Height Guestimation

Im going out to do a string test on Rodeo later today. He will be 18months old this October. I measured him on 7/7/11, and he was just at 14hh. His mother is 15.3hh, and father is 16.0hh. People at the barn think he will get to at least 16.0hh, if not taller. What are the chances on that?

Will write the results of the string test when I come back from the barn later today....

It is very hard to predict height with any accuracy since there is a great variance in growth rates. The following growth chart is for the 'average' horse, and for a 1 1/2 year old 14hh (56 in) horse (94-96% of mature height), the 'average' mature height would be about 59 inches or 14.3hh.


Age (months) % of Mature Weight % of Mature Height
Birth 8-9 61-64
1 16-18 66-68
3 27-29 75-77
6 45-47 83-86
9 56-58 89-91
12 65-69 91-93
18 78-83 94-96
24 87-92 96-98
30 93-97 97-99
36 95-99 98-100
48 98-100 99-100

Agreed. I'd guesstimate 14.2 to 15hh

Thanks for the responses!!! I went out to the barn, and COMPLETELY forgot to measure him, I was so bummed out when I got back home....Ill have to go out and do it tomorrow

Curious to see what he strings. Thanks for sharing that chart PHM. Going by that my little guy may be a good sized dude.

Same here MH.....but I do appreciate PaintHorseMares for that chart...I was looking for something with some info all day, and couldnt seem to find anything....I really need to measure him too. I know he has grown a good bit since I last measured him. He will be 17months old Sept 11th.

But I will post the results from the string test up here when I do do it. And if I am lucky enough to find a height thing (sorry, Im drawing a blank to the technical term right now), then I will post what he measures as well!

I would be interested in how the chart compares to folks' experiences.
For many years people had told me that you should expect a foal to mature to within 1-2 inches of their parents, but in my experience measuring the foal every 3 months and looking at the chart has been more accurate, e.g. Our mare, Cinnamon, who is about 14.3hh has a full sister (that was a much taller foal) that is about 16.0hh...that's a fairly large difference for full siblings.
I've also noticed that the chart seems to be much more consistent in the height estimate than the weight. Cinnamon, who is off a line in which all the siblings were slow to physically mature matched the height in the chart very well, but probably won't fully fill out weight-wise until next year (8 years old). On the other hand, our mare Lady (the "tank", halter build, Impressive line), also matched the height in the chart well, but reached her final weight of around 1100 lbs when she was only 3 years old (she was a BIG baby and her half sister was the same).

Frustrated with my lack of memory the past couple of days....forgot the string test again!!!

But I did get some pictures that might help slightly...the ground was fairly level in these pics....just for reference, I am 5'5''....

I don't get how the chart works....I was wondering as well. My filly is 13 hh currently and she is a yr and 4 months or around there.

So I'm confused now. Looking at the chart, Aires should be at 96-98% of his adult height. He is currently just shy of 15.3hh at just over 24 months (he's 28 months). According to that chart, he shouldn't top more than 16.1-16.2hh (I'm horrible at math, so someone will have to help me out if I'm wrong)? However, when I string tested him the other day, he measured out at about 17.2-18hh (bugger kept trying to investigate what I was doing, so I did it three times and got three different measurements: 17 1/2", 17 3/4" and 18" lol).

So, which is correct? His sire was 15.1hh and his dam was 18hh.