Okay, this probably shouldn’t be something that bothers me, but I thought I’d go ahead and talk about it on here anyways. My horse is 16hh or so, and In so many of the videos I have of us, he looks a lot shorter than he is. People will even mistake him for a pony at times. I’m about an inch taller than him and I’m very petite, so that shouldn’t really play a big role. He isn’t very thick except for his hind quarters. I guess I’m just wondering why he does appear so much shorter than he actually is lol.
My horse has higher withers, but his back is lower. It makes him look shorter than he measures.
If he isn’t very thick he may not take up your leg as well as a rounder horse would, and that would contribute to the illusion.
Have you actually put a stick on him? My gelding was sold to me as 17 hands and sticked at 16.1 and 3/4. My mare was sold as 15.2 and is 14.2 1/2. A boarder’s horse was sold to him as 15.3 (because he requested a bigger horse and he was devastated to find out she was actually 14.1.
1 Like
Like others have said, a lot of it has to do with their build. My mare is only 15.3 but she rides much bigger. She’s stocky (and fat) so she takes up a lot of leg. Most people guess she’s at least 16.2
1 Like
Neck carriage adds to the illusion too. A horse that carries his head low will likely look shorter than an upheaded horse. My Morgans are often thought to be taller than they are (They think so too!)
I cant imagine buying a horse a full hand smaller than you thought it was! Wasn’t it obvious when the person tried the horse? Mine have routinely been an inch or so shorter than claimed (I even kind of figure that when I look at ads). Still, itf you try the horse and feel like you fit and he’s big enough - then he is!
1 Like
Everyone always thinks my 14.3 mare MUST be taller than that. It’s her short back/long leg conformation that adds to the illusion. As an aside, her seller advertised her as 14.3 (which the stick also confirms).
My horse is 15.2 1/2 and once when I rode past the pony ring to check my sister in for the Large Children’s on my way to the Maclay, the starter told me I had to take my pony’s boots off before I could go in the ring. 
He’s a well-built Irish fellow with good bone and on the ground, he’s readily mistaken for 16hh+ because he has such substance. Standing in the line up next to the 17hh critters my fellow competitors were riding he did look economy sized. On the other hand, next to my sister’s first horse, a fine-built Thoroughbred of 15.3, the Thoroughbred looked like a pony just by virtue of his lighter body.
Cheer up OP, I think the smaller horses stay sounder and their blankets are sometimes less expensive.
1 Like
It’s all perception. Sometimes I think my 16.3TB who is solid looks short in photos of us jumping. He ALWAYS looks short in conformation type photos, he always looks like he has super short legs in photos of him just standing around. My other horse is 15.3 with his shoes on, he was 16.1 when I bought him and he shrunk in the trailer ;). People who had only seen me on him used to argue with me he was bigger than 15.3. If he was around I’d pull him out/off the trailer, this usually led to silence from whoever was there arguing. He looks like an overgrown pony on the ground, but he always looked much bigger in photos. I do have one photo taken from the back, I was riding with 3 friends, all of their horses were around 17hh. He looks like a small little peanut in the middle of the row.
This was eons ago, but it is a funny story. We had a sub 10K horse for sale. Very sweet kind fellow. 5 years of age. He tolerated everything. A very solid citizen, but not fancy at all. We sticked him at 16.1H and advertised him as such. A lady came to try and him and declared he was much too tall for her and there was no way he wasn’t 17H or greater. We gave her the stick to measure him and she was convinced it was rigged. LOL. So many people have no clue what a 16H horse actually looks like.
This is why it’s so ridiculous to be hung up on height when horse shopping. Barrel size has much more to do with “size” than wither height. My 15.3h WB mare and my 17.1h TB gelding look exactly the same size when I’m on board. Ok that note, a petite, high-withered, narrow horse is going to look a lot smaller than a roly-poly, stocky horse of the same size.
Rider build is important in the equation too. E.g. Someone with a tall upper body and short legs is going to look very different than a rider that’s 90% legs with no upper body to speak of. Just like a person built like a Sumo wrestler will look completely different than a waif of the same height.
1 Like
Our horse was just sticked at 17h 1/2 inches and he does not look big when our 5’5" daughter is on him. He is very narrow and has a mountainous wither. It has everything to do with how they are built, as well as the riders proportion (legs/upper body).
My horse is only 16.1 1/4 per his measurement card, but he looks taller because he is built like a linebacker. People say he looks around 16.3 and I say nope. My daughter, his primary rider, is thin and petite, so that also affects perception.
OP, how tall are you at the top of your head? 5’4" is 16h so if you are 5’4" and stand next to the horses shoulder, top of your head should be at the top of the wither.
Not trying to be a mean old poopie head here but most people who don’t have a measurement card with an official measurement tend to overestimate the height of their horses and underestimate the height of Ponies.
As other have noted, many things can effect how you perceive the height of horses but IME, you can get a good estimate if you have a measured reference like your own height. I’m 5,4", if I can see over its shoulder, it’s not.
If you like the horse, who cares? It’s probably the last thing that matters.
2 Likes
This is a great tip. Every horse person should know how many hands high they are.
2 Likes
When looking at sale ads, found knowing the height of the rider or handler, is a great help. It’s not exact but has saved me hours in the car to going to look at often honestly misrepresented horses. Not talking about an inch or two here either. Ignorance is not really a good excuse, it’s not that difficult, even a piece of string can get you within a couple of inches.
1 Like
^^ This. I got VG when I was 12. I was told she was 15.2 and she had just turned 5. I estimated her at 15.3. I got a stick about a year ago (now that VG’s 24) to measure my wb, and put it on her for fun. Imagine my surprise that she is really only 15 hands! I am 6’ tall, and look a LITTLE big for her, but she for a tb is pretty wide, so it wasn’t too silly. My 3 yr old, almost 4 yr old filly is actually up to 15.2, but looks way smaller than VG, because the filly is very fine boned, and narrow. She looks like a yearling. There is no way she will be “big” enough to make me look normal, so she’s looking for a new home. I think you guys look great together, Claire!
I could have sworn my gelding was 15.1 or 15.2 - maybe it’s because of his Napoleon complex. I had him measured at a show and he’s 15.3 7/8. Planning to rock that small hunter division this year (if it’s ever offered or fills!)
I agree that a lot has to do with the length and shape of their neck, how they carry their neck, and also whether they have a pony-face. 
The GP schoolmaster that I take lessons on looks like he’s 17hh but my trainer said he’s about 16:2
The difference is that he has a very elevated neck and head carriage and has a huge barrel. His head is further up in the air plus he’s massive in build, making him seem bigger.
My gelding is 16:1 and looks a lot smaller mostly because he’s a lanky type.
I’m probably 5’11" in paddock boots & definitely with my helmet on so when people tell me their horse is a HUGE 17+++ hands yet I can stand next to him & easily look down over the withers I just smile & nod.
My 1 horse was a barely 16 hands TB, but everyone believed him to be much bigger cause we kept him a little on the chunk side when showing in the hunters & eq. My other 2 horses were over 17 hands WBs but not heavy built. I fit all 3 of them so it was funny to see them turned out together & how different sized/shaped they really were.
