Hi, guys!
I have a Holsteiner Warmblood gelding who is 17.3 hands tall. I’ve been doing lots of research throughout the web to get more info on his breed; there just isn’t much. (or I am looking in all the wrong spots) Oh well. But, I am curious, I never find other Holsteiners that are for sale as tall as him.
Am I alone in this opinion?
Just curious!
Thanks!
There are many Holsteiners in and around that height. Not unusual at all.
Agreed.
Lots of them, I have one.
Most of the WBs aren’t really breeds in the sense you breed one to one and automatically get one like TBs. They are listed in studbooks, some must stand for inspection before being accepted as breeding animals and getting the brands. To complicate things, many books are not closed like a breed registry, many can be listed in more then one if they meet those requirements.
Thats the Cliff Notes version. Ask over on the Sport Horse Forum for a more detailed, and probably more correct, version.
Concur with the others here, Holsteiners can run big. Not as big as the average Zangersheids tend to get but bigger then the average typical in other books.
But to add a bit to what findeight said about registries, each book has minimum height requirements. The Holsteiner book tends toward more height because the height requirements for breeding stock are greater than some other registries. Possibly all other registries?
Has anyone put an actual stick on him?
Everyone thought that my old gelding was 17 plus hands because he was the biggest horse in all of the barns he was in. When sticked by a USEF steward he was actually 16.1 1/2
My mare was sold to her former owners as 15.3 hands and when sticked she’s actually 14.2 and a smidge.
I once listed a horse as 18 hands, because he was 18 hands. And I had a very successful hunter trainer tell me he wasn’t 18 hands. Then I put a stick on him in front of her. And she actually said, well, yeah, if you measure him at the wither! Yeah…I don’t know how to respond to that.
@ladyj79 :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
I just stop measuring at whatever point they are the height I want them to be…is that not how it’s supposed to be done?
Anyone see Margie Goldstein Engle and her new horse Dicas? He’s truly gigantic- she looks small on Royce, but this one is even bigger!- AND they’re already winning classes 
[h=1][/h]
Someone tried to tell me that my horse is 15.3hh. Pointed out that I am 5’4" and therefore 16hh with no shoes on and that even with my shoes on he was still significantly taller than me and so he therefore couldn’t be 15.3hh. She then claimed he had big withers. When I pointed out that’s where they get measured, she finally stopped. In hindsight, even the big wither claim was a big odd as he had his canvas rug on (sorry, don’t know the US terminology).
Was so curious that I had to Google this. In the photo of her on Dicas, she looks like a child riding one of their parents horses.
I did have one with such a high whither I felt the need to mention this because he looked significantly smaller: He measured an honest 16.1 at the whither using a proper measuring stick with level however looked 15.2 at best. He was also quite refined which added to the illusion of being a “little” horse.
That being said he did not ride like a little horse and had more step than many of the 17+ hand horses I have ridden in the past.
I have had both ways. My 16 hand TB I told everyone she was 15-2 because she had huge withers but the rest of her body was a true 15-2 size. On the other hand my 17-3 hand Holsteiner mare (yes she was sticked at her mare approval) rode smaller than her 16-2 hand brother (TB) because she was slab sidded and he was very stout. (Same mother different sires) Everyone thought she was a TB and he was the Holsteiner–:lol::lol:
My Rapport son is definitely 17.3. He’s a bit of a freak, his dam was 15.3 and I think Rapport was 16.3. He’s registered Holsteiner.
Groan. I am horse shopping. And I love huge gigantic. It’s so frustrating to me when people don’t actually measure or don’t know how to measure and I get there and the 16.3 horse is really 15.3.
And 3 years older then the ad said…
I HATE HORSE SHOPPING
I have a 5 year old KWPN g who is over 17.2 and probably still growing. My fear is that, as fancy & talented as he is, his size will make him difficult to sell. VXF111, is huge gigantic hard to sell in the hunters?
As noted above, the majority of the warmblood registries focus on type and purpose over pedigree. You might also find that geldings that were done early are often taller (and leaner) than stallions or those gelded after maturity as testosterone triggers the body to slow down height and increase muscle mass.
And of course, finding something for sale and it being in existance are also two different things!
On the horse shopping thoughts, we went and looked at a “20 hand Belgian Draft” a few weeks ago. He was tall, but the measurement was a good two hands off. He was probably 250lbs underweight too if not more. Horse shopping stinks and your average person doesn’t know how to properly measure a horse (15.5 hands anyone?).
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