Not sure this is the right place to post this but I couldn't find any forum on horse growth... My 3 year old Standardbred is looking a little bum high, short backed, short necked and all around immature in my eyes (see photos). I see yearlings with that exact look but not 3 year olds. I'm perfectly sure she's indeed 3 as she's registered so all her info is available to me. People keep telling me she will grow and then others claim most horses are done gaining height and length by the age of 3... What do you think, would love to hear your opinions! I know the pictures aren't the best but they're the best I currently have [emoji4]
She does look immature - if you know her parents and have any photos of them maybe compare these
Some horse breeds are late developers anyway, I don't know if her breed is one of those. I've had 3 year olds that looked really well grown at age 3 and still grew a lot - my IDSH looked like a pony when she was older than your horse and I had another IDSH that went from 15.2 at 3 years to 17.2 by the time he was 6!!!
While there's no pictures of her mother I can access, there's plenty of her father Lombo Pocket Watch and her grandfather Jet Laag. I was told her father is around 16 hands high from someone that used to work with him, which I was a bit surprised about as my mare is just 15.1hh! Then I guess if her mother was 15 hands or under then there goes the hope for her to end up 16 hands! [emoji28]
Yes, your filly is a bit immature looking, but at three I am not terribly surprised. My coming 3 yr old looks about 6 months behind most horses her age, but she was not fed perfectly as a yearling.
Most horses are most certainly not done at three. I find fillies tend to mature earlier than geldings. But I find horses really do gain height and fill out until 5-7. I have had one gelding grow until he was 9!!!
It's possible she't not quite done growing. My gelding shot up and got tall fast, but looked like he was built of spare parts until he was bout 7. He's still goofy looking, but not as bad ;-)
Another vote here for the "still has time to grow" option.
It all depends on the breed and her own genetics, but three is often nowhere near the end of growth development - that's like a 16 year old boy being worried he'll never get any bigger.
I used to work with a horse who was a home bred Thoroughbred x British Sports Horse, who was 16hh by 3. By 4, he was 16.2, and the ugliest duckling you've ever seen. Big old head, short neck, huge shoulder, and angles all over. He was backed at 4, then turned away again for six months at 5 due to an injury. He put on another 2 inches in his off time, came back into work, and by the time he was 6 everything had filled out, and he looked stunning.
Sadly enough, just going through all my photos, I realised I only have one photo of him before we lost him aged 7 - before the days where everyone had a smart phone! This is him with his turnout buddy while he was on invalid rest.
Some standardbreds keep that sort of look for their whole lives.
She might grow more she might not - its just a matter of waiting and seeing.
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