I’m interested in a four-year-old warmblood gelding who’s scary big: 17.3. In terms of horse-rider size fit, he’s fine. And did I mention he’s got good balance, beautiful gaits, and a good jump? Slow and careful training would be required, but even so, is there more risk of injury/unsoundness in a horse that big? I’m interested in jumpers, eq. and maybe derbies.
Hard to say for each specific horse but I’d certainly be concerned.
The bigger ones tend to break down more frequently and earlier, they’re just carrying that much more weight on their legs. I don’t know if there’s studies about this? But anecdotally speaking they always seem to have more problems, even when they’re beautifully put together.
I also tweak at your comment that he has a beautiful jump - what has he already done? When they’re that big they take so much longer to finish growing and mature so if he’s already been working that’s potentially a tick against future soundness. Another last concern, which may or may not be a worry for you specifically, is what happens when an 18hh+ green horse throws a fit? That’s a lot of horse power and I’d be exhausted just thinking about it, so never mind his soundness, is he going to affect yours?
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Look at his hooves. If he has petite hooves - definitely pass. If he has large, sturdy hooves, then maybe. Ask what size shoe he wears. If its a size 4 or 5, that’s a decent sized hoof for his size. My horse is 17.2 and wears a size 4. Large horses need nice large hooves to distribute weight. Huge horses with iddy bitty hooves are prone to having more issues.
The jumping, however, also concerns me. Are we talking free jumping here or is the horse doing courses with a rider? Many warmbloods are slow to mature and the giants, doubly so. I’m old school, and think jumping (as in, a 2’6"/3" course) shouldn’t occur until they are physically mature. But I’m not sure that is a popular way of doing it.
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IMO, the answer is absolutely
I think you see this in two phases of the horse’s career (if everything else goes really right)-- when they are young and just getting fit, and when they are old and the daily mileage is starting to catch up with them, as it does every horse who has a career.
IMO, it takes a great deal of postural strength to cruise around in a body that big. More on that below. So this horse is going to be harder on his body (particularly his relatively little legs) while he’s finding his way during his first couple of years undersaddle than will a smaller horse. And I would spend a couple of years just building that bases of strength and fitness. You will need a very good pro and a very (tall) and good rider who can help balance such a large, but normal-sprawling baby horse.
And when a big one is older, I would expect that the added size and weight will produce just a little more wear-and-tear on the joints every day such that this horse will age a bit faster than would a smaller horse.
Some good advice from an old, university-based farrier of mine: Buy the smallest, lightest horse you can that will get the job done. Horses have gotten bigger and heavier from their earliest (and even latest) wild ancestors without any significant redesigns. That’s a problem (especially, IMO) for ligamentous tissue. He also said that the mechanical effects of what he could do by way of trimming and shoeing paid diminishing returns as the size and weight of the horse “scaled up”.
And the comment above about the size and quality of his feet, especially are spot-on. If he has not scaled up his feet to accommodate being 17.3, don’t adopt him. Also, with a horse this big, I’d also want to have a very, very good farrier on my team. Those guys can do more than a vet to keep a horse sound over time.
Take what you like and leave the rest. I think the average size and weight of a jumping show horse has increased since I was a kid in, say, the 1980s. So somehow (maybe with joint injections and other veterinary interventions becoming normalized as “maintenance”), people are buying and riding horses that are bigger.
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I had a 17.3 horse when I was a junior and many of the issues mentioned above were a large concern of ours. He was young (6) when I got him and we never pushed him - the highest we showed him in 4 years was 3’ because we didn’t want to deal with soundness issues down the road and he was still green. I think many people these days think bigger = can jump higher easier, which isn’t necessarily the case. I loved my guy, but he wasn’t quite athletic enough for the 3’6” even in his big body. Just didn’t have the same style and spring that my smaller horses who did jump that height had.
I would be sure that even in that large frame, he’s got the scope and athleticism you want for the tracks you wish to do. Just because he’s big doesn’t necessarily mean he can handle the 1.10+ tracks regularly, especially still very green.
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He is not done growing. He might not get taller, but his body is not yet mature. I have had several big horses and while I love them, I agree with others on the potential issues. I’d be VERY concerned if this horse was jumping anything substantial at his age. That will catch up to his body down the line.
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I don’t know if it’s possible to know at this stage, but if he’s “easy” on himself and quiet, he’s more set up for long-term success as a show hunter. A big horse that needs a lot of prep is more likely to suffer from that wear and tear than a smaller one.
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I am 6’ tall and rangy, so the bigger ones are not a want, but a need. I will only add what I have noticed in my years of looking, the bigger ones seem to be more likely to make breathing noises (roar, or some version, mild or otherwise). YMMV, but I am careful of all that has been mentioned above, along with the breathing concerns. Best of luck no matter!
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I think for a large horse, the brain is even more important. If it’s one that’s going to need a lot of prep, I would pass immediately. I also second or third the importance of the feet.
A lot depends on where you are. I’m in Southern California and the ground is punishingly hard. I bought my horse as a rising 7 year old and he is 18h. His vetting was good and his feet were good size but with the CA climate, they’ve contracted a bit.
Although he is very tall, he is not very long and kind of lighter boned. I just bought a 6 year old who’s 17h, with massive feet and bone and he only weighs 30lbs less than my first horse (we have a scale at our barn) despite being a full hand shorter.
Riding the two, you would think the shorter horse is bigger. Part of that is training, but part is comformation.
My first horse has never been out of work for lameness in the nearly 4 years I’ve owned him. We do the 1.20m jumpers and show about once a month. At home, I probably jump 1.20-1.30 once every other week and the rest of the time, we do technical work over lower jumps. I rode about 25 horses a few months ago in Europe who were all smaller, and younger, and none felt as even and sound as mine. He has pads in front and gets his hocks and stifles injected on a 9-12 month schedule. He also gets loading doses of Adequann twice a year.
All this is to say, this is the soundest horse I’ve ever owned, but A) he is put together really well and B) I am really fastidious about his wear and tear and treat the joints very proactively. I think I got lucky with him but I also think if we lived on the east coast, he would probably need less maintenance and would probably have a longer career.
In looking at a large horse, my advice would be to have a farrier weigh in on the feet, be extra thoughtful about how he’s put together, and think about some compromises you might have to make. And it could make resale more challenging. But I wouldn’t rule out a horse entirely just based on size. I’m also 6’ tall, so I struggle to fit the little guys anyway! :no:
Practical thoughts: the cost of larger than average tack and rugs; grooming and tacking up such a tall horse; extra large stable; trailer large enough … aside from being slower to mature and with possible soundness issues.
It is noticeable that the European dressage breeders have moved away from the giant 17++ hh horses of a few years ago.
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If you are thinking Hunters, there is such a thing as too much step. Reverse problem of the one faced by a Hony, can’t cram the strides in any better then the Hony can stretch out to get them.
IME, anecdotally, the ones over 17 hands seem to have more issues when in steady 3’+ jumping work and tended to have far more pasture boo boos.
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My adult ammy hunter is 18 hands. We struggle to fit the strides in and I still occasionally leave one out on accident :no:. I am very tall but I want my next horse to be closer to 17 then 18 if possible!
Do you have a trailer that will fit him? Is your barn ok with handling that tall a horse?
I do think (from my past experiences) that they have more issues when they get that tall, but I don’t have facts to back that up, just anecdotal information. I do know that 18 hands is a very tall horse when you are trying to do things like deworm them or give an internasal vaccine!
(I know I wouldn’t board a horse that tall, but I don’t know if other barns have similar restrictions)
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Absolutely this. My eq horse that also crosses over into the hunters is 17.3 with a 16’+ stride when he’s loping along. The amount of work we’ve had to do to teach him not only to compress but to stay light and jump well while doing so is insane. It’s required a custom bit, a custom noseband, and about 10x the amount of flat and gymnastics work compared to my other horses. I have done a 1 in a two and easily survived, I’ve left a stride out of every line in a course and had no idea until I walked out of the in gate and saw a whole bunch of people flock to the course map to make sure they’d counted correctly, I constantly eat the end of the ring which makes balancing my limousine of a warmblood for a clean lead change rather unpleasant.
That said, when he’s on, he’s on. I know unequivocally that I’ll safely get to the other side of anything 3’6" or under no matter where we take off from and that even if we chocolate chip the in, I’ll always make it out. He’s lovely to watch float around a course when he’s being light and responsive, and he’s a ton of fun to do elasticity exercises with because we can always leave out way more strides than anyone else in our lessons without dying :lol: It’s super easy to move up to the distance on him, particularly to the single oxer on the long approach (my nemesis!) and I will say his canter is to die for.
My big guy has a significant history of medical issues, but none of his can be traced back to his size. Would I go out purposely looking for a horse as big as he is (I’m 5’4")? No. Would I buy another one if they had all the qualities I’m looking for? Absolutely.
Now, one of my trainers has one that is - no word of a lie - 19 hh. As proportionate as the day is long and relatively short in the barrel so you don’t feel like an ant on him. Jumping 4’ feels like jumping nothing at all. But he has a fairly normal stride. On the bigger side, but nothing close to my Eq horse and he is much more compact nose to tail. He’s extraordinarily light in the bridle and super easy to adjust. Feels like riding something that is 16hh. However, his lead change is non existent. He has horrible locking stifles, has been on estrone for years, been blistered, had surgery 3 times, and still locks. He gets a clean change maybe once every 5 tries which is a crying shame because he jumps and moves a 20+++. If he had changes, he could’ve been famous in the hunter ring. He happily jumps around the 1.20s and 1.30s with my trainer, but he’s definitely had some significant soundness issues that are directly attributed to his size.
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I think if it’s a horse for you vs. a resale prospect, and you’re okay with waiting until the horse is 7 or 8 before you do more than gently lope around a small hunter course for practice without him falling on his face, and you know how to get a horse fit and balanced, and you don’t mind maintenance… it could work.
These moosey ones continue growing through most of their first decade and that both puts them at higher risk for injury if pushed too young (because they haven’t hit physical maturity) and limits what you can sensibly do with them as youngsters (because their balance and development are constantly changing.) I think that if you start these guys off with a sensible program of flatwork as young horses and really focus on fitting up their bodies and teaching them where their limbs are, you improve your odds of having a sound teenager.
But nothing with a horse is guaranteed and the big ones are harder on themselves simply by virtue of the force of gravity on their anatomy. That gets compounded by the factors of keeping them- a stall that’s perfectly comfortable for a 16-hand horse may feel cramped for a big one, which may affect everything from his resting posture to how frequently he lies down to sleep, both of which put cumulative stress on the body. You may need to buy a larger trailer to avoid the same issues when traveling. Et cetera.
I wouldn’t. I like them under 16.3.
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This may require buying an extra stall at shows and removing a panel to make the horse comfortable. And always having an XL mounting block with you, even if you have long legs, to be easier on his back. And as mentioned, a bigger trailer, and possible a bigger truck to pull said bigger trailer.
I was thinking about the horse’s stall at home. My farm has an older barn and most of their stalls are 11x11. You cannot put a 17.3 horse in an 11x11 stall for any length of time and expect the horse to be comfortable. (We have a small number of 14x16 stalls reserved for our larger horses.) If the boarding availability in your area is similar to ours, 12x12 stalls are standard, and your barn owner will probably not be amenable to knocking down a wall between two stalls to let your horse have a double-wide even if you offer to pay for two stalls. 
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Like others have said- a good farrier is a MUST. I bought a 17’3 hand warmblood as a 5 year old. Had him for two years without issue. He had a very light build, much more tb like than wb, and rather normal sized hooves. Which I think were fine- until he pulled a shoe and we used a new farrier who WHACKED his feet off. Really ruined him. It was probably a year and a half of paying for expensive farrier work, chiropractic, injections all over, and waiting for him to be sound again, and as soon as he was he fractured his splint bone in the paddock. Surgery and a year after that he had to have colic surgery. We eventually sold him and I heard he had more soundness issues. So while I am 5’11 and do look better on a large horse, my next horse will not be over 17’. In fact, the guy I’m currently leasing is 23!!! and just under 16’. He has a chunky build and takes up my leg just fine.
I show APHA pretty exclusively these days, and I will say – the BIG hunt seaters that everyone raves about? You don’t see many of them as senior horses (6+).
The few I’ve known on an intimate level (in barn, good friends, etc) have been plagued by issues. Horses aren’t meant to be this big – kind of like the itty bitty mini horses aren’t meant to be that small. I have a GIANT three year old right now that is at the trainer to be broke and, while she has good bone and feet, I still worry about her long term soundness.
Jumping only adds insult to injury with the big guys. I definitely think that they should wait to do anything of substance until they’re fully matured (think 5-6). I would absolutely be concerned about a four year old’s long term soundness if he’s already jumping. I’d be concerned about stall size, I’d be concerned about trailering… there’s just so much headache with the huge horses that can be alleviated with a more “normal” sized animal.
If he’s perfect and you do a thorough PPE then there’s no real reason for you to say no based on our anecdotal experience; however, if you have other, smaller options, I’d take a real hard look at them over a biggun’.
When my young Hanoverian had soft tissue injuries, the vets gave him a worse prognosis due to his large size, even before we learned he had DSLD. He was about 17.2 hh with proportionate feet, bone, and joints.
Since then I’ve been really hesitant to consider 17+ hh horses. Around 16 hh is my ideal now even though I’m fairly tall and long-legged. My dressage coach loves big horses and probably thinks I look silly on the “little guys” but I’m okay with that.
I’m very much in favor of smaller horses these days but I will say that I leased a 18 hh horse for over a year and didn’t really find any of this to be an issue. However, he was long-legged but short-backed so maybe it would be harder with one that’s more proportionate. He wore 84" blankets, which are not rare or overpriced. He fit in my stalls (though he would not lie down inside) and trailer.
I did learn the first week or two that I had to stand on my tiptoes to groom his croup, or when I got on I’d look back to see a strip of dirt along his spine. :lol:
Despite his size, he’s a very elegant and light mover. He could canter past you and you’d barely even hear hoofbeats. If I were to consider a larger horse I’d want one like that. This horse is 16 now, a Grand Prix dressage horse, and has always been super sound.
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