I have a friesian who is supposed go to her breed inspection next October. Parents are 16 hands. At 2 1/2 she is only 14.3 hands. For her inspection, she needs to be at least 15.1 1/2. Is it possible for her to grow that much in that short period of time. Thank you!
Yes. Large field turnout with friends or light work ponying or hacking on hills will help build her muscles. Resist the temptation to feed her for maximum growth, it can cause lifelong problems.
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Do you know how tall she was at 24 months? The general rule is to add 1h to the 24 month height.
she’s got 10 months to get another 2.5", which is entire reasonable
Does she HAVE to go to the inspection as a 3 1/2yo? If not, and she’s not quite 15.1 1/2, then I’d wait another year
Ag 2.5 years, there’s almost no chance you can force-feed so much growth as to cause issues. DO keep nutrition high, and keep calories to where she’s nicely lean, BCS 5, no more
What’s her diet?
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Yes, it is possible but it’s worth noting that if you are having your mare inspected through FHANA, there are different height requirements required for each status (being studbook, steer, crown and model). Here is a link to the inspection Rulebook:
It’s possible, though not probable, to get that much true growth between 2.5 and 3/3.5. However, fitness can add a measurable amount of muscle over the topline, so do make sure she’s in excellent condition heading into the inspection. I have a teenaged broodmare who has consistently measured 13.1 3/4-7/8" for the 4+ years I’ve owned her - until she was very fit at the end of this show season, when she measured 13.2 1/2". 
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That is why I am worried for her height. Because of FHANAs height requirement to get into the stud book and potentially make star. For grain AM and Pm- she gets 1 quart of each- purina healthy edge, luminance, and TC balancer. She gets good quality t/a/o hay. I can bring her inspection as a 4 year. I just don’t know if she can grow that much.
Are you saying she gets 2 quarts a day of TC Balancer? That’s almost 3lb, which is too much for her size even if it’s all she was getting. What made you decide to feed that much of it?
With all that food, you’d be better off picking a good quality fortified regular feed and feeding the appropriate amount or that
Thanks! Do you recommend any specific feeds? How do you feel about tribute essential k?
I would personally wait until 4 so she is eligible for higher status if she doesn’t reach the desired height you are hoping for by then. And some WBs grow quite slow. My current young WB just went through a massive growth spurt at 3.5. He is certainly not the only WB I’ve known to do major growing between 3 and 4. Horses don’t read rule books and with a 16 hand sire and dam, I’d expect her to mature close to that height. It’s just a matter of when.
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How much can you really condition a slow growing 2.5 year old friesian?
A 2.5 year old of any breed is plenty mature enough for a conditioning program. Besides, if the inspection is next fall, the horse will be 3+ years old when it is being conditioned and inspected.
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it all depends on what you have access to. Since you can get TC, then TC Sr is a really nice feed. You can also do TC Balancer + 1-3lb alfalfa pellets if you want to tailor calories without sacrificing nutrition
EK is fine. I have a problem with their high feeding rate, and their reps in general, so from that perspective don’t tend to recommend them. But if it’s what you can get, it’s not inherently bad
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Curious what you do to condition unbacked 2-3 year olds? Not sure if this horse has been started.
And FWIW, the inspectors do not judge conditioning for FHANA inspections or even with the ridden IBOP test, I’m just curious.
we start them in harness, after they wear the tack well they are introduced to pulling a sleigh that can be weighted
Appears to also be called a stone boat
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Your filly would only need to grow two and a half inches in the next year. Given her age with both her parents being 16h, I’d say it’s possible.
I’ve had tons of horses grow at least a full hand between their 2 y/o and 3 y/o year, but I’ve also had a couple wait until they were 3 to grow some more.
I backed my most recent young horse (WB filly) at 3 and then put her out for the winter. Resumed in the spring. Kept her in a light hacking program for two years -my priority was exposure without moderate work. I ponied her off my main horse, hacked her out, worked in hand, and an occasional W/T/C for 5m in the ring after a hack. I rarely lunged, but you could if you wanted. Took her to her first hunter pace at 4, ended each season that way. There is a lot you can do with a 2.5 year old that doesn’t require ring work.
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Uhh, have you SEEN some of the QH lunge and halter babies? And even if you find that distasteful as I do, there’s handwalking, and trail walking, and ponying, and, and, and…
LOTS of stuff one can do to condition a younger horse.
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Yep, many ways to Rome. Many good, many bad. I don’t usually see someone recommending a conditioning program for a 2 year old to increase height, so I became curious and asked about it. What a novel thing to do.
I have zero doubt that a conditioned horse carries itself differently than an unfit or tired one.
They lunge the snot out of ponies that might be a bit too tall to card before they bring them to measure, I’m sure you’ve heard of that, no?
I was trying really hard not to take your bait, but I can’t let that dig go.
I DID NOT “recommend” a conditioning program for a 2 year old to “increase height”. I pointed out that, if the filly - who will be THREE next year, not two, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good p*ssing match, right? - is going to be borderline on the measurement needed, then getting her fitter might push her over the edge.
If you’ve never seen the topline difference in the same horse when going from unfit to fit condition, then maybe you don’t understand my point.
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teaching self-carriage, pole work in-hand, hand walking, ground driving, and, at 3, walks under saddle, can do a whole lot.
Walking and picking up legs are very under-used conditioning work, whether it’s a younger horse not ready for weighted work, only just starting, or the older horse coming back into work.
there’s a reason Eventers start out with LOTS of walking after a winter off
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