FWIW, this is my first flight hunt horse. I’m 5’11, all leg, he is 15.3 but wide. He had a broken tail as a youngster which healed crooked, a slight roach back, was straight and upright through the limbs and pasterns, but is all heart which superseded all of his negative traits. He always exceeded my expectations.
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The two of you make a beautiful picture. Thanks for sharing!
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The whole “bigger is better” thing is annoying, but easy to understand if you consider the market. Resale value is a major consideration for most people, as I believe it should be.
- Larger horses generally WILL have a larger stride- like it or not, getting the strides is a huge factor in jumping. Not just in the hunters, as has been stated up thread. A friend of mine owned a really lovely horse she got from Bruce Davidson who had been a very successful event horse until his stride caught up to him over 3’6 jumps and above. She did him in the juniors and then got tired of racing down the lines and bumped down to the 3’. This was an incredibly athletic horse.
- Bigger horses are going to fit a larger variety of riders.
- Bigger horses are more, ahem, flattering for many riders.
- Bigger horses make some riders feel more secure.
- For all of the above reasons, bigger horses have a better resale value.
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Oh, absolutely agreed its ridiculous. Not to mention 17.1h doesn’t mean all that much if the horse is a slab-sided toothpick that takes up 0 leg.
I also think some of it is worsened by people just being bad at guessing heights in general. My horse is 16.2. I have put a stick on him multiple times at the highest point of his withers and he sticks 16.2h every time. Yet I get comments every where about how big he is - at clinics, at shows - constantly. If I say his actual height, people genuinely do not believe me. Now part of that is me being 5’1’’ and making him look bigger, but I always laugh because everyone tells me how huge he is, and yet he doesn’t stick tall enough for most of the ISOs looking for a large horse.
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I always got that with my mare too. She wasn’t even 16 hands, but was such a tank - and I’m so tiny - that people thought she was huge from pics until you saw her next to other horses. She was a wee little thing.
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Agreed. My horse came out of a reputable sales barn and was quoted as being 17.2 (17.2 1/2 per the vet). He’s 18h on a short day! Of course, some of that may have been the sales barn not wanting to scare people off by him being TOO big…
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I get that with my fellow, too. He sticks at 15.2 1/2. People routinely think he’s upwards of 16 hands when I’m on him. He has a lot of presence, and good bone. The funny thing is that he was advertised as 16 hands as well- and a good thing too because he wouldn’t have shown up in my Dreamhorse query if he hadn’t been. This wasn’t the seller being disreputable. The farm didn’t own a stick, and the barn manager established his height by literally putting her hands against him. 
I was looking for a minimum height of 16 hands because I’m 5’7" with very long legs for my height. My 5’9" sister rode my horse as well. We don’t look big on him.
@supershorty628 , like your girl, mine really only looks his size in comparison. You’ll appreciate that the only times we ever felt less vertically gifted were in the line-up next to a bunch of people on 17.2 moose, or the very memorable time we were asked to show an extended trot in the flat phase and got stuck behind LV- Lindsay Smith’s wonderful horse of Road to the Maclay fame. The comparison did not show my horse’s more jumpery way of going to advantage. 
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My guy just looks very tall with or without me, but it’s all leg. He’s 5 and still filling out, and just has that leggy/gangly look still. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up hitting just shy of 17h once he finishes growing, but it still makes me laugh when people talk about how huge he is/how he’s too big for me - because I’ve looked far more ridiculous on 15h draft crosses with wide barrels.
Not to derail, but agreed when it comes to fitting the rider, shape/width can be so much more relevant than height. A 15.3 wide TB/draft cross may be a far better fit for a long-legged rider than a 17.2h very narrow WB (and in fact was for my tall friend who has leased both of those types).
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My jumper (pictured below) is just barely over 16hh but no one believes me until they stand next to him because he’s such a tank. He takes up more leg than my older horse, who is 16.3hh. I’m just under 5’5" but have disproportionately long legs and I feel small on the jumper.
ETA: Both of my horses have big strides, but my jumper’s stride is MASSIVE, even though he is really pretty short.
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In the end you have to do what feels right to you and if he was really far away I can see how that would factor in your overall decision. Horse shopping is challenging.
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That is unfortunate. Did you buy from that particular seller that was mentioned?
I have known people who have bought a horse they knew of previously and ended up with something completely unexpected when they got him home! Sometimes you never know.
Yes, “getting the strides” is important in all forms of jumping.
But the fact that “generally” (i.e. on average) a taller horse has a longer stride, say NOTHING about an individual horse. There are plenty of tall horses with short strides, and plenty of short horses with long strides.
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OP, I see that you passed. The constant scuffing of the toes and trip in the down transition is a big red flag for me. It might be something as simple as poor saddle fit,’or the horse may be truly unsound, but I wouldn’t want to spend my money trying to find out.
I don’t find the height to be an issue at all. My background is in eventing, but I teach a lot of students who ride hunters and they are on horses ranging from large ponies to total behemoths. I vastly prefer the smaller ones because overwhelmingly, they learn to ride better- they ride forward to a distance, they get a good canter balance, and the horse learns to be forward thinking (even in a quiet hunter round, the horse should be covering ground!). The big ones with naturally large strides (plenty of the big ones don’t) tend to encourage riders to pull, which leads to a forehand-heavy canter, and the quality of the ride decreases. It also makes a big difference if you don’t hit the distance perfectly- the more forehandy the canter, the less adjustable, and the uglier the miss. A good balanced canter can stand a less than perfect distance. It’s much easier for most people to push for a longer vs hold for a shorter stride, especially while maintaining a hunter-style frame.
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Yes it was the same seller. Lots and lots of people have had bad experiences.
I agree whole heartedly that a horse can be too big for a rider. The horse I leased and showed very successfully was a slab sided 16 hands. He was Dutch WB/TB cross with a motor. A completely whoa ride. He retired.
When I bought the horse I have now he was still growing turning six and not very full bodied yet. He was probably about 16.1 and change. Fast forward a couple years and he has topped out at 16.3 and 1400 pounds. I am 5 foot nothing lol. It’s a struggle to get my leg on him and he is absolutely a kick ride so he NEEDS leg. Which I sadly lack. We make it work but often I long for the days of the smaller less round barreled horse with its own motor. Both easily made the strides but I found the smaller horse more my jam. If that makes sense.
Smaller slabbier sided first horse
Then my bigger boy.
I think the takeaway is that it’s many things. The style of how the horse goes. A push ride vs a pull ride. The substance of the horse’s body. And the build of the rider especially their length of lower leg.
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Meanwhile, my 18h gentleman is very leggy. I’m 5’6"ish with a relatively long leg and I think I fit him quite nicely- most people would have no idea he’s a giant based on a riding pic of us.
Stand next to him in person though and there’s no mistaking his size!
And to stay on topic, even though he’s lazy it’s quite easy to get the strides
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My offer to take him off your hands is still good! 
Ha! You’ll be my first call when this old lady body can’t do it anymore. You’d love him. He’s a golden retriever in a horse suit.
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You look perfectly paired on him. I can’t believe he’s 18 hands! Then I saw the next picture. And yup. He’s a Big Boy! Lovely.
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This is what I mean when I refer to a moose. He’s handsome! But I have to ask… what on earth size blanket does he wear?
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