# Height Guestimation



## PaintHorseMares

It is very hard to predict height with any accuracy since there is a great variance in growth rates. The following growth chart is for the 'average' horse, and for a 1 1/2 year old 14hh (56 in) horse (94-96% of mature height), the 'average' mature height would be about 59 inches or 14.3hh.


Age (months) % of Mature Weight % of Mature Height
birth 8-9 61-64
1 16-18 66-68 
3 27-29 75-77 
6 45-47 83-86 
9 56-58 89-91 
12 65-69 91-93 
18 78-83 94-96 
24 87-92 96-98 
30 93-97 97-99 
36 95-99 98-100 
48 98-100 99-100


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## Poco1220

Agreed. I'd guesstimate 14.2 to 15hh


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## csimkunas6

Thanks for the responses!!! I went out to the barn, and COMPLETELY forgot to measure him, I was so bummed out when I got back home....Ill have to go out and do it tomorrow


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## MHFoundation Quarters

Curious to see what he strings. Thanks for sharing that chart PHM. Going by that my little guy may be a good sized dude.


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## csimkunas6

MHFoundation Quarters said:


> Curious to see what he strings. Thanks for sharing that chart PHM. Going by that my little guy may be a good sized dude.


Same here MH.....but I do appreciate PaintHorseMares for that chart...I was looking for something with some info all day, and couldnt seem to find anything....I really need to measure him too. I know he has grown a good bit since I last measured him. He will be 17months old Sept 11th. 

But I will post the results from the string test up here when I do do it. And if I am lucky enough to find a height thing (sorry, Im drawing a blank to the technical term right now), then I will post what he measures as well!


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## PaintHorseMares

I would be interested in how the chart compares to folks' experiences.
For many years people had told me that you should expect a foal to mature to within 1-2 inches of their parents, but in my experience measuring the foal every 3 months and looking at the chart has been more accurate, e.g. our mare, Cinnamon, who is about 14.3hh has a full sister (that was a much taller foal) that is about 16.0hh...that's a fairly large difference for full siblings.
I've also noticed that the chart seems to be much more consistent in the height estimate than the weight. Cinnamon, who is off a line in which all the siblings were slow to physically mature matched the height in the chart very well, but probably won't fully fill out weight-wise until next year (8 years old). On the other hand, our mare Lady (the "tank", halter build, Impressive line), also matched the height in the chart well, but reached her final weight of around 1100 lbs when she was only 3 years old (she was a BIG baby and her half sister was the same).


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## csimkunas6

Frustrated with my lack of memory the past couple of days....forgot the string test again!!!

But I did get some pictures that might help slightly...the ground was fairly level in these pics....just for reference, I am 5'5''....


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## Gidget

i don't get how the chart works....I was wondering as well. My filly is 13 hh currently and she is a yr and 4 months or around there.


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## DraftyAiresMum

So I'm confused now. Looking at the chart, Aires should be at 96-98% of his adult height. He is currently just shy of 15.3hh at just over 24 months (he's 28 months). According to that chart, he shouldn't top more than 16.1-16.2hh (I'm horrible at math, so someone will have to help me out if I'm wrong)? However, when I string tested him the other day, he measured out at about 17.2-18hh (****** kept trying to investigate what I was doing, so I did it three times and got three different measurements: 17 1/2", 17 3/4" and 18" lol). 

So, which is correct? His sire was 15.1hh and his dam was 18hh.


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## PaintHorseMares

Gidget said:


> i don't get how the chart works....I was wondering as well. My filly is 13 hh currently and she is a yr and 4 months or around there.


That would work out to around 14hh.


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## PaintHorseMares

DraftyAiresMum said:


> So I'm confused now. Looking at the chart, Aires should be at 96-98% of his adult height. He is currently just shy of 15.3hh at just over 24 months (he's 28 months). According to that chart, he shouldn't top more than 16.1-16.2hh (I'm horrible at math, so someone will have to help me out if I'm wrong)? However, when I string tested him the other day, he measured out at about 17.2-18hh (****** kept trying to investigate what I was doing, so I did it three times and got three different measurements: 17 1/2", 17 3/4" and 18" lol).
> 
> So, which is correct? His sire was 15.1hh and his dam was 18hh.


All the methods are approximations and keep in mind that if you use the chart or a string test, any error you make in measurement is multiplied in the result. 
BTW, which string test did you use? I have seen two...1) measuring elbow to fetlock 2) measuring coronet band to knee. I believe most folks use method #1.


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## MHFoundation Quarters

PaintHorseMares said:


> I would be interested in how the chart compares to folks' experiences.


Me too, makes me wish that I had records of all the babies born here over the years, we'd have hundreds to go by :-(

My little guy is 16 weeks & is 12.3 & weighed 380 when I dewormed him. Sire is our 14.2 cutting bred stud and his dam is 15.2. He has always thrown babies bigger than himself, generally an inch or 2 bigger than the mare. He certainly outsizes himself. The big fluke of his - My gpa did breed him to a darling 13hh black blanket POA pony mare once, they wanted a nice pony prospect...that darn foal grew up to be a 15 hander!


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## DraftyAiresMum

PaintHorseMares said:


> All the methods are approximations and keep in mind that if you use the chart or a string test, any error you make in measurement is multiplied in the result.
> BTW, which string test did you use? I have seen two...1) measuring elbow to fetlock 2) measuring coronet band to knee. I believe most folks use method #1.


I used method #2. I didn't know about method #1. I measured from the middle of his knee to his coronet band. Actually, the only thing I am unsure of how I measured was if I was supposed to follow the shape of his leg (meaning measure against the skin, following the curve of the pastern as well) or just measure straight down without touching the leg. I'd google how to do it, but I can't. I'm not sure how accurate measuring from elbow to fetlock would be, to be honest. He has very long legs. I did another string test where you measure from elbow to fetlock and then reverse the measurement and go from elbow up, keeping the place of your first measurement with your hand/finger (not sure if that makes sense, but it does in my head lol). Wherever your hand/finger holding the place of the first measurement lands above their withers is approximately where their withers will end up when full grown. When I tried that one, he was right around 17.1hh or so. I'm only curious because my BO swears Aires won't top 16hh, but I think he will because he's already almost there and he's only two.


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## csimkunas6

DraftyAiresMum said:


> I used method #2. I didn't know about method #1. I measured from the middle of his knee to his coronet band. Actually, the only thing I am unsure of how I measured was if I was supposed to follow the shape of his leg (meaning measure against the skin, following the curve of the pastern as well) or just measure straight down without touching the leg. I'd google how to do it, but I can't. I'm not sure how accurate measuring from elbow to fetlock would be, to be honest. He has very long legs. I did another string test where you measure from elbow to fetlock and then reverse the measurement and go from elbow up, keeping the place of your first measurement with your hand/finger (not sure if that makes sense, but it does in my head lol). Wherever your hand/finger holding the place of the first measurement lands above their withers is approximately where their withers will end up when full grown. When I tried that one, he was right around 17.1hh or so. I'm only curious because my BO swears Aires won't top 16hh, but I think he will because he's already almost there and he's only two.




Aires.....I did the one you said where you go from elbow to fetlock, and then elbow up, and wherever the string ends is how tall they will be, in theory. I did this with Rodeo a few months back. Not sure how tall it turned out, because I literally just had a string, lol, not a measuring tape. But, I know for a fact it put him above 14.3, or even 15.0hh!!!!


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## csimkunas6

I remembered to measure Rodeo today!!!! Im so proud of myself! LOL

I used a measuring tape for weight and height today, and he measured 14.2hh. I thought I did it wrong so I did it for about 10min just remeasuring, and I continued to get the same results....so Im thinking that when I measured him on 7/7/11, I must have done it wrong, unless he grew 2 in, in 2 mo??

Last time I measured, I did it with a measuring stick, and had an EXTREMELY hard time getting him to stand still, due to the measuring stick was up in the BO's private barn, and for whatever reason, he doesnt like it in there. Today, I got him to stand, and he stood perfectly squared....so at this point in time, at 17months old, Rode measures 14.2hh


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## csimkunas6

Remeasured Rodeo today, just didnt seem possible that he could have grown 2in since 7/7....I got 14hh at the withers, and 14.2hh at the top of his croup....lol.

14hh definitively seems like a better measurement than 14.2!!


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## reining girl

see i am just so confused with how foals mature in height. It just seems like a 14 hand yearling should grow more than just another two inches. so if i wanted a 16 hand horse, i would need to buy a yearling that was already 15.2h and a two year old that was already 16 hands.??? just doesnt make since to me. I know some horses do mature faster than others, like alot of race bred quarter horses pretty much reach there full height by the time there 2yr. Might grow a inch or two more.


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## csimkunas6

reining girl said:


> see i am just so confused with how foals mature in height. It just seems like a 14 hand yearling should grow more than just another two inches. so if i wanted a 16 hand horse, i would need to buy a yearling that was already 15.2h and a two year old that was already 16 hands.??? just doesnt make since to me. I know some horses do mature faster than others, like alot of race bred quarter horses pretty much reach there full height by the time there 2yr. Might grow a inch or two more.


See, I feel the same way....it doesnt make sense to me that he will only grow another 2 inches.....but maybe thats all he'll grow....no biggie.

His full brother was 15.3hh at 2yrs old, for my guy that is is another 7months....dont think he will be growing that much, but at the same time, I dont feel like he is only going to grow another 2 in. either.....we'll see


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## csimkunas6

Had the farrier measure's Rodeo's coronet band to the middle of his knee. It measured 15.3. Therefore, he should mature at 15.3hh, correct? 

Farrier said that he has seen yearlings his size, and that they mature anywhere from 15hh, to 16hh, depending on the breed and what not.


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## atomic

I'm just curious, where is that chart from? Based on what I've heard strictly through personal experiences, horses seem to mature on an individual basis. I've had many people say their horses have gone through growth spurts at older ages of 4 and 5. My vet expects my 3 yo to grow more, and said if he wasn't then to take a second look at his diet.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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