So I’ve had my guy for 4 mos now. He is only 3 and 14.1hds tall. Is he likely to get any taller? Fill out more? He’s nicely put together and in excellent condition, but fairly refined and I’m wondering if he’s going to be a bit small for me to ride comfortably as refined as he is. It’s not really his height but his substance. He has a wonderful disposition and is quite a character.
They’re really all over the map. My guy is five and hasn’t grown at all since I got him in the fall of his third year, other people on the Mustang groups will talk about their three year olds shooting up a hand or more, particularly if they were gathered shortly before adoption. Presumably the nutrition on the range isn’t as conducive to growth as what they get in holding (mine was gathered as a yearling).
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I did both string tests on he and the Fjord, the Fjord turns 2 next month, and according to those, they both have quite a bit of growing and filling out to do. Expected with Fjord; a nice surprise with the Mustang. Will just be patient. We, of course, have no idea when the Mustang was foaled other than 2016. He wound up in a kill pen in 2017 and was said to be a yearling when pulled and examined by a vet. He was quite emaciated.
Our feral horse came from a herd in Nevada.
He was caught at five years old.
He always had bad knees, rickets, our vet called it.
Our vet guessed he went thru a drought as a possibly yearling or two year old, as his knees were forming and malnutrition is what caused his knees not to form right.
We used him lightly all his life, because of his knees and eventually retired him early because of them.
He was our herd boss and never had a nicer one.
He never fought any horse, they all deferred to him to please him, not scared of him.
There was no fighting around him, all got along.
We even kept our stallion with the geldings and he was about in the middle of the hierarchy, never though to fight anyone.
At five he was already fully mature and a good, solid 15 hands.
We think he had some draft in him, he had big platter feet and plenty of bone.
You may want your vet some time to take some x-rays in the front, as a reference, if he at some time during growth he went thru a starving period and see what is there, if all is fine.
Gus too has a wonderful disposition and has fit in with my young Fjord gelding and minis beautifully. The only thing we’ve had to watch with him is he does get hangry if he feels like the food supply is threatened. Last month, when we were in the 3rd week of a drought period, the grass was fast drying up and I was putting alfalfa flakes out, and he got to where he was guarding the alfalfa, particularly from the Fjord gelding. So we put a round bale out and problem solved.
I don’t think he will be 15hds, but I think 14.2 is likely and maybe 14.3. He does not seem to have any orthopedic problems or soundness issues. His legs are very clean and straight. He does not gait but puts me much in mind of a pasofino in some respects and also some quarter horse, though he’s not particularly stout at this point, but is only 3.
Do you have a picture? You can sometimes sort of tell if they look like they are going to grow a bit more. Not always, but sometimes.
He is pretty. I would expect some growth between now and 5. How much is anyones guess.
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I’m cautiously optimistic that he’s got some growing to do. The rest of him needs to catch up to that booty! Which HMA is he from? Some of them are known for bigger vs. smaller, more random light horse, more Spanish, or more draft heritage.
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Hes a Navajo Reservation Mustang from New Mexico.
All light horses are fully physically mature at six years, plus or minus a few months. Mental maturity can take another couple of years. If they have been eating well then they will reach their full genetic potential. But if at some point in their growth they did not, then they might not. Or they might suffer some malformation as a result. You won’t really know until that sixth year. As to, “how tall will they get?” there are a bunch of “tests” you can do, all of which are some sort or WAG. I don’t think any can be a true SWAG as there are too many variables, like nutrition quality, to contend with.
G.
I personally have never had a horse get any taller after their 4th year and I’ve had all kinds of breeds. Now, most do seem to continue to fill out until their 6th yr. And I agree, 8 is about right for mental maturity.
We had horses, measured at the vet clinic, that had grown up to 8 years old.
Especially horses coming to our area from the South or East before that age at times still grew some more here, along with filling out and maturing.
The biggest, fastest change was indeed at 4, in a colt we bought in February and measured then at the vet clinic.
He was 14.3 hands then and I was hoping he stop there, I am very short.
He string measured to grow considerably more, but we didn’t think he would.
What do you know, he kept growing and growing.
When we measured him again in late June, he was 15.3 hands.
Even the vet was surprised he grew so much so fast
We had another horse, bought at 5, also 14.3 hands, that two years later finished growing at 15.3.
He fits his 6’4" rider just fine, we still have him around, now 20.
Our feral horse was 5 and as tall and mature looking then as he was all his life.
Then, he was a stallion until 5 and that may have set his size and length of long bones and angles earlier than they would on one gelded before two.
I think that how the OP’s horse may finish maturing, if taller or more filling he may do seems to be a pure guess, not much to go by.
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My mustang mare grew a bit at age 6. She finished at 15.2. She was rounded up as a yearling though I would guess probably closer to weanling age. What really changed was that she filled out a ton as a seven year old. She was always thin and waspy, long legged, prominent SI. And then all the sudden she had muscle and fat! Went from a 66 blanket to a 72!
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I am on the fence about this one. This guy is rather narrow on top of being compact. I put a weight tape on him last night and it said 874lbs.
I’m not as slender as I used to be and hover around 150-155lbs and am 5’3". It’s not as bad as it sounds as I am quite muscular, but yeah, at almost 53, I’m no longer a light weight. Add about 20lbs of gear and you’ve got 170. I’ve purposefully stayed off of him so far because I don’t want him to wind up with kissing spine. And while I know people ride smaller horses all the time, heck, I have a Fjord two year old who will probably only be 14.2 but quite a bit sturdier – I’m worried about this guy being sturdy enough/comfortable enough to enjoy without feeling like the least bit of unbalance and I’ll be pitching off the side.
I put my dressage saddle on him and the panels nearly touch his rump.
Seems like the general rule of thumb is 20% of the horse’s body weight is safe for the person riding without doing harm, and right now, we’re barely there. If he bulks up a bit, so much the better, but it does seem some of the mustangs stay pretty compact, and this guy was starved his first year to boot. My daughter’s 14.3hd POA mare had quite a bit more mass and I didn’t hesitate to ride her a bit.
The farm he came from has gotten in a good moving 15hd gelding that I have the option of swapping him for. Just don’t know about the disposition yet as he’s only just arrived. He has a sweet kind eye. Gus, of course, has fit in perfectly.
He looks like he should get a little more height from elbow to withers but…if he did go through a period of malnutrition as a youngster? May never even out to that string test standard. Personal experience with emaciated 4 and 5 year old rescues from a hoarder that never evened up. Vet said too many months or years of malnutrition when survival trumped skeletal growth and development. Many never catch up.
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The good thing for Gus, I think his period of starvation was from weanling to yearling, no more months rather than years. Hopefully that makes a difference from him. He’s about average size for a mustang from what I’ve read.
