the same.


.

 

[milliepops]

they look identical to me, on the trotting pic the near fore is white to the knee and the off has white above the knee, same on the stood up pic

 

[lannerch]

Just so you can see why we are struggling with the age the vet gave looking at your photos here is my youngster at 16months then again 26 months

 

[be positive]

I agree. Very, very similar but the markings on the front legs are nothing like the same.


.

I thought that earlier but having taken a closer look the white mark below the wither is identical and the one of him moving gives a bit of an optical illusion that the inside of the off fore is the outside of the near.

 

[Bellaboo18]

I

they look identical to me, on the trotting pic the near fore is white to the knee and the off has white above the knee, same on the stood up pic

I must admit I was convinced and now I'm not so sure-sorry op. It was his face markings at first
that got me questioning it.

 

[Barton Bounty]

As the title says really, I've been tracing my yearling cobs history who I bought back in July this year and back in December 2018 he had been ridden and jumped!!!!
I have seen the photos, it's clearly him and I was quite shocked to be honest. I honestly don't think he's been knocked about or psychologically damaged as he loves people and loves to come out... And is sound as a pound.
However, I am worried about the affect this could have on him in the future and I probably would have been more cautious about buying him had I known. That's the risk of buying a horse who's history is not that well known. When the farrier removed his shoes he said he'd had a bit of use in them. He's obviously resting and being forced to behave like a horse in the field with other horses and he will do for at least another year.
Anyone else had a horse who's done too much when they were youngsters?! I've known a lot of TB ex racers who've remained sound into their teens...

My ex racer is sound, and is 12 ♥️

 

[Dollbird]

What's done is done. Ask a vet or qualified dentist to age him. Then look after him appropriately.

 

[throughtheforest]

Look again now then, my youngsters seem to get theirs around this time of year.

Yep looked again tonight and no adult incisors. They're definitely those of an under 2 year old.

 

[criso]

I saw a study a while back on using teeth to estimate age and it wasn't nearly as accurate as thought even with young horses. There was a big variation in how the teeth developed.

I tried to find it and couldn't but I did find an earlier one on tbs where they said the oldest horse with a temporary central incisors still present was 2 years 11 months and 4 and 5 years for corners and laterals. T

https://www.dentalage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/richardson_jd_et_al_1995_horses_teeth.pdf

Having said that in terms of what you do with him I would go with the youngest estimate.

 

[stormox]

A 2yr old mouth can be mistaken for a 4yr old mouth if someone doesnt recognise the difference between foal teeth and adult teeth. The mane and tail are ususlly a givaway with a yearling - shorter and fluffier. Your horse doesnt look like a yearling to me.
But I wouldnt worry about it, I had a TB who'd raced several times as a 2 and 3yr old, a he never had a days lameness and was still hunting with the Quorn age 24.

 

[throughtheforest]

I completely disagree he looks like most of the traditional cob yearlings I've seen, especially the more developed ones are not as fluffy as yearlings of other breeds/types that I've seen and had experience with. Having analysed the difference in teeth it's just not possible to get his mixed up with that of an older horse they're most definitely way too short, white and milk teeth like. Multiple vets, a dentist, farrier and god knows who else have all put him as 2 or under so I can't really get any further professional opinion on the matter however it's been an interesting evening!

 

[throughtheforest]

Just an example of another traditional cob yearling at 1 year 5 months old, hair and build is not necessarily an indicator with side on views of cob yearlings.

 

[_HP_]

I hope this works
Taken by a previous owner in December 2018. The most current ones won't upload and I can't get them to a size for them to be uploaded.

Looks like a yearling tail to me....about half way down. If he's been worked (poor sod) then that would explain why he doesn't look like a classic yearling. In my experience, they can look more babyish at 2 than they can at 1 sometimes. My cob was very in proportion at 14 months when I bought him.
Hopefully, with a year or so off, he'll be non the worse for it all.

 

[throughtheforest]

Looks like a yearling tail to me....about half way down. If he's been worked (poor sod) then that would explain why he doesn't look like a classic yearling. In my experience, they can look more babyish at 2 than they can at 1 sometimes. My cob was very in proportion at 14 months when I bought him.
Hopefully, with a year or so off, he'll be non the worse for it all.

Interesting how these cobs grow as it's not in the same way as other horses is it, they seem to up then out, the up, then out again. I've just been looking at some of them on preloved, they vary so much at the same age, some look really leggy and out of proportion then others look really in proportion and stocky already.

 

[Leo Walker]

I saw a study a while back on using teeth to estimate age and it wasn't nearly as accurate as thought even with young horses. There was a big variation in how the teeth developed.

I tried to find it and couldn't but I did find an earlier one on tbs where they said the oldest horse with a temporary central incisors still present was 2 years 11 months and 4 and 5 years for corners and laterals. T

https://www.dentalage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/richardson_jd_et_al_1995_horses_teeth.pdf

Having said that in terms of what you do with him I would go with the youngest estimate.

It not accurate and even if it was, there are always anomalies. I've never known a vet or dentist get it right to be fair. ageing by teeth is an educated guess, usually more accurate in youngsters but not infallible. In this instance they are wrong. You know they are wrong because you know how many owners the pony has had and what it has done previously. The pony is not a yearling in those pictures.

 

[Leo Walker]

Interesting how these cobs grow as it's not in the same way as other horses is it, they seem to up then out, the up, then out again. I've just been looking at some of them on preloved, they vary so much at the same age, some look really leggy and out of proportion then others look really in proportion and stocky already.

All horses are different, cobs arent special in that. It doesnt change the fact that your pony isnt a yearling in the photo, regardless of what his teeth say.

Why dont you contact the old owners rather then screenshotting photos. Just ask them. They obviously cared enough to keep the pony in good condition and do things with it and then try and get it a good home. They are better placed to alleviate your concerns than we are.

 

[Leo Walker]

As the title says really, I've been tracing my yearling cobs history who I bought back in July this year and back in December 2018 he had been ridden and jumped!!!!

If he was a yearling in July, then in December 2018 he was a foal. Go and look at the photo again. That is not a foal.

 

[throughtheforest]

If he was a yearling in July, then in December 2018 he was a foal. Go and look at the photo again. That is not a foal.

He could easily still be in the yearling year in that first photo. I've gone back to previous 3 owners and found out from the 1 before I bought him from who aged him as a yearling in May 2019 and she was surprised to see what he had done prior to her owning him. I'm sure he will be OK moving forward as he's now out doing nothing other than being a horse, I was just a bit surprised at his history given his *known* age.