Went rug shopping today....

[EllieBeast]

And my 2.5yr old is now wearing a 6ft6 turnout... I think I may have bought a monster! Oh well, at least now she can rug swap with the old bird - until she outgrows this one...
Anyone else have gigantababies? Scary to think that this time next year I'll *hopefully* be riding her away!!

 

[niagaraduval]

I love big horses Own a 16.2 hh although everyone says he is big to me he really isn't at all and I would love something bigger

 

[monkeybum13]

2.5 yo and in a 6'6 rug - she's going to be HUGE. Good luck buying big rugs when she matures

 

[becca1305]

I have the same. My 2.5yo already measures 17hh and have done two height prediction tests (both of which were accurate on all my fully grown horses) and they both make her 18hh ! Im squeezing her into my 6ft3 rugs for the mo as thats what all the others wear and have plenty of them, but she came in with a rather wet bum today so think I may have to admit defeat soon and buy rugs in the next size up. Typically my only 6ft6 turnout rug (mad moment much too big for horse I bought it for)- and pretty useful for wide range of temps as its a Bucas- has started leaking . Im clinging on as long as possible as I think she will finish up in at least a 6ft9 and so I will have loads of useless 6ft6 rugs!

PS just think of the savings we will get if they finish up needing 6ft9/7ft/7ft3 rugs tho they are always in the sale sections loads in premier equine at the mo

 

[EllieBeast]

Haha, true - silver lining to every cloud and all that! She's standing at about 16hh at the wither right now, but is at a croup high stage. I'm 5ft10 so happy for her to be a big girl, but am hoping she will stick to being a 6ft9 rugsize in the end as my others horses rugs are mostly that size and she has an extensive wardrobe!! Heres the (not so) little beast -

Wow Becca! Yours is going to be huge, I hope you're building the step ladder already I used to work with an 18.2 warmblood gelding - one of the kindest horses I've had the pleasure of meeting Although past experience meant he was terrified of mounting blocks so you had to be springy to get on board!!

 

[horsesatemymoney]

mine is also in a 6"9 rug at 2.5 years old!

 

[EllieBeast]

Do you think we should stop standing them in grow-bags?...

 

[Jesstickle]

Mine is in a 6'9'' and he's 7 and only 15.3 He's like a boat

 

[EllieBeast]

Thats exactly what I say about the old girl!! shes only 15.2hh and wears 6ft9's. Shes more like a viking longship than a horse

 

[horsesatemymoney]

Mine is in a 6'9'' and he's 7 and only 15.3 He's like a boat

haha, mine is more barge than speedboat!

 

[becca1305]

Gosh she's so filled out for a 2.5yo! Everyones always saying my girl looks like she could be under saddle already but I think its just because she's so tall and has the typical WB barrelled ribcage as her chest is still narrow and buttocks too with great gangly legs!. Your girl is so pretty I love her markings, looks like she will turn into a proper cracker . I dread to think what rug sizes my lassie would be in now if she was as filled out as your girl lol as she's also relatively long backed our only saving grace keeping her in 6ft3s atm is her narrow chest!

not the best quality of pics but shows how blinking tall she is! I think she was around 16.3hh here as she's a little croup high and she's now level again.

Yes Im very lucky she's a gentle giant already inhand anyway but Im keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that she will be as accepting, lovely and straightforward-brained when it comes time to back as she is with everything else . Im just under 6ft and long legged so Im not too worried when she gets bigger if I have to mount from the ground occasionally though Id rather she didn't pass the 18hh mark tbh! .

ETA sorry about the blooming picture size!

 

[Jesstickle]

I want to call mine HMS BH but don't know if weatherbys will let me

 

[EllieBeast]

She is gorgeous Becca looks like a real poppet When do you plan to start the backing process with her? We will have to compare notes lol!
Stella is tb x appy (warmblood type). She was a real weed for quite some time and is still quite narrow chested, so has even more filling out to do yet...- here she is back in june -

And then again in september -

The one I posted earlier was taken this December - so 3 monthly intervals. I'm sure she'll go through another gangly stage as she shoots upwards again!! When I bought her in april she looked like a yak, I might get slightly alarmed if she goes back to THAT growth phase

Thankyou, mine is also a total sweetheart - I just hope those devil horns stay well hidden when it comes around to backing time!!

 

[becca1305]

Those 3 month pic intervals are brill she's changed so much! .

Well she's doing some groundwork for backing now as I find it makes life easier later on she's been bridled, saddled, horse box travelled, and gone for a walk inhand down the lane all completely chilled. I bridled her so I could take her walks down the lane and saddled her to get a vague idea of whether Id possibly have something to fit her in the future or whether to save pennies for another saddle! As you can tell having something put over her back and something done up round her belly was exceptionally scary....

Ive taken her in the school a couple of times and just asked her to walk a few circles around me on each rein so she gets the general idea when it comes time to lunge.

I also try and take opportunities when they arise for instance when the yard flooded and was deep and murky I led her in and out and walked her round in it, she was so brave . We have flappy haylage bales etc so she's pretty good with blowy stuff.

I may start to take her for little walks leading off my mare when she's 3 as she was so brave out inhand walking, galloping neighbour's horses and scary running man on her first ever time out merely provoked a giraffe impression bless her.

She won't be sat on until she's a good 3 and even then will just be a couple of times in walk for a couple of mins. She won't be backed properly until 4 very lightly just so she understands all 3 gaits and then given the winter off and won't do any proper work until 5 on account of her size and as she's a pure WB I don't want to cause any skeletal issues so I guess we are running a year behind most! Its really hard to wait as she's so mentally mature but got to do whats best for her .

What about you what are your plans? have you done anything yet?

 

[EllieBeast]

She really is very level headed isnt she, lovely girl! Stella has been bitted, worn a roller, gone for a few wanders down the lanes. I've taken her out to a few inhand shows too and will continue with that in 2012. I will see how mature she is looking and hopefully lightly back her at 3.5yrs, just taking her out for short walk rides a couple of times a week to show her that the world isn't scary but wont be starting any schooling work/circles until she's 4.5-5. Its difficult to tell how big she will end up as her dam was 16.1 and her sire 16hh so she's already pretty much there as far as that calculation goes! I dont know whether she's taking after her tb side and maturing quickly or whether we have a few surprises in store!
Here she was at her first show -

I think I'll just have to see how ready she is for everything, she's incredibly clever and picks things up very quickly. I'm in no hurry to be getting anywhere with her so will happily take it all at her pace!

 

[Cortez]

Hello, your filly is lovely and well grown for a rising 3 year old, but I wouldn't get too excited at the thought of her being massively tall.........she's got quite a long back, which explains the large rug sizes. I have a 14.2hh part-bred Friesian mare who takes a
6'3" rug! And she's a mile long with a large barrel, and croup high (at 14yrs) by 3 inches over her wither height (I bought her at 3yrs, 14.2hh, croup high and DEFINATELY going to grow: didn't).

 

[EllieBeast]

Haha, Im not worried about how much more she grows - as I said she's already maxed out her parents heights so there shouldn't be too much more in it. She's tall enough for me already so she can just turn out how she wants to My other horse is in 6ft9 rugs at 15.2hh so theres no correlation there either! I was just shocked at how much shes grown in the past 6 months, up two rug sizes and about 3 inches at the wither. Shouldn't think she'll have too many more growth spurts like that one!!