Rising 4 welsh c wierd growth spurts - normal or not?

[Scunny]

Hi, I took some photo's of our young welshie last week and he is looking quite out of proportion in some of them

Is it normal for youngsters to only grow bits of themselves at a time if that makes any sense?

We have had him almost a year and a half and his head and neck looked as though they were too big for him at one time, but now to me he looks as though his entire front end is too small

He'll be 4 in April, and he has recently grown quite a bit, we didn't have him broken last year as he was still very babyish and quite insecure and we were advised to let him grow up a bit first, but hopefully he will be going away to be broken this spring.

Here's the photos, they were taken with my phone so not great quality, any comments on his conformation would also be appreciated.

 

[AmyMay]

Oooo he's a smarty pants isn't he?? Doesn't look at all odd, maybe a little bum high.....

Youngsters can have some quite odd growth spurts - you should see some of the ones at my yard at times LOL.

He looks great though imo.

 

[JoBo]

I think it’s quite normal. Black’s is pretty much 5 now and he has definitely had a growth spurt in the last few months. He has grown a good inch if not more and looks longer in the body now then when we got him last August.

Don’t worry every thing will catch up sooner or later!

 

[Scunny]

Yes he's a real character :lol an absolute cuddly sweetheart with kids/adults but he's very riggy (vet tested him negative) and a nightmare with my mare.

I'm praying that his front end will grow a couple of inches to catch up with his bum :rolleyes he was supposed to make 13.2 but I think he's 13 to 13.1 at the moment, it's a bit hard to judge without a measuring stick as he's in with my 16hh mare and looks like a tiny tank stood next to here *grin*

I've never had a youngster before so wasn't sure if it was normal, if we can get his sweet itch under control this year my daughter really wants to take him to some local shows (in hand) and I don't want to get laughed out of the ring...... :lol

 

[Scunny]

[ QUOTE ]
I think it’s quite normal. Black’s is pretty much 5 now and he has definitely had a growth spurt in the last few months. He has grown a good inch if not more and looks longer in the bodey now then when we got him last August.

Don’t worry every thing will catch up sooner or later!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, for that

Ronnie's a bit too long in the back at the moment I think.

The stud where we bought him from gave us a lovely letter to go with that said that welshies are sometimes still growing/maturing up to 7 years?

 

[Little_Mare]

He's looking good to me - looks to have good limbs!

My girl (also a C) was a big girl at 2 and a half when I got her and she just matured a bit but I had a C gelding a few years back and his spurts were all over the place until he was 5 - legs, bum, front, back all at different times!

 

[juliehannah58]

Ah he looks good to me!

We have a clydesdale x TB x Heinz 57 and she is supposed to be around 2 & 1/2 now (although we think she might be younger). We have owned her for exactly one year and when we bought her she was 14.2hh and took a 5'6 rug, now she is 15.1hh at the withers and 15.3hh at the bum end but this is the amazing bit, she now takes a 6'3" rug!!! 9 inches in length?! Crazy horse! She is so bum high you almost want to pop a yellow pages under her front hooves to even her up LOL.

I think they all mature in their own time, you lad looks great though! Ours looks like her front end belongs to a different horse altogether!!

 

[Scunny]

:lol Little_Mare and JH58, what pictures in my head, there was me thinking I had the only wonkytonk pony *grins* thank god it's normal so he doesn't make me out to be a liar when I was reassuring my daughter that he will be ok *grins*

Here's a piccy of him last April at his first and only show. He started with sweetitch after that and nothing we tried helped the poor boy

Hopefully this year since we aren't near any ponds now and I'm ready for it (saving for a boett) it won't get so bad... Last year it was driving him crazy and he went through 2 fly rugs, one of them (from Tescos grrr) he wrecked in less than 12 hours! We tried marmite, garlic, every lotion and potion in our tack shops and eventually found that Itch Stop Complete helped if it was applied daily (says weekly on instructions) but by that time he'd rubbed out his tail and 1/3rd of his mane

 

[claireross]

My Welsh Section D has grown from 15.1hh as a 3 1/2yr old to about 16hh for rising 6yrs. I look back at photos and his head looked too big for his body until last year and his shoulder was really narrow in comparision to the rest of him and is only just catching up now.

 

[Scunny]

Wow that's a big D

What breeding is he? I read on another forum that one of the welsh d lines are known to grow that size, I can't remember the affix but it began with a M?

Last year at a show we ran into a friend of a friend, they were jumping their 16hh welsh d, it tuned out that he was out of my friends 14.2 mare and he MIL's 15hh stallion

he was lush!

Funny you should say about narrow shoulders, my son who has his own house now so rarely see's the horses pointed out that Ronnie's shoulders looked too narrow for the rest of him last week, hopefully his will fill out too!

Angela

 

[tractorgirl]

Maesmynach lines tend to throw bigger D's, is that who you are thinking of? I have a 15.3 one!

 

[Scunny]

That's the bloodline! You're very lucky, I've seen a few of them online, real stunning looking horses!