She won't stop growing?!

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NicoleandRosy

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On a serious note, has anyone got a sports horse and what age did they stop growing and what was their final height? I have a rising 5 year old mare (5 in 3 days!!) and literally she is already at 16.1hh pushing over. I was told she was expected to make 16.2hh by her previous owner and their vet.. however, this doesn't seem likely.. She has gone from bum high, to shooting sky high.. I'm 5'3" and look like a tiny smurf on her, so curious as to what she could potentially finish too. Her sire is 16.2hh, and most of her half siblings reached 16.1/16.2hh, but this seems so unrealistic with her bum height.

Photos and dates to be included! :)

25 April 2014
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/...50_235521279978054_7107316726134533213_n1.jpg

7th July 2014
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/...019_256900677840114_8539785477404037697_n.jpg

9th July 2014
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/...019_256900677840114_8539785477404037697_n.jpg
 
No horse/pony - not even a tiny shetland, has a mature skeleton before they are 5 1/2 according to Dr Bennett's article. http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf The bigger the horse, the more extra time they need for their skeleton to finish growing.

I feel you pain, my arab is bigger than both of his parents already (he's 4) and I'm going to need a step ladder to tack/rug him up if he keeps going.


ETA - very interestingly marked horse BTW. :) I'm guessing that there isn't a frame overo parent and that it's sabino causing the white marks on the body? I've seen half/part socks like that on arabs and that's thought to be caused by sabino.
 
Last edited:
Faracat said:
ETA - very interestingly marked horse BTW. :) I'm guessing that there isn't a frame overo parent and that it's sabino causing the white marks on the body? I've seen half/part socks like that on arabs and that's thought to be caused by sabino.
Click to expand...

Looks like sudocreme to me! Marks not present on all pics.

Lovely looking horse, wish mine had grown to 16hh!
 
I have the opposite problem with my filly. She should make 16 hh (dam is 15.3 and sire is 16.1) but she's just turned 3 and only 14.3. I am hoping she will be big enough for me as I'm 5'10" and ten stone. I prefer small horses, but not this small. Looks like your mare has another inch to grow yet. She is quite straight through the hocks so that will exaggerate her bum high appearance, so she may not get quite so big as you imagine. Nice mare though. I love chestnut mares.
 
I bought a weanling foal, saw both parents and we saw some siblings so felt quite sure that 16.2 - 16.3 max would be the end result. I took him to some sports horse classes as a yearling and we knew he was a big boy against everything else there at 15.1. He stopped height wise last year, we have not measured him but I know he is 18 hands plus he makes our 16.2 warmblood look small. My instructor is from the mounted police and even he says "My goodness that really is a big horse" which makes me a bit nervous because he use to big horses obviously. Mine is IDxHann and now just putting height up with work at just rising 7.x
 
Thank you all, she tends to go slim, up and fill out, but she's going slim and up more than anything, which is a blooming nightmare! She was just under 15.2hh at 2 and a half years old, but has shot up, and is edging at 16.2hh.. I'm 5'3" and her bum is higher than my head :(
 
Faracat said:
No horse/pony - not even a tiny shetland, has a mature skeleton before they are 5 1/2 according to Dr Bennett's article. http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf The bigger the horse, the more extra time they need for their skeleton to finish growing.

I feel you pain, my arab is bigger than both of his parents already (he's 4) and I'm going to need a step ladder to tack/rug him up if he keeps going.


ETA - very interestingly marked horse BTW. :) I'm guessing that there isn't a frame overo parent and that it's sabino causing the white marks on the body? I've seen half/part socks like that on arabs and that's thought to be caused by sabino.
Click to expand...


Sorry the white marks are sudeocreme haha :) She does tend to go dappled in summer though :)
 
Based on the 7th July photo I really wouldn't expect much more growing out of her. She looks quite deep in the chest and not too leggy so I would expect one more inch maximum. :)
 
Hmm, my ISH grew 2 inches between the ages of 6 & 8 ... It never even crossed my mind that there was more height to come when I brought him, I was expecting him to fill out but got both!
 
At a SJ show yesterday, we saw a HUGE beast, and got talking to his owner - they bought him as a 16.2hh 4year old, he grew over a hand in a year and now stands 18hh at 8 years old, with two 16hh parents! Crazy, I think I'll stick with my ponies ;D
 
She's not in much work at the moment due to an incident where she sank in mud and hurt her hind leg, so slowly bringing her back in. Hopefully she fills out nicely (with work she fills out lovely with muscle tone and a nice weight coverage).

Looking at all those whom have had their horses surprise them.. I am certainly dreading! We measured her just under 16hh less a year ago, and she's close to pushing 16.2hh, although her bum is measuring a lot bigger. Here's to hoping she doesn't grow tremendous amounts!
 
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