On Sunday I sticked Naia again.
When I got Naia in February of 2020 (age 4), she measured around 14.3hh. I say about because she was wiggly enough that it was really hard to get a solid measurement
 2020.06.05 - On this day I was freaking out about how butt-high she looked but this is when I sticked her and she was a little butt high but both measurements rounded to 15.0hh | ||||||
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Between then and now she has measured higher at the hip a few times (which I checked periodically but didn't document well because I was pretending it wasn't happening). However on Sunday (age 5) she measured just a hair under 15.1hh at the withers, and 15.0hh + 1/2 inch at the hip. It might not last but for right now I own an uphill horse!
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| 2021.05.23 - Okay, not a good confo pic but she was done standing after I sticked her so this was the best I got |
To provide some context, a major reason I bought Naia is because I really liked her conformation and I thought that because she looked like a mature 4 year old, what I saw at time of purchase is what I was going to get. (I definitely don't believe conformation is everything, but since my budget was low, a lot of horses I saw had fairly serious conformational faults, and I was looking for a dressage prospect, Naia's conformation stood out to me in a good way). Then after purchase I found some photos showing that her sire is pretty downhill and so when her hip started growing while her withers stayed down, I was a little worried. I still honestly don't know what her final height or conformation is going to be, she may pop a withers yet, or she may not. Either way I think she is a pretty well built horse and between that and her mind, she has the ability to work well in multiple disciplines, but I'm still crossing my fingers that she stays uphill!
i know basically next to nothing about conformation haha but i think she looks lovely! nice that she's evening out as she grows too!
ReplyDeleteShe looks great! Having just bought a foal, I'm definitely going to spend the next six years worrying what his final adult shape will look like, lol. His uncle Connor didn't stop growing up or out until his sixth year, which is pretty normal for Cobs.
ReplyDeleteI don't know near enough about foal conformation to be comfortable buying one. Honestly that is one of the biggest reasons I bought a 4yro. I see people posting about certain foals and how much potential they have and I try and see what they are seeing but can't yet, something to work on!
DeleteShe's beautiful! I'm a little envious sitting over here with my extremely immature looking 5 year old :)
ReplyDeleteHard to believe her and Sophie are the same age! That is why I was surprised that Naia was still growing in height because ever since I got her she just looks like a mature full-bodied mare, not gangly in the slightest! At least not quite anymore as fat as she was for a while lol
DeleteI think you've got a pretty good chance of keeping your uphill horse! The ones I know mostly stop with the growthiness around five or five and a half. My mare is due in December and I so look forward to having a cute foal running around, but I'd happily skip forward over the period between 6 months and 5 years, thanks.
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