Will she be too short??

I am looking for a prospect barrel horse. I have found a very nice mare that has good bloodlines and conformation. The only problem with her is she is extremely short! She is 2 1/2 years old and only stands about 14 hands tall? Her dam is 15 hands and her sire is a little over that. I am 5'4" and weigh 140lbs. I know it would be no problem to just trail ride her but would we be able to be competitive in the barrel world? How much more could she grow? Should I buy her? Lol thanks!

The fastest and stoutest horse I ever had the pleasure of riding was a 13.2 or 13.3 hand mare. I am a little taller than you and weigh just a bit more and she was the fastest little horse I ever sat on. Not only that, but she was an excellent roping horse too. So I am going to say no, she definitely won't be too small providing that she has some natural speed and good solid conformation. Plus, she's just a baby yet. It is entirely possible that she will continue to build height until she's 5 or so.

Size doesnt always matter. I wouldnt go shorter than 14.2...but that's because I'm taller, not because I don't think a shorter horse can be competitive on some level. At 2 1/2 years old, she'll probably still grow more. In the end, it comes down to if she has the talent. If your not sure, have an experienced barrel trainer evaluate her for you. What are her bloodlines?

Well what breed is she?
I wouldn't ride her at that age in a show.

My mare is 18 and 14.2 hh, she is a paint. But she is my fastest horse and I own three horses. My mare before I owned her, she was in big barrel racing shows. So no she not to short, she will grow so more.

I have a 14.2 mare who, in her day blew 'em outta the water. No, she's not too short, as long as she has the drive.

Exactly! My daughter rides a horse named Dash of a Jet :) his name says it all in the way of his breeding. He doesn't have the drive to be a barrel horse. In his pedigree is one WP horse and that is just exactly what Sheldon's desire to be is. So while still in the arena it is not doing speed events

LOL. I know that feeling^^. I had a paint for a while that was Easy Jet bred, he had the confo and size to be a great performance horse, but thanks to having Zippo Pine Bar like 4 generations back, he was perfectly content to just kinda plod along.

Smooth riding booger though .

A neat trick for figuring out how much they will still grow is to take a string and measure from the ground up their leg to wear it attaches to the body. Double that measurment and you will get the final height of the horse to within an inch or so. It has worked everytime i've tried it, even on babies born pre-mature or as twins and on youngsters who where starved when they where babies.

Ill tell you what... We have alot of smaller horses around here who are barrel racers... Those 13 hand ponies beat the horses everytime! They will blow you out of the water.. It's INSANE how fast those ponies can go! I wouldn't worry about height.. esp since she's only two she still has some growing to do.

I agree, height isn't really the factor here, as much as her desire to want to do what it is you are wanting for her. My 14.3 hh QH that I had when I was growing up, was the fastest thing on four legs, I swear...He out ran alot of horses who were hands taller than he was! But he was also a really good pleasure horse...go figure!Hahaha