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String test?? How accurate have you found it to be?

Dressage
#21

Am I crazy??

Hi! I recently adopted a 2 y/o Appendix QH colt.
Before he was rescued, he was in a pasture with a group of other horses. I don’t believe he was ever seperated from his mother, he probably nursed until she dried up. Unfortunately, his owners felt their horses didn’t need any feed in addition to the pasture. He has put on a lot of weight since then, and now I can barely see his ribs. He stands right under 15hh right now, and I decided to try the string test on him, to see if he will grow anymore. Measuring from the middle of his knee to his coronet band, it is just over 17 inches…will he really grow this much?? I’ve been told its possible that because he was malnourished, he may just be behind in growing. I then tried the string test measuring from ergot to elbow…same results. The string was a good 7 or 8 inches above his withers. I would LOVE for him to be this tall, but I don’t want to get my hopes up and him stay a little squirt

I would appreciate any advice, or even opinion about this. Thanks!

#22

They seem to be a good estimate +/- 1" normally. However, if you have breeds that are bred with shorter cannon bones, a string test using the cannon may not be very accurate.

#23

ooo guess who’ll be messing about with string, a 20 month old pony, ergots and withers this afternoon :smiley:
happy days :smiley:

are there any tests for 8 month olds?

#24

The anglo arab I bred always string tested to 15’3. He was so slight and small I didn’t believe it. But as a 6 year old I am quite sure he is there. I think it is pretty accurate.

#25

[QUOTE=ESG;3140822]
Not at all. You’d do better taking an average between the height of the sire and the height of the dam. IMHO, the string test is bull****.[/QUOTE]

Unless you end up with a horse like mine. Dam = 14.2 (on a good day); Sire = 16.0; Baby = 16.0

I guess there are exceptions to everything.

#26

The ‘knee to coronet band’ one seems to work pretty well on our TBs and WBs, but it was WAY off on our Shire/TB filly.

I measured her when she was 2 (plus a few months) old. It said that she would finish at 15.1hh, but she was already 15.2 + 1/2! In contrast, the ‘swing up’ method looked pretty believeable as an estimate for her though.

Afterwards, I tested both methods on our adults just to see - most were accurate with both, but for the ones that weren’t, it was always the knee to coronet measurment that was inaccurate (it said that they were shorter than they were). The ‘swing up’ test was pretty accurate on all of them though. :slight_smile:

#27

[QUOTE=FullCircleTraining;3145674]
Elbow to ergot: 32" x 2 = 64"/4 = 16 hands[/QUOTE]

The problem with this number is that you forgot the hoof. If you don’t want to swing the string up- you have to do ergot to point of elbow times two, plus the distance from the ergot to the ground. Adding on those extra 4-5" may make that number come right into line with the rest.

#28

Not exactly accurate for final height, but if you measure from point of hock to ground and it is longer than the dams, then the foal will end up taller than the dam.

#29

umm well he’s gonna be a short ass if the string theory is correct :lol:

#30

I’ve always done the middle of the knee to the coronet band. I’ve found it to be accurate to within an inch or so. Just my experience.

#31

Ok - I think this has confirmed my suspicion. I know I messed up because I did measure from the ground to the elbow, I figure if I take 6" off that number I should be close to the ergot…even then the string is 35" which means she’ll be 17.2H. She isn’t quite 2 yet… OMG!! She is the first foal out of a not quite 16H mare by a 16.3H stallion. Really was not thinking she would be that big - and she’s a tank to boot.

#32

It was accurate in my horse’s case. I did it when he was about 18 months old and according to the test he was going to be 14.2hh, which is what he topped out at.

#33

String test: Middle of knee to coronet band = 16.3 for my just 2 yr old Dutch gelding. He is 15.1 1/2 at withers and 15.3 at the croup so I am fairly confident he is going to be 16.3. Dam 15.2 Thb and Sire is Rampal 17 hands.

He is under strict orders to not be more then 16.3. ha,ha

#34

JMurray, I agree with you - most accurate string test is from middle of knee to coronet band. can you please send your size order to my colt? LOL:lol: He’s 2 months old (yesterday) and measures 50 ". I TOLD him to keep it small! LOL!

#35

[QUOTE=class;3140429]
i thought the string test was only accurate after age 1? also, there is the cannon bone string test and then there is the swivel-from-the-elbow string test. i think the latter is more accurate, but only after they’re 1.[/QUOTE]

Yup, the baby has to be at least 12 mos old to be accurate for the knee to coronary test
Also look at the overall balance of the leg. Thick/posty legs don’t matter…look at the cannon proportianately. If the horse has proportionally short cannons then the string test will err on the side of short, if the hose has proportionally long cannons it will err on the side of too tall. But, without extremes of cannon length it is usually accurate. I had a half Arab colt (Arab/WB cross colt) with really short cannons. He coronary band string tested to 14.2H so no one wanted to buy him as a baby…he was going to be a pony. The thing is he was ALREADY 14.2H at 24 months old. I kept telling folks to use their heads…if he is 14.2 at 24 mos old he will NOT be 14.2 at 5!! ( The other horse rule of thumb is to add 2H to the 12 mo old height/1H to the 2 YO height. According to that he would be 15.2H. He ergot/elbow tested at 15.3H. FWIW he ended up 15.3H).

#36

I’m intersted in foal/yearling heights and then mature.

Many people have mentioned that they did a _____ test on their yearling or two year old and it said the horse would be ____ hands and it was. Do any of you remember the height of your yearlings when you measured?

For example. I have a colt that will be a yearling on 19 May 2009 and he’s 15.2h at the withers and 15.3h behind when I do a string test it says he will be _____. (I haven’t done one yet.)

#37

My full Arab measured 14.1h at 18 months. He string tested at 15.3h (knee to coronet). At 2 he was 14.3h. At 3 he is now 15.1+h, last I measured was a couple months ago and he was 15.1h. He will be 3 at the end of May, so I’m sure those extra inches will come. He still has time.

My yearling filly measures about 13.2h but is still leggy. She is also half-Lusitano, so she may be slower to mature. She string tests at 16h. Her dam has shortish cannons, and sire is pretty proportionate.

#38

Originally Posted by ESG
Not at all. You’d do better taking an average between the height of the sire and the height of the dam. IMHO, the string test is bull****.

I have to say this was WAY off in my case also. Dam was 15.2, sire was 14.2 and colt stopped at 16hh. String test gave 16/ 16.1hh and I didn’t believe it at the time thinking that it was a bunch of bs… especially since he wasn’t leggy. :eek:

Since then I have had more foals out of the same mare with different sires that all are taller then the average of height would leave you to believe. I’m not going to say that you can’t estimate that way but I have had more luck with a string test. All seem to be within an inch when they mature.

#39

Yes, my horse was ~13.0hh when I measured him. He was 16 months old at the time and I was REALLY hoping that the test would be inaccurate.

#40

[QUOTE=Gayla;3140408]
I was over at a friend’s farm and she has a baby that is of unknown breeding. She was told that his Dam was a Morgan that was about 15.2 and the Sire was supposed to be a Morgan too, but they didn’t really know for sure. But what I found so striking was that the little guy had the thickest, most post like legs I have ever seen. He looked like a regular 9 month old but with draft legs. I picked up his front feet and I had to feel his cannon bones several times b/c they were so thick they felt swollen. I did the string test (which I know is an estimate) and he didn’t even make 15 hands. Seemed inaccurate to me. How accurate have you all found it to be if you have done it on many horses? He is a doll BTW.[/QUOTE]

when I bought my horse, he was 4.5 yrs. old and measured 17.5H. They said he shouldn’t grow much more, maybe .5H. He is now 17.3 and looks 18.1. Might be more accurate with mare as they finish sooner than geldings…

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