I am going to be looking at a pony. She is 3.5 years old and currently 48 inches. What are the chances she will still grow another two to three inches?
Doubt she will grow at all. If any maybe a 1/2 inch.
What a great question, I too would love the answer. I bought my pony in September (she was 3 years old in June) and we measured her at under 14.1 (give or take, it was with a tape). I have had her now for not even 3 months and measured her this past weekend at about 14.1 1/2 with the same tape, without a doubt she has grown about an inch since I bought her, and she still looks like a baby. Maybe all the good food and the time on the eurosizer is making her grow? I sure hope she stops.
At 3 1/2 years old, you will see little, if any, further growth on a small pony.
The larger ponies (especially crossbreds, IMO) grow a bit more/later than their purebred counterparts.
My experience has been that by 3 most ponies will have most of their size. If they grow more, it is usually not very much.
Yours is done. Congrats! Good size! 
Most all ponies (unless there is warmblood in the mix) get the huge majority of all growth in the first two years.
Breeding a crossbred to a crossbred will give some additional growth (since that’s a crap shoot anyway one never knows), but breeding purebred on one or both sides keeps it simple to predict.
Okay that gives me an idea. I have no clue what the breeding is on this one. It is a Craigslist pony that looks like it needs a new home. Thanks!
Pony/eqine growth Zenyatta?
My research says this IN GENERAL (feeding and mother/father size differences can effect, horse father/ pony mother and such)
Equines’ bones are generally grown by the age of 2 (provided good feed and all)…After that the muscles develope and the horse widens and gets more muscle and especially in the chest…this lifts the withers or front of the horse…and can easily account for 2 inches in a horse. Remember the shouldders are not attached by bones to the backbone. So, we often see ‘downhill’ 2 yos and even 3 yos who grow significantly in the front or withers after that. We measure the withers for show and sale so this is the most important part, right?
Horse can shrink, like people as they age by the reverse of this and the pasterns can sag so they can lose a few inches. I had one of these. A 17 1/4" hh mare (wtih shoes on) who was officially measured by the Dutch Verband at age 5 at a time she had been ridden and and worked for a few years By 15, and after years as a brood mare and no work she was closer to 16.2 (barefoot) and she was in good health.
In conclusion if you buy an equine less than 3.5 yos AND it is thin, and sort of narrow in the chest, beware if you are trying to keep it official pony size! Also, smaller equines do ‘tend’ to get their growth sooner than taller breeds.
Also, if the mother was a lot smaller than the sire like 2 hands or more, the eventual size will be an average of 15% shorter than the of the two parents. If the mare is way bigger and taller and more ‘roomey’ in the uterous the offspring has an advantage and could grow to 15% taller than the average of the parents.
With the popularty of embro transfer into draft type mares we are getting some big & tall stallions who will not reproduce this size…Buyer and breeder be ware!! The size of the uterous matters a lot!
One must always understand that genetics plays a gigantic role and a mare or stallion can be large or small but have larger or smaller ancestors and this can and does have a huge impact sometimes.
I am really curious about Zenyatta 18hh? What impact could she have on the future size of t/bs and how did she get so tall?
Feed and conditions can affect height outcome (of course).
See your other post on Zenyatta (who is not 18 hands).
Thank you so much Gayle, this makes sense with my pony. She is out of a 14.1hh mare, by a 13.3hh stallion, but her damsire is 15hh. When I bought her she was so narrow in the chest she practically had both legs coming out of the same socket. Her time on the eurosizer has helped a lot with her chest, while still narrow it is much wider, and her whithers and neck have really “raised up” so to speak. I can really tell the difference when I sit on her.
That said, this thread has calmed me down a little bit regarding her getting too big. The breeder has had several offspring by this stallion, and she says almost 100% have ended up within half and inch of their dam’s size.
Size
[QUOTE=Perfect Pony;5282157]
Thank you so much Gayle, this makes sense with my pony. She is out of a 14.1hh mare, by a 13.3hh stallion, but her damsire is 15hh. When I bought her she was so narrow in the chest she practically had both legs coming out of the same socket. Her time on the eurosizer has helped a lot with her chest, while still narrow it is much wider, and her whithers and neck have really “raised up” so to speak. I can really tell the difference when I sit on her.
That said, this thread has calmed me down a little bit regarding her getting too big. The breeder has had several offspring by this stallion, and she says almost 100% have ended up within half and inch of their dam’s size.[/QUOTE]
You are welcome…And if the breeder is ethical and I assume she/he is, they usually know as they have a lot of reason/motivation to know.
A lot can depend on the breed of the pony. Purebred Welsh tend to do most of their growing by age two. Connemaras and Cobs tend to finish growing later. As others have stated, crossbreds can throw a wrench into the mix sometimes.
All that being said, it should be considered a “rough guideline”. Our Alvesta Picasso babies (purebred Section B Welsh) have almost all finished growing at the age of two, but I have an imported purebred Welsh pony gelding by *Eyarth Beau Geste who grew another two inches between his 4th and 5th year!! Some horses and ponies don’t always like to follow the rules, and some specific bloodlines mature later than others! 
my section B small pony grew a whole inch from his 5th-6th year! which i didn’t mind since it made him a full 12.1
[QUOTE=Daventry;5282674]
Our Alvesta Picasso babies (purebred Section B Welsh) have almost all finished growing at the age of two, but I have an imported purebred Welsh pony gelding by *Eyarth Beau Geste who grew another two inches between his 4th and 5th year!! [/QUOTE]
Wow! Unusual for those bloodlines. I wonder if nutrition and/or deworming may have played a factor?
That’s what we were wondering I meant to email you and ask you about those bloodlines. We didn’t get him until he was 3 years old…and it took us about a year to finally get him on a correct deworming program and get a good solid weight on him. After that, he just started sprouting! FYI, he’s the Canadian National Champion Section B Gelding this year. 
[QUOTE=Daventry;5283514]
FYI, he’s the Canadian National Champion Section B Gelding this year. :D[/QUOTE]
Awesome!!! Congratulations!!!
Do you have any pictures of him from this season?
(And yes, I think that is probably what it is… I’ve had a lot of Beau children and grandchildren and none of them have grown that much, that late!)
We never really got any great pictures of him this season. Lots of the other ponies, but only a few of Magic from the show season. We did get a few photos of him doing leadline, but we were in such a rush to get him from halter and tacked up for leadline that he looked a bit messy, browband crooked, etc. Hope to get better ones of him next year! There are photos of him from this year at www.daventryfarms.com/bluebirdmagicman.html
That trotting pic you have as his main photo is darling!
I really like him – but no surprises there, given his pedigree. No doubt he will be an awesome pony for some really lucky kid!!
He’s very related to my *Waxwing Martini: http://www.welshponies.com/martini.htm
Thread resurrection: can you add 8 inches to however tall a Welsh cob pony is at one year and get a good approximation of adult height, like you can with horses, i.e. 12.2 to 14.2?
No, this is not correct with Welsh Ponies. I find with most ponies, you can usually add another hand on to their yearling height, but that is not something to rely on with all ponies.
