Seriously…why do people do it??? When advertising a horse as, say, 15.3h and the horse is barely 15h, do they really think whoever comes to look at the horse won’t notice?
Good question. I can’t tell you how many 17+ hand ottbs I’ve seen advertised lately. 
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some people are genuinely clueless. Most just lie to make the horse seem more desirable. Annoying. I always ask vets to stick the horse as part of the prepurchase so I have the actual height in writing and will use it as a point of negotiation if different than the advertised height
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I don’t know why, but its rampant.
I was helping a friend who was buying a horse sight unseen from out of state.
The vet called after the exam - yeah that “15.2 hand horse” is really 13.3
And - no sale…
[QUOTE=Appsolute;8095259]
I don’t know why, but its rampant.
I was helping a friend who was buying a horse sight unseen from out of state.
The vet called after the exam - yeah that “15.2 hand horse” is really 13.3
And - no sale…[/QUOTE]
WOW. I agree, it’s rampant. Drives me insane! Every time I read a sales ad, even though I’m not looking, I question the height.
It’s nothing new. Years ago I was selling a 15.3 h. horse. Potential buyer came out and kept asking if he was really that short? Most of the 16 h. horses she was looking at were much shorter. LOL
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As a 5’2" farrier I have given up arguing about all the client’s 16+ hand horse I can see over the withers…
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Honestly most just dont know and go by what somebody told them. I doubt people even know a hand is 4".
I am 5’4". That is 64" which equals 16h. I have told people that I am 64" while looking over the withers of a horse and been told “thats nice,the horse is 16.2”.
Sales websites dont help when you have to click a height box that says under 16h or over and you got one 15.3. And I cant blame a seller of a 15.3 horse for for listing it as16h knowing 90% of searchers will filter for 16h+ and never see their ad. Thats unfortunate but reality.
However, no excuse for the ridiculous claims out there. I wonder how many actual 18 handers are really out there outside of the draft breeds, 25 years in H/J barns and seen two that actually sticked 18h. And sure looked over the withers of a whole lot of 16.2 tyoes. Even once had a giant argument with a new assistant trainer who swore my new horse was closer to 16.2 and would be far to big for a Small Junior as a competing buyer wanted- horse sticked between 15.2 7/8ths and 15.3 even. And, yeah, was advertised as 16h. That assistant came out of an equine degree program…
Bailey is 15.1 (sticked) and the vet who did his PPE for his new owners was shocked that I was honest about his height. That’s just sad!
This is why when looking I carry a “stick” in my vehicle. It’s like carrying a scale to the dock, when dealing with a fisherman.
I will admit it is just a bit annoying to drive 1-2 hours for the perfect horse, to find that it is better suited to pony hunters. It is something that has been going on for years. The sight of a real 17 H horse terrorizes them :yes:
I agree that some people just do not know.
Went to visit the horse that belonged to a friend of a friend. Owner of horse insisted the horse was over 16h. There is just no way this horse was over 15h, let alone 16h.
The owner was not selling or showing. They had no reason to not be honest about her beloved horse’s height. She truly thought he was just over 16h.
I get that some people don’t have a clue, but it doesn’t excuse the ones who DO know better and still lie about the height. I know it’s not something “new”, but still irritating.
I think most people are clueless, especially if the horse is a bit chunkier. I had a fellow boarder try to tell me that my trailer isn’t tall enough for my horse because I didn’t buy the extra tall/extra wide warm blood version. My horse is 15’3 with shoes, sticked multiple times. He has a thicker build but is not that tall. She didn’t believe me that he’s not taller. In terms of the trailer it’s a slant where I took out the divider so he has the whole trailer to himself and he fits just fine 
It’s a big problem in the Morgan world, too … I found many that were advertised as 15.2 or more, and really were barely into the hony range. One of them lives where I board and he is shorter than my 15-hands-measured-with-a-stick mare. He is taller than my measured-with-a-stick 13.3 hand yearling filly, but not by that much.
At least pony-sized Morgans who drive can do pony CDE, and often do really well at it.
I think the English people just outright lie…they know and I agree it is stupid…but Western folks…they really don’t know because I don’t think they care. When we were looking for a horse a few years ago and went to look at a 15.2 Quarter Horse we found a pony who was maybe 14 hands. I was annoyed; it was a long drive. The owners were nonplussed! They obviously thought their mare plenty big for my child and said they really did not know the hand measurement but when on the phone I had said my daughter was 5’6’’, they knew that their horse plenty big enough. Western people think our obsession with height is ridiculous.
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I agree that the obsession with height is ridiculous!
My gelding is 16.3. Or technically, just a hair under 16.3, but very, very close. And I’m sticking with that height measurement. His previous owner and two other people all measured him at that height before he started dressage work.
Dressage work strengthens the “sling” muscles which lifts the sternum and rib cage, and therefore the withers. He’s WAY more uphill than he used to be because of this postural change. So I lie and say he’s just a hair under 16.3 because I DO NOT want to measure him again. He was 16.3 at 8, I refuse to acknowledge he’s probably even taller now. I’m only 5’1", and think 15.2 is an ideal kind of height…
Imagine my shock when my old BO and I went to go pick up my TB six years ago–he was advertised at 16.2 and he WAS actually 16.2! That was my first clue that he’s a keeper. He grew an inch a few years later and is now 16.3. I live in fat little QH country and one of the vet’s assistants thought he was at least 17.2, but they rarely see anything over 15.2 so I can see how she made that mistake.
I think some people just guesstimate heights and aren’t very good at it. Me, I’m 6’ tall so I can measure on my face. Chin is 15.2, mouth 16, nose 16.2, and if I can see over it’s withers it’s not 17 hands. I used to be scarily accurate with this method, like within 1/4".
As a hony lover, I say, keep misadvertising them, it keeps serious buyers from buying them and lets me pick up your hony for cheap!
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I don’t think people deliberately lie about it, but just haven’t actually measured. Eyeballing it just isn’t accurate. I have a large warmblood that some sweari must be over 17 hands because he looks massive, but he’s been measured and is actually under 16.3. I sold one last year that measured a hair under 15.3 but he was slight and appeared smaller to me (high wither, so back was lower and he was short coupled). I advertised him as just under 15.3 and slightly built so no one would be surprised - and people argued with me! He was 16 hands at least, or 16.2 according to the PPE vet. Okay…
I’ve been lying about my horse’s height for 18+ years. I am clueless as to his actual height because every time I’ve tried to measure him he’s acted goofy about the stick. So I’ve been guessing 16.2 for ages, though I suspect he’s probably shorter. Unless it’s a 14.2-14.3 issue, how much does an inch or two really matter?
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