Wild Guesses - Final height for Yearling

[DiamondJubilee]

I bred an interesting cross for myself, a WB x with pony blood to end up as a small horse (hunters to start but to end up jumpers fingers crossed) and I was aiming for around the 15h mark. I know there are so many variables since I’m adding some usual sizes and I knew going into this he could end up a large pony, small horse (my hopes) or even as a larger horse (16h+ - but I doubted that at the time).

I will attach his papers so you can see his bloodlines and a couple of pictures of him (he is the far left one and the pony closest to him is 14.2h and the other is 15h), but he is by Sir Wanabi (17h) and out of a family bred Welsh x BRP (13.3h). The mares dam was only 12.2h Sec B welsh, so I really thought I was going to have a large pony or small horse, and the mare has had 2 other foals, one ended up a medium and the other was a large (she was bred to a small pony - had the medium, then bred to a large pony and had a large, so no crazy size there). The mare’s sire is 14.2h BRP, but he has some Arab in his background.

My gelding just turned 1 a couple of weeks ago and measures 14.1h and a tad bum high (I measured him about a month ago and I took the picture yesterday but he looks as tall if not taller than the 14.2h pony beside him) I’m thinking he will be finishing a tad taller than the 15h I was thinking, but who knows really. Any guestimates here? I should update in a few years to see who’s closest for fun ha ha!
Sorry for the crappy pictures, but I’m almost always alone with him and he’s so in your face in the paddock, I can never get a good shot of him. I took this from afar as he was standing perfectly to show his size.

I have not string tested him yet. I’ve only done that once to another pony so I’m not too sure how accurate I would be, and honestly, his final height isn’t an issue with me as I don’t plan on selling him and he’s tall enough for me now (I’m 5’2" with a short leg). I’m just curious on what others think

[SimonSays]

No good guesstimates here! Just wanted to say wow what a lovely fella!

[Montanas_Girl]

On average, regardless of breed, horses (and ponies) are roughly 90-94% of their adult height at 12 months of age. I’d say yours will most likely finish up in the 15-15.2 hand range.

[JB]

Generally, for horses, you add 2h to the 12 month height, and 1h to the 24 month height.

Having pony blood might reduce that a bit AND you don’t know if he’s got “pony growing genes” which may mean he’s more done than if he were full horse. My guess is somewhere in the 15.2-16h range.

[4horses]

Sounds like he is the same size as my colt (both sire and dam were 14.2). He was 14.1 at a year.

This is the last picture I took of him next to his dam. They are kept separately but I wanted a size comparison. Your colt looks even more leggy. I’m going to say 16 hands, possibly over.

My colt, I’m guessing between 15.1 to 16 hands. Hoping he doesn’t go over that! His growth has slowed down thankfully.

[4horses]

This is February just to show you how much he has grown.

[DiamondJubilee]

@SimonSays - thank you! I think he’s pretty cute and so glad how he has turned out so far! My first breeding (and last ha ha!) and I knew I could have kinda got anything out of this cross breeding

@4horses- what a cutie! And he really has grown the past few months! Was he gelded between then or just went for a crazy growth spurt? I did geld my guy at 10 months as he was becoming quite full of himself and I didn’t need my other guys hurt. I did notice he has grown a bit since then of course. Does your guy have some size in his background? One of my boys had a dam of 14h, sire 14.2h and he’s 15h now. He took forever to grow though, and finished when he was 8.

I was thinking he would finish between 15.2-16h myself, but was curious on what others thought. The mare’s owner (as I leased her) thought he would be over 16h when he was born since he was so leggy. They had bred TB in the past and thought he was on par with her 16h TB.

But of course, who knows. I have had ponies that literally stopped growing as 2 year olds, and some that grew until they were 8 (all the same bloodlines). Some full brothers/sisters that ended up a small and the other larges. Genetics!

It would be neat if he did finish around 16h, but really only if I happened to sell him (not in my plans, but you never know), just for resale value. But whatever he ends up, I’m good with that

[ASBJumper]

The pony blood is definitely the wildcard, but just for reference - the one colt i’ve bred (all my other homebreds have been fillies) was just over 14.1hh as a yearling and finished just under 17hh. He was leggy, like yours.
Anything could happen, but my prediction is your guy will finish at LEAST 16hh, possibly taller. Hopefully you will update this thread next year when he’s 2.

[DiamondJubilee]

Hopefully he won’t be much taller than 16h or I’ll have to build him a new stall! I currently have pony stalls in my barn (8.5 x 11).

I will update every year on his BD to check in!

[TatteredDaydreamer]

This is great to know! If my 2 year old grows another hand I will be very happy!

[DiamondJubilee]

I finally had someone at home to take some video of my now almost 14 month old gelding. He is just shy of 14.2h now. I’m very happy how he is maturing, he is my very first breeding (and my last!!) but do have the vet out tomorrow to look at his front hoof as its going a little clubby. I will see what they say. Farrier is coming out every 3-4 weeks to trim but would like the vet to look and xray to make sure he can see that he is doing a good job (he’s happy on how its been going so far).

I want to take him to his first line show later this month in an Open Horse class, just to get him off property and to see the sights of the world!

[JB]

@DiamondJubilee

have the vet out tomorrow to look at his front hoof as its going a little clubby.

this is right about the time when genetic upright and clubby feet start showing up.

Xrays will be good.

I would also:

• have your farrier show you how to swipe heels on the upright foot, toe on the other one, just a couple of swipes every 3-4 days or so, and shorten the trim cycle for now to 2-3 weeks
• get a massage therapist out. The upright foot may be the foot he keeps back while grazing, the other one forward. The forward shoulder will start getting tight, and the other leg’s triceps will start getting tight, and that can compound the stance and growth issues. Then, you do some work daily, or every 2-3 days, to keep muscles happy

He’s lovely!

[SpicyPRE]

He is quite the looker!!