When are they simply TOO big???

[TrueColours]

Got an email from a client last night and she said a new boarder is looking to sell her youngster. She bought him off a video through a reputable auction (RCMP) and thought they were possibly exagerating his height. They deemed him too big for RCMP use and their musical ride.

Nope … :no:

He is an 18-18.1hh, 3 year old Hanoverian gelding, lovely mover, fabulous jumper, kind as a kitten but he is WAY too big for her and of course she is concerned with him being this height at 3 - how much bigger can he possibly grow???

When is too big TOO BIG??? And any guesstimates as to whether this guy still does have some more growing to do?

I like big horses too, but I just dont think I’d want 18.2-18.3hh in my barn! :lol:

She is sending me pics of him (they have turned a schoolie out with him along with a weanling filly by my stallion) and she said its quite comical. He is low man on the totem pole, gets bossed around and the others look like mini’s beside him! :lol:

[Perfect_Pony]

Well I am really opinionated on this subject, because I really don’t like big horses anymore. I personally don’t like anything over 16 hands.

But as far as too big? I think it really depends on the individual horse. I used to ride a 4 year old that was a solid 18.1hh, he was lovely. He would lope around 4’ courses (he was in training to be a jumper) and was balanced and easy to ride.

On the other hand I know of plenty of 16.2hh horses that are “too big”. Long necks, long backs, too massive and unbalanced unless really held together. Horses that never stay sound an just don’t seem able to carry their own weight around.

So as much as I dislike the trend towards big, and don’t like big horses, I think it’s up to the individual horse.

[joiedevie99]

Personally, I prefer 15.3 - 17h. However, I had the ride on an 18.2h critter for one summer and didn’t find him all that difficult. The challenges were mostly not riding related, i.e. finding a trailer he fit in, finding a 60" girth, etc. He was a functional novice event horse when he left me, and as I understand it, was sold on as a staff horse in a hunt.

[tuckawayfarm]

Had to laugh because I have one just like it. 3 year old Hanoverian, 18hh (with a real stick on concrete) gelding. He is beautiful, balanced, and has a lovely jump. He’s always been that way, easily swapping leads playing with his friends in the field. He is so well proportioned, that unless he is standing next to something to give you a size reference, you would never guess how big he is until you are right next to him.

Luckily for me (and him) several people fell in love, including a good friend who will insure he always has a great home.

BTW, I bred my 17.0hh Dutch mare to Pablo hoping for something closer to 16hh :lol: He is Pablo x Sebastiaan x Bolero and would make a nice dressage prospect although he will be starting training in the spring as a jumper.

Don’t despair, I found some people LOVE big

[Molly_Malone]

Ha. I just bought a 2 yr old off a couple of photos who was billed as “over 16 hh” which naturally I didn’t believe, and she got off the transport ALL of 16.2 and is string testing at well over 17hh. Which has taken me a bit aback… I never would buy a horse that size as I’m only 5’4 so I’m sure glad to hear some people like them big!

[CDE_Driver]

[QUOTE=TrueColours;5932722]
Got an email from a client last night and she said a new boarder is looking to sell her youngster. She bought him off a video through a reputable auction (RCMP) and thought they were possibly exagerating his height. They deemed him too big for RCMP use and their musical ride.

Nope … :no:

He is an 18-18.1hh, 3 year old Hanoverian gelding, lovely mover, fabulous jumper, kind as a kitten but he is WAY too big for her and of course she is concerned with him being this height at 3 - how much bigger can he possibly grow??? [/QUOTE]

I cracked up when I read that…I thought “They are the police, they wouldn’t lie”!!

Sorry, carry on

[TrueColours]

I cracked up when I read that…I thought “They are the police, they wouldn’t lie”!!

Ha ha ha … :lol: … TOO funny!!!

[SunkenMeadow]

I used to ge to ride a 18.2hh Eq horse. He was as wide as tall too, the funny thing was I was 5 foot 100 lbs soaking wet at the time. He was a monster but you could ride him with two fingers on the reins. He was like riding a stick of butter that sat out on the counter, just soft and smooth as silk. Totally inappropriate for me to ride, but he was fun!

[Ssporthorses]

PM or email me Donna, might know someone interested!

[Sakura_Hill_Farm]

@SunkenMeadow;5932935

I used to ge to ride a 18.2hh Eq horse. He was as wide as tall too, the funny thing was I was 5 foot 100 lbs soaking wet at the time. He was a monster but you could ride him with two fingers on the reins. He was like riding a stick of butter that sat out on the counter, just soft and smooth as silk. Totally inappropriate for me to ride, but he was fun!

Monica’s Big Eq horse, Cat Burlgar, was another gentle giant, either loved or hated by the judges. Monica, too, was barely 5’1" and has short Japanese legs, but Cat qualified her for all the Big Eq Finals by the month of June the year she was 14 including the East Coast USET Talent Search. What a thrill it was to take that pair to the Finals! His floppy Hanoverian ears and size won him many fans in New York and Connecticut with Monica and in MA with his owner there. He sadly died this year!

We now have a 17’3" retired GP mare that was campaigned by Peter Leone. It was handy to have that size in the barn when we wanted to use Contendro I for a 2012 foal.

[Real_Rush]

I only wish I could ride smaller horses, but being 6’ tall, I really, honestly have no choice. Luckily (for me) people are tending to breed taller horses these days, but back in the 90’s, it was a chore to find a thoroughbred that was not only tall enough, but also had some girth to it. It seemed that every one I used to look at that was tall enough, was also the width of a string bean. The first time I saw an 18 hd horse that wasn’t a draft (he was an Oldenburg), my jaw just dropped and I thought… I gotta get me one of those!

[Tasker]

For me (personally as a rider) I could care less how tall/short a horse is. It is about the width and shape of the barrel - which may or may not be covered by the use of the phrase ‘saddle position’. I’m 5’7" with a long thigh bone & short waist.

I am always on the hunt for stallions (usually Hanoverian or of Hanoverian descent) that do not add size. Our mare lines do that pretty consistently.

L-R
16.2 1/2
15.2 1/2
15.2
17.3
16.2

The bay 16.2 hand mare is the smallest in the barrel. I feel like I am on a pony on her. But the first chestnut is the largest in the barrel - but an ideal shape form my leg length & pelvis width. The others are still growing and changing but very much in the range of ‘just right’. FWIW we try to breed for a specific shape. It is awful to be on a horse that is just too wide. Or too narrow like a rail. How far off the ground is a relative thing and now something that matters very little to me as a rider.

ETA: My mom is 5’3" and does not feel ‘small’ on any of these horses.

[stolensilver]

I’m a 15:3-17hh person too. 16.1-16.3 is my absolute favorite size. Really big horses make me worry about their soundness. I’m not sure horses were designed to get that massive.

[Spike]

I was at the RCMP auction, I saw the bg boy you are talking about. He is indeed tall and this was my first tought when I saw hime entering the ring… At what height will he end!!

Personnaly, over 17hh, I feel it’s too much. But I’m not 6ft4/260# !And I worked at a barn years ago where the 2 bet and beloved school horses where… at least over 17hh. They were packing the child all around the ring, and over small fences better than the ponies. It was just hard to get the kids to tack them without help lol!!

[ne1]

[QUOTE=tuckawayfarm;5932831]
…Don’t despair, I found some people LOVE big :)[/QUOTE]

this

[Tasker]

[QUOTE=realrush89;5933135]
I only wish I could ride smaller horses, but being 6’ tall, I really, honestly have no choice. [/QUOTE]

Not to single you out realrush - but I call this BS as I don’t believe this statement in any way shape or form. Sorry. :no:

This man in these photos is 6’4" and the horses range from 15.0-16.3. While it may not be the perfect image on the smaller ones - he does just fine both as a trainer and competitor. As a rider, it’s his job (and he’s a pro) to fold up and not interfere with the horses’ way of going.
ETA:
L-R
15.2 (at the time, same horse as the 2nd from the left in the earlier post)
16.3
15.0
16.2

[Blacktree]

Our main broodmare is 17hh but our stallion is not quite 16.3hh. I’ve known a few of our mares’ siblings and she is definitely on the large side for her pedigree. I was hoping to get some 16.2-17hh foals from the cross and no bigger, but so far she’s had:

first foal: 16.3hh at 5 yrs old
foal #2: 17.2hh + at 4 years old
foal #3: 17.3hh + at 3 years old
foal #4: 16.0hh at 17 months

I’m only 5 ft tall and of course have fallen in love with foal #2. He is my dream horse in every way besides height - I wouldn’t part with him for anything, but I’m sure I look pretty silly riding him! Our vet says he’ll still get bigger, too. Ug. I’ve thought about breeding this mare to a smaller outside stallion, but I think at this point we’ll just change her career to being a riding horse. Her foals are just too darn big!

[Rhyadawn]

[QUOTE=TrueColours;5932722]
Got an email from a client last night and she said a new boarder is looking to sell her youngster. She bought him off a video through a reputable auction (RCMP) and thought they were possibly exagerating his height. They deemed him too big for RCMP use and their musical ride.

Nope … :no:

He is an 18-18.1hh, 3 year old Hanoverian gelding, lovely mover, fabulous jumper, kind as a kitten but he is WAY too big for her and of course she is concerned with him being this height at 3 - how much bigger can he possibly grow???

When is too big TOO BIG??? And any guesstimates as to whether this guy still does have some more growing to do?

I like big horses too, but I just dont think I’d want 18.2-18.3hh in my barn! :lol:

She is sending me pics of him (they have turned a schoolie out with him along with a weanling filly by my stallion) and she said its quite comical. He is low man on the totem pole, gets bossed around and the others look like mini’s beside him! :lol:[/QUOTE]

Was this the last auction they had? If it was, he was a very nice gelding, but yea… not a lot of people bidding on him because he was HUGE!!

[Reagan]

Personally, I love big horses. BUT- they must be athletic. You get a big horse that has the athletic ability to be just as quick and scrappy as a 15.2hh horse and I’m in heaven. I had a 17.2hh behemoth who was 3/4 TB and 1/4 Belgian, but you couldn’t see the belgian at all. I swear that horse could bend in half, he could turn and stop on a dime and hop over 5’ like it wasn’t there. Too bad he hated the ring, his true calling was on the trail or in the hunt field.

The problem comes when you have the horses that are so big they can’t get out of their own way. There is too much of them and not enough athletic ability to control it all!

[Real_Rush]

[QUOTE=Tasker;5933275]
Not to single you out realrush - but I call this BS as I don’t believe this statement in any way shape or form. Sorry.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I was approaching it simply from the overall picture point of view, not ability/effectiveness as a rider. Someone once gave me a OTTB that was only 15.3, but he was a stocky, compact sucker, looked more like a QH, and he took up a lot of leg. But I still looked too big on him because I’m long waisted as well.