Evaluating young horses - growth spurts?

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

Question with respect to evaluating young horses. Is there a time frame or period where you look at them and then close your eyes while they grow up?

I come from the dog world and most breeders will pick pups at 8 weeks of age. They then go through the uglies and start to look decent again at about a year old… filled in by two.

When looking at young horses (warmbloods primarily), is there a similar approach in horses? Do the registries hold their inspections at a set time to try to compare fairly and forecast what the horse will look like in the future? Do the growth spurts impact on the horses quality of movement beyond just appearance?

Educate me please I would love to hear your approach on how to fairly assess and select young stock (especially if you’re shopping looking at 2 years olds!)

[rememberthenight]

There is the general rule of thumb to evaluate, 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years.

I however, seem to have very slow growing babies because they ARE NOT MATURE at 3 years. Mine seem to look like horses again at 5yrs old.

When buying a young horse, I prefer to look at baby pictures. And both parents. I want straight-ish legs. A slight toe-out usually resolves itself. Quality bone, and at least a good start on a quality shoulder and hip.

Heads change A LOT. Do a plain head usually gets better- wider though the eyes and jowl.

[JB]

Yes 3 weeks/months/years are generally the preferred times to look at a young horse, but that doesn’t mean they WILL look balanced LOL 3 years doesn’t mean they’re going to look mature, but generally they are in a decent stated with regards to balance - they need to be as there usually isn’t anything that’s going to develop in a major way.

Inspections are when inspections are. Foals are born from Feb-August in most cases, so while most breeders do try to have foals at a 3-6 month old range for the inspection of their choice, sometimes they are taking a 1 month old. Inspectors are very, very well-educated in evaluating all ages.

Growth spurts can definitely affect quality of movement, either because they got really butt-high, or it was a recent fast spurt and they haven’t quite figured out their new balance.

2yos can be either really lovely, or really…not :lol: But despite a too-short/long neck, or butt-high, you can still see the overall conformation: post legs will still be posty, camped out still camped out, sickle hocks still sickle, the neck emergence doesn’t change, the loin doesn’t change, the pillar of support doesn’t change. But you need to be educated enough to see all that, and differentiate between stance, and actual conformation. A 2yo who is destined to be a lovely mover will still be lovely even if his balance is wonky at the moment, just not AS lovely as if he were balanced and stable.

[Edre]

Inspections are when inspections can be scheduled - because there’s no accounting for scheduling challenges (or when mares decide to foal, regardless of projected foaling dates!) At inspections you will see foals of all ages (some very young, others much more mature) that reflect the reality of this. Inspectors are expected to be able to see past that and assess fairly.

I have a similar experience as others above. The rule of three is a pretty decent guideline but there are no hard and fast rules. It may help to research - certain pedigrees are notoriously slow maturing, and asking around to see how other offspring of this cross or similar crosses mature will help give a clearer picture as well.

At the end of the day when I was doing young horse shopping I relied a lot on finding comparable horses and using that to help develop my eye. As mentioned above, a lot can change with growth spurts but some things don’t so acclimatizing your eye to disregard some of the noise (butt high for example) to focus on, say, the shoulder angle or neck connection, can really help.