New youngster in the barn is supposed to be a rising four year old this year, but is very light and leggy in her frame and I’m wondering if she’s younger. Care to weigh in?
It’s fine one way or the other as she’s a lovely mover and has a good brain but the answer will probably influence my plans and expectations for her this year.
Nice one that.
You are right about the age, ask a vet just in case.
Teeth look like a coming three, only two front incisors have changed, next two at 3 1/2 should change soon.
I would watch her overly long and soft looking pasterns, they may stand up a bit more, but they could put extra pressure if they are or become overly lax, naturally or from the work asked to perform.
Seems to have an attentive but soft personality, always nice to train those brains.
Horses change so much before they are mature, a blink of an eye picture can be very deceiving, no telling how she will look after some time.
Thanks! I agree about her pasterns but I’m withholding judgment right now as she was trimmed with no heel whatsoever. Hopefully that will be corrected over time.
I string tested her and it looks like she has quite a bit of growth coming too, so another reason I’m thinking she might be younger than first thought.
I agree that I’d call that a rising three year old.
I do have a horse that was a year behind in his teeth at this age. There was absolutely no question about his DOB but he was just very immature, and that extended to his teeth. I got him in the summer of his three year old year, and he shed those caps the next year, and then the four year old caps at five.
So she may really be rising four but just very immature.
She could be slow to mature, or even, she looks as if she were a teeny bit thrifty before coming into your program? That can slow maturity. Some breeds can look especially young until they are five or six, thinking of certain TB and Arabian lines especially. She looks immature to me and if you’d asked me her age I wouldn’t have guessed four.
I would believe the age estimate if you think it’s from a faithful source, if only because I’m the owner of 5 y/o who is also a “year behind” in her teeth. There is no debate on how old she is, I’ve owned her since she was 4 months old and took care of her momma while she was pregnant with her. But it was always funny the summer we started her, teasing her about her little teeth. Her teeth finally look their age now but while she was 3 and 4 I wondered. I’ve owned plenty of babies but like Simkie this one seemed a bit slow.
That’s a good point. She was quite ribby when my friend bought her last fall, as an unbroken three(?) year old. I bought her off video and was just surprised when she looked so light bodied in person, that I took a look at her teeth and wondered…
Again, no regrets at all as I like what there is to work with. But if she’s just rising three I’ll probably just feed her for a bit and let her fill out before going into any kind of program.
I see permanent central incisors (front) teeth, and this happens around age 3. 2yos don’t have permanent incisors.
At 4, the intermediate incisors - the ones next to the 2 central ones, on either side, are there. This horse still has baby teeth there.
So, she’s most likely rising 4.
By 5, all those incisors will be permanent.
Looks very very similar to a TB I had recently in both teeth & body, he was late in his 3 y o year when I got him. That guy was just super slow to physically mature, but little doubt of his age, he was a tattooed race horse. The one I have now was 4.5 when I got him last fall, his teeth were (are) not much farther along either & he is chipped, tattooed & I have his breeders registry papers, so I DEFINITELY know his age! I think they can have a fair amount of variation.
I’m so glad to know this isn’t just my horse! It was really a bit of a head scratcher at the time.
Right, there may be differences.
In general, other than outliers, which she may well be one, if looking at the #17 pictures, a good guess would be she is three now, keeping in mind not all may be there at that age.
A guess, we don’t know, asking the horse’s vet may help, there may be more the vet can use to go by, having the horse there in person.
If she’s a late baby, she could definitely be coming 4. I’ve had two recently with August birthdates.
@Bluey I thought you’d find this interesting. How much she’s straightened up in the pasterns with just a few weeks of appropriate fitness training and baby work. I was pretty surprised at the change and this is without any farrier work yet.
That is great, then it probably was a nutrition component to her lax looking lower suspensory apparatus.
We had the rare foal, most times TBs, that we had, under our vet’s direction, make and apply light braces to help stabilize legs that went everywhere.
A 1" light steel bar with a little pad on the bottom, bent to follow the desired angles, was put in place with bandages and tweaked along as the foal changed.
In a couple weeks, the foals had straightened and didn’t need any more splinting.
This filly sure improved fast, now has normal conformation.
She is really pretty, you did good! 
Forgot to add, that recovery was amazing, in just a few weeks.
Some times they don’t recover at all, is just how they are the rest of their lives and they are fine anyway, just more apt to have trouble if they overdo something strenuous.
She still looks like her brain is good, didn’t get fresh with all that good work and fitness, no tightness anywhere, sweet trusting, curious face.
She’s gotten a little sassy with the increase in calories and fitness but she is a very very good baby. Rides beautifully quiet.
https://www.facebook.com/1494030110/posts/10228317366307987/?d=n&mibextid=bmUx4cdOkLB9BhPV
You are having fun also. 
Yes indeed!
Surprise!
Today at her vet visit we found a microchip. This baby is a 2019 Thoroughbred who was never named. She’s very small so I suspect that is why she didn’t go into training. I was guessing TB just on looks and movement but I wasn’t sure. I’m very happy to know for sure and her plan for this year just got modified 
Thank you for feeding her! The right diet with growth makes a world of difference.
I miss starting my youngsters. Those were my learning years!
Wow. Nice to have microchips. She’s lovely, and it’s good to see those pasterns straighten up a bit.
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