Posted 2011-03-23 3:04 PM (#5576148) Subject: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 370
I am looking at buying a gelding that will be turning 4 in April. Right now he is just at 15 hands. Do you think that he will get any taller? And will he fill out anymore? I have heard that the more trotting up hill the more they will fill out. Is that true? What are your guys' experience with 4 year olds and growing?? Thanks!
Posted 2011-03-23 3:08 PM (#5576154 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Dr. Ebay
Posts: 8300 Location: SE KS
Depends on the bloodlines/horse. My mare grew up and filled out until she was 6. She was later to mature. Bought her as a 15 h gangly 3 year old and by the time she was 6 she was a 15.3 h stout built mare. :)
Posted 2011-03-23 3:20 PM (#5576185 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Expert
Posts: 1557 Location: BC Canada
I bought my mare a few days before her 3rd birthday. She looks the same today (she will be 6 on the 28th of March) as the day I bought her. Not a hair taller either. I was honestly hoping for another few inches, I got nada!
She is 15.1hh, her full sister is almost 17hh though. Go figure.
Posted 2011-03-23 3:28 PM (#5576203 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Keep those crap slapping tails away!
Posts: 8539 Location: Around here somewhere...
Depends. I know some lines that are slow to mature- they keep growing up until 6, and filling out until 8. Others are done growing quick... It just depends.
We did get a 5 y/o a few years ago who was SO SKINNY and narrow that we called him the "paper horse" He'd been severly underfed from the time he was a weanling, and after we got him, he started filling out like crazy! He's 8 now and looks like a totally different horse!
Posted 2011-03-23 3:35 PM (#5576217 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Husband Spoiler
Posts: 2990 Location: North Dakota
Depends on the horse. I have had quite a few that have continued growing well into their 6 yr old year or even older. My rodeo gelding all of a sudden got dang near a foot wider around 8yrs old! lol My 5yr old this year is tall and lanky but every other day he looks different. One day he looks like he is finally starting to fill out and look like a horse and the next he looks like a tall string bean again. Once he quits growing he will start to finally fill out. I am thinking he is going to look like a totally different horse this summer.
Posted 2011-03-23 3:39 PM (#5576228 - in reply to #5576210) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Nut Case Expert
Posts: 7980 Location: Tulsa, Ok
I agree - it depends on the lines.
My Zevi was only 14.3 when my husband brought him home from the track as a late 3 yr old. By spring of his 5 yr old year he was 15.3. He really did not even begin to bulk up till he was 6 and continued to get thicker till he was 8.
He ended up both decently tall and very thick/muscled, which I would never have predicted when I first saw him.
Posted 2011-03-23 4:56 PM (#5576377 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Ima Par Te Girl
Posts: 6520
My mare has grown about 2in from her 2-4 year old years. The winter of her 4 year old year is when she really matured. It was amazing the difference from before winter to after. She still has a little more maturing to do. I'm thinking she will finish around 6. (she's 5 now)
Posted 2011-03-23 4:58 PM (#5576382 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
The Color Specialist
Posts: 6634 Location: Washington. (The DRY side.)
As most others have already said, it depends on the lines. Mine generally don't grow more than at inch or so after the end of their 2yo year. (Which is a GOOD thing as when they are 15.3 at 24 months, I would hate for them to grow height wise until they are 6.!)
Posted 2011-03-23 5:01 PM (#5576392 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Can You Hear Me Now?
Location: When you hit the middle of nowhere .. Keep driving
My gelding grew another 2.5 inches in his four year old year (15 - 15.2 ish). It was between 5 and 6 that he filled out, he looked TB at 4. I have a 4 year old right now that is 16.1 and I am HOPING she doesn't grow anymore... she needs to start filling out.
Posted 2011-03-23 5:07 PM (#5576399 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
like everyone else said it depends on bloodlines i know alot of halter/show bred horses mature early and some cow bred horses mature late my col freckels mare and freckles playboy mare both matured very late around 8 she was maybe 14 hands when we got them and now over 16 hands do you know the bloodlines that may give us a better clue?
Posted 2011-03-23 5:13 PM (#5576409 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Been Blessed
Posts: 7147 Location: Living in my Promised Land
My colt grew 1.5 inches this winter. He will be 4 on June 21. He is now starting to fill out, so I don't think that he will get much taller. My good mare grew until she was 5 and didn't finish filling out until she was 8.
Posted 2011-03-23 5:19 PM (#5576416 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Chasin my Dream
Posts: 12493 Location: Alberta
Our coming 5 year old, stretched up and up from 3 to 4....now I am hoping he goes horizontal...he is foundation blood with some run, but his daddy is a BIG boy!
Posted 2011-03-23 5:20 PM (#5576417 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Expert
Posts: 1475
My FG is 3 coming 4 in the summer and just in the short time i've owned him he's grown from around 15.1 to 16.1hh...I heard the FG's grow up until 5 and then grow out until 7. Not sure if that's true, or what other lines are like. I sure hope mine doesn't get any taller
Posted 2011-03-23 5:28 PM (#5576435 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Accident Prone
Posts: 16430 Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR
I've had 4 horses grow 2 inches or more after their 4th birthday. A couple of those were underfed when I got them, the other 2 were well fed from day 1.
Posted 2011-03-23 6:04 PM (#5576487 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
Elite Veteran
Posts: 602 Location: My Own Little World, They Like Me There...
The 'general' rule is that they can grow taller till they are 5 and fill out up until they are 7... That being said, I have a late maturing TB mare (she was four when she won her first race) that I bought in August of her five year old year... She was 15.2 at the time and thick as a brick house. Recently she has grown more lean and long and is about 16-16.1... I think she still may grow a little more too... So I put no stock in the rules.
Posted 2011-03-23 8:46 PM (#5576754 - in reply to #5576148) Subject: RE: How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
boon
Posts: 2
I agree...The norm is that they reach full height by 4-5 years of age but some bloodlines are "late bloomers"... Maybe check out the parents bloodlines/breeders?
I gotta say, for 90% of my young horses, they top out at 4 and fill out from there. You are in control of their future muscle development and "filling out" but the height is God's ;)
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How much more does a horse grow its 4 year old year??
