Size and the TB

[Bast]

You are right, if they have attitude they don't know how small they are, they just know how big their attitude is.

I am not one to care what other people say or think, but I dread any mumbles about how small they are.

I think there are advantages for horses on the small side-they are putting less weight on their legs. If they are put together well, and are agile, they are nimble enough to change course and make the most of an opportunity.

I love Zenyatta, but a Zenyatta type without that speed would be much less than wonderful.

[vineyridge]

What makes Zenyatta so special is that a) she was fast; b) she was huge; c) she raced until six with her size and speed and stayed sound; d) she's Northern Dancer free. She has a magnificent pedigree for pure athleticism and not so obviously for speed.

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.iceep.org/pdf/iceep1/_1201141102_001.pdf

[karenkarenn]

oleos93
I have a 15.1 hand filly that is racing now. She doesn't know that she is small, she's got a heart as big as this world.
No I wouldn't stop her training because of her size.
She is free of Northern Dancer but its the sires sire, that is making smaller runners and he is free of Northern Dancer. The Sires Half brother, Officer, makes smaller TBs and so will Sierra Sunset.
Don't worry about height.

[zinn21]

For whatever reason, perhaps coincidental, I have been around a lot of small fillies with big hearts and tons of try but lacking the physical talent to be competitive.

[karenkarenn]

It's true

[karenkarenn]

But then again.. look at GOLDIKOVA. I think I got her name right..
She was what 15.1 and look at her go, Man!

[Georgerz]

Has there ever been a 18 hands or bigger race winner, ever?

[karenkarenn]

You know where is Rock Hard Ten or Zenyatta height?
But they need time to grow, I guess either way they all can be winners.

[pfrsue]

Has there ever been a 18 hands or bigger race winner, ever?

http://www.pedigreequery.com/le+grand+cheval
http://www.christopherewing.org/Horses.htm

10 Starts: 1 - 1 - 1, $6,315

"Entered in the Guinness World Book of Records as the Worlds "TALLEST" Thoroughbred horse...19.2 hands."

[Venusian]

Has there ever been a 18 hands or bigger race winner, ever?

Yes, the 1992 Grand National winner, Party Politics, stood 18 hands.

[ElPrado]

And he was older than 3.
Now, the maniacs buying offspring of Unbridled's Song are trying to race 17.2 hand 2 year olds, and wondering why they have problems growing into adult size.
Nothing against the stallion, but his get has no business in a 2 year old sale. If it will mature at more than 17 hands it has to be allowed to grow into the height. The get rich quick mentality is far more to blame than the stallion.

[Barcaldine]

The great racemare and producer SELENE stood only 15 hands; her sons HYPERION and PHARAMOND were only a few inches taller. Champion racehmare BLACK HELEN (out of *LA TROIENNE) was 15 hands as was DARK MIRAGE.

One of my personal all-time favorites was the mini-mare TIME TO LEAVE. At 14.3 hands she won over 20 stakes races and often beat the colts in California's best sprints.

MIRA FEMME was another 14.3 hand champfion filly, and her sire, world record holder DUMPTY HUMPTY, wasnt any bigger. TA WEE, champion sprinter over males, was 15.2 hands and all muscle.

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.scqhea.org/2011/Article%203% ... Course.pdf

[Bast]

In Mongolia, the horses stand somewhere around 12-13 hands. They race them in 18 mile races. I'd always assumed that these races were conducted at a modest pace, but if you look the videos up on You Tube, these horses GALLOP the whole way over open ground (not a race course). The riders are children, but the horses are in a full gallop.