A really cute hunter has caught my eye, but he’s 17.2.
Who here has a big one and do you regret it at all?
TIA
My mare is in the 17-17.1 range. No regrets, she’s the size I was looking for! Every now and then when I’m climbing on and off her I think “why do I have to like the tall ones” but otherwise I don’t even think about it. Her stride is huge but adjustable so we have no trouble fitting in the step down the lines, and she can also easily get out in the correct number even if I chip coming in, so it is nice to have that option!
17.2 isn’t really that unusual for the sport horse market over the last decade or two. Anecdotally there may be a recent-ish swing back toward folks wanting something smaller. But there’s a reason a lot of hunter riders want something taller - as a group, they make it look easy (aka slow and chill) to get around the course. As a nervous amateur, I love it when the jumps look small from up top. As long as the stride is adjustable, there are few situations that can’t be smoothed over. (All of the above assuming that the 17.2 horse has the 14’ stride to match.)
There have been some recent-ish threads about potential soundness issues related to the big guys. Also the potential annoyances of having to buy oversized everything. The 17.2 hand horse is rarely going to be comfy in a 10x10 tent stall, for example. But in general, it’s really a personal preference thing along with the usual caveats about each horse being an individual.
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I have an 18.2 hand fellow. He is great. His stride is quite adjustable, so rarely worry about taking out a stride unless the lines are set really short. He can also add with the best of them too. 
Biggest issue I would say is getting him to take the lower fences seriously as he can essentially just canter right over them with minimal effort. My previous horse was 17.2, so used to the big guys.
As Redlei44 mentioned the larger size does bring other issues. They can need more bodywork to keep them feeling good depending on how well they are put together. If you are planning to stable at shows for weeks on end they would do better with a bigger stall. We did one away show last year where the stalls were smaller and they were sold out. It would have been nice to have him double stalled in that situation, but that really adds to show costs. At 17.2 they fit in most trailers, at 18.2 I need to check that the trailer is oversized.
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OP, one of the really relevant factors to consider is the horse’s build. A narrow heart girth and uphill build will make a large horse comfortable and easy to ride. I just had this experience with a green one today and I’m a 5’1" old lady who had been riding her 15.1" Ay-rab dressage nugget for the last while. The shape and balance of the 17.1 green hunter made him feel good to ride. But I also believe in choosing the smallest, lightest horse you can for the job you need done. I think the dinky ones stay sounder longer, all things being equal.
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OP, one of the really relevant factors to consider is the horse’s build. A narrow heart girth and uphill build will make a large horse comfortable and easy to ride. I just had this experience with a green one today and I’m a 5’1" old lady who had been riding her 15.1" Ay-rab dressage nugget for the last while. The shape and balance of the 17.1 green hunter made him feel good to ride. But I also believe in choosing the smallest, lightest horse you can for the job you need done. I think the dinky ones stay sounder longer, all things being equal.
I think this is a matter of personal preference and also depends on how the horse is suited to the job. I’ve seen anecdotes of large horse owners on here who said their horse was so big that their stride was so naturally big they actually had a hard time compressing it to fit the step in (as in the horse naturally would go around on a leave out step or an almost leave out) and they had to spend a TON of time doing collection work. Also the big horses will almost never PPE clean, you will inevitably find something somewhere, it’s going to come down to what’s acceptable for you and the job you’d like the horse to do. Things like arthritis in the hocks at a young age are super common among other things I’ve heard about (we have a 4’ jumper who is 17h and he has boulders in his hocks and has since he was fairly young, we inject him regularly and he keeps on truckin’).
We’ve got a 17+ h hunter in the barn who is for an older amateur and he is a DELIGHT. Could give a crap what the distance is and gets the step super easily so she doesn’t have to feel like she’s running, which scares her. If the horse is capable of the job you want and vets to your satisfaction, go for it. There is definitely a market for them for very tall people also. We just imported one who is 17.2+ for a woman who 5’11. He’s a sweetie but giant and bumps himself into stuff constantly, he constantly has some sort of boo-boo somewhere.
I personally prefer them small but I’m 5’2. Send me all the honies. Again, matter of preference.
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I ride a friend’s retired hunter that’s 17.2 or 3 and I’m 5’4". He’s pretty narrow bodied (refined TB type), and somehow our body ratios work and we fit each other pretty well. He can stretch out to a pretty long stride, but honestly that’s not a quality canter anyway and his balanced canter fits right into HunterLand. Actually I have to remind myself that just because we’re covering lots of ground doesn’t mean we’re too fast, and that I probably need to add impulsion instead of trying to slow him down. Mounting/dismounting can be tough for me though- I feel like I’m climbing a mountain :lol: And he does need some extra joint maintenance, but he’s older and some previous owners drilled him pretty hard.
I’m 5’4" and ride one that is 17-17.1. I don’t look too small on him. He has long legs and is refined looking even though he has a long neck. Their proportions versus the rider’s body proportions make a huge difference in whether or not you look appropriate.
Totally agree! I’m also short (5’2") and have always ridden smaller hunters, but my newest mare kept on growing and is now right around 17h. She’s a little slab sided and nice and uphill though, and actually feels smaller to me than my other horse who is 15.3!
And yes, it’s a nice feeling knowing the big guys can walk the lines, and can totally handle a big ol’ chip :lol:
I proved that on Sunday :lol: And it even applies to the two-stride line :winkgrin: (my mare got a big thank you after that one lol!)
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My 17.2 h guy did the a/os and when I found the jumps we won. He has beautiful confirmation and is not a clunky type. I think that is the key. Not clunky
This! Aside from a shorter neck, I looked fine on my 14.3/15hh with shoes draft cross as I did on my 16hh TB who was slab sided. I’m 5’11 for reference. My current mount is perfect. 16.2 TB with a lot of bone. Not so big that it takes a lot to collect her but big enough that she has a natural easy 12’ step.
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Thanks for all of the replies… very helpful! going to see him soon!
Good luck! As a side note, for some reason I’ve had soundness issues with all my big tall boys, but none of my big tall girls. Hmm.
When I was shopping for my fancy hunter, I had a list of boxes I wanted to check, including size. It is so hard to find one that checks all the boxes! I wound up compromising on my size limit and bought a 17.1 Oldenburg gelding. I’m 5’1” and slightly built. As it turns out, I adore him, he is super comfortable to ride, and I really don’t feel too small on him. He’s fairly narrow, and I have long legs for a short person. I‘m very happy that I didn’t let his size deter me from trying him.
If you go to WEF and watch the Ammy hunter ring, all the horses are giant. 17h may actually look small there :lol:
Mine is 17.1. It’s nice to easily make the step.
I don’t think this is true. I’m 6’ tall, so everything I’ve bought has been 17h+. All of them had clean PPEs. In the last 4 years, I’ve vetted 7 and 5 have passed a really stringent California vet check with no compromises. That’s a pretty decent hit rate. All their hocks have been fine.
I also think people underestimate how much the fitness of the horse matters to soundness. I had an 18h horse that stayed super sound doing the 1.10-1.20s for a few years. The key was not over-showing him, walking him a lot at shows, and making sure his work at home looked like his work at the shows. I sold him after a few years, he easily passed his vet check.
I think it’s hard on the horses when they aren’t super fit and then jump 4 days straight and stand in a small stall the rest of the time. I have found it easier to keep a horse with a shorter back more muscled and fit but that can be true of a shorter horse too!
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Potentially differing opinion… Nothing against the big horses (17h plus) but if you’re going out to be the winner in the A shows at the 3’ alot of these big guys are just “meh” over the jumps as the fences are small to horses this size. The benefits- you can canter everywhere slowly and have a nice, even rhythm… but you won’t necessarily be brilliant until the jumps get bigger. Again, this may not matter at the local circuit or if you are going to be jumping bigger sticks… ultimately, get a horse you like to ride that you feel comfortable and happy on.
To the earlier comments about some tall horses being narrow in build and some small horses being wider around the barrel… it is true. I went shopping for 16.1, ended up with 15.3 and couldn’t be happier.[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“Fox.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:10709920}[/ATTACH]
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