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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
 
| I went to look at this filly last spring and fell in love with her, anyhow she still had her this fall and I brought her home.
shes coming three, but for some reason I am inside my head thinking she is too small to amount to anything.. ugh why?
she wasn't fed up the best so I'm working on that right now. and she is hip high! but she feels like shes not even 14 hh at the wither.
she is such a sweetie, the kindest horse I've had in my pen in a while, and I love the way she moves around in the pen and travels. and at least we have alot of tiny pens to run in.
I'm thinking she will finish out around 14.2 hh. i'm hoping! she's off to the trainers this weekend to get started.
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 The One
Posts: 7997
  
Location: South Georgia | Personal preference, I suppose. I like my horses BIG...at least 15.3. But then you see people that like tiny horses and they do well. Fallon Taylor comes to mind. Just depends. I would personally pass, but others may not.
I am also 5'5" and weigh anywhere from 160-185 LOL Big horses make me feel secure and skinny.
Edited by horsegirl 2019-01-10 10:07 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 318
Location: Sapulpa, OK | It's the size of their heart that matters! My mare is all of 14 hands & she can run in the 1d with the best of them. Give her a chance & good luck! |
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 Ms Bling Bling Sleeze Kitty
Posts: 20904
Location: LouLouVille, OK | King&I - 2019-01-10 9:35 AM It's the size of their heart that matters! My mare is all of 14 hands & she can run in the 1d with the best of them. Give her a chance & good luck!
Some of the greats were not even 15 hands... Hawk and Stingray were both I believe 14.2 if Hawk was even that. I wouldn't worry about height much if they are built for the job that doesn't mean anything... Had a mare years ago that was 14.1 and built and she would go to her belly to pull a cow in... her heart was as big as her... |
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 Expert
Posts: 1511
Location: Illinois | I don't like small horses, but I'm a larger frame person and am just too heavy for one that small. I won't allow myself to be over the 20% weight limit, including my saddle. I think as long as you're not like 6ft tall, 220lbs you're fine. She's cutter sized now if she is 14h and she should level out with her hip still, she's just barely 3. I've always had them keep growing until 5/6. My now 5 year old was 2 inches downhill for an entire year (from 3.4-4.5 years old) and now she's just under 1" downhill at 5. You could try doing the string test on your filly to see what it says, I've always had it be within an inch of what they ended up. Some are slow growers anyway. I've known one to go from 13.2 at 3 years old and ended up 16.1 by the time he was 6. His 5 year old year he was 15.2. All his siblings grow similarly, the one I had was 13.3 when he was 2, I don't have him anymore so idk what he is now at 4 years old. But I think you'll be fine with your filly |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | It really comes down to their stride. I had a 14.2 hand mare that while she was an awesome little turning machine the run home took forever!! I have a niece that has a mare that might make 14.1 with long feet and standing on a rock. and that mare can clock. Her feet just reach out and cover some ground.
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  Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | It depends on how heavy and how good of a rider she will have. Little horses have less mass to handle a bad or heavy rider. I know there are many, many smallish horses that are REALLY good horses. But most of the time the rider is small. HOWEVER Ryan Lovendal (sp?) did fabulous with Blazin Jetolena and he's an average size man and the horse wasn't real big. So heart and the rider staying balanced comes into it as well. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| My main mount is 14.1hh. I’m 5’9 and around 160lbs. This year he was consistently 2d with some 1d runs and has placed at rodeos before. He’s a lot of fun to run.
I’m really working on my fitness this winter so I can stay out of his way as much as possible and be able to help him not hinder him. |
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Veteran
Posts: 136
| The mare I run is only 13.2hh and built! She can keep up with those big horses. I am only 5'4" and 130 .lbs so I look pretty much normal on her. I do prefer a 15hh horse though. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 357
| Don’t judge the horse’s future on its size when you haven’t even given her a chance. I really dislike reading ads that say the horse won’t make a barrel horse he/she didn’t get big enough.
I’m almost 6ft and prefer a small thick horse ( nothing too small for me).I have a serious weakness for a 14-15 hand horse.
I say give her a shot she may surprise you!! |
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 Expert
Posts: 3104
Location: Arkansas | If she is only 3 and wasn't fed well when she was younger, give her time. She will still grow for a while. |
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| This thread has made my heart so happy. We bought two young mares this summer, sight unseen. Both have golden old foundation cutting horse pedigrees. Lines I've been searching for since I was a teenager. We were told they were 14-14.2, got them home, one is maybe 13.2 and the other 14 on tip toes. Gorgeous, well built, athletic mares, but they came from a semi-neglect type situation. I don't think that they have had a grocery in their life. We are starting them on alfalfa this week and bringing them on slowly as far as starting under saddle goes. I love a shorty, but these girls are small even for me. Hearing shorty success stories has really brightened my day! Thaks OP and BHW!  |
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24952
Location: WYOMING | IDK but that title sure made girl look!!!
I guess its not the size that matters... My 1D 14.2-3h mare has sure out run a ton of taller horses. :)
Edited by geronabean 2019-01-10 2:41 PM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| Agree with everyone else on here! I believe it's all personal preference, and the individual horse. I am 4'10" and 100lb...but I prefer my horses over 16 hands. I had a very small mare...She was MAYBE 14h with shoes on...and she was a monster in the barrel pen. But I just didn't like sitting on a horse that small. I would rather enjoy my ride on a bigger horse =] I think it all comes down to what you're comfortable with! I don't think that's too small, and she should still have more growing to do <3 |
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 Veteran
Posts: 255
Location: Where Tall Corn Grows | I bought a 4 year old Frenchmans Guy gelding and honestly he looked like a pony. He was in need of groceries for sure. When I got him home I really wondered why I bought him, but his papers were to die for. He is 9 years old now and is 15.3 and a powerhouse of a horse.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
| Thank you for all these encouraging words!
When I went to look at her in the spring I thought she just turned two she will fill out and grow, then I brought her home and next to my coming two year old lol they are the same height and bone structure wise (but my coming two year old is a thick sucker)
but shes really filling out now, shes on free choice second cut alfalfa and gets her hemp/pellets every night.
she has the sweetest personality and her hocks are set nice a low like I like them.
I was able to see her dam and shes stocky, around 15hh and about as wide as she is tall.
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Veteran
Posts: 141
| I bet there are more rodeo winners in the 14s than there are in the 16s...
This "fact" is based off nothing. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Small horses....like Baby Flo, Sting Ray, Hot Shot, Hawk, Talent’s Dark Angel, and even Bozo and Louie? You mean like those kinds of horses?
It seems to me, in the grand scheme of things, taller horses are a little overrated.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| Bear took the words right off my keyboard! I have to add Red Mans Bay, GK Clear Money, and Tejaretta to that list. If you physically fit the mares size, I wouldn't back off a second. I can think of soooooooooooo many good small horses that would outrun you any day of the week. I sold one because he would drag my foot in the dirt turning - but paired with a smaller friend of mine - he won enough to pay off their house. Besides - do you know what a grandparent will pay for a good small horse for a kid??? I've seen some stupid pony prices.
Edited by KindaClassey 2019-01-11 7:55 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 136
| I've had more issues keeping my 16+ hh barrel horse sound than my 13.2hh mare I run. I prefer small and compact over tall and lanky. |
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