Horse Growth Guide: When Do Horses Stop Growing?

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A common question that new horse owners ask is when will their horse stop growing and reach its full size. Many horse breeds grow close to their final height by the age of 4 or 5 years old, then fill out more over the next 2 or 3 years.  Quarter horses become fully grown at the age of 4 or 5 years old.

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A lot of growth happens within the first year of a horse’s life. By around 12 months old, the horse will have reached roughly 90 percent of their height. After this rapid growth period, the growth rate slows down substantially, typically taking another 4 to 6 years for them to finally reach their maximum height and weight.

 

Horses normally reach their emotional maturity between the ages of 5 and 7. However, it’s good to keep in mind that all horses have different personalities, experiences, and dispositions that can contribute to their maturity level.

 

When you get a new horse it can be tempting to start riding them straight away, but an important consideration should be whether or not they are grown enough to be ridden without resulting in any negative physical side effects. While some believe that it is safe to ride a horse as young as two years old, the facts show that horses this young should not be ridden because their skeletal structures are not developed enough. Many thoroughbred racehorses are ridden as young as one or two years old, but they often retire by the age of 6 or 7 because of health problems. If your goal is to have a horse with a long, happy, and healthy life, recommendation is to wait until the horse is at least 4 years before riding them.

 

While it is possible to speed up your horse’s growth rate at an early age by the nutrition that you provide to them this is can be very damaging to the horse’s overall health in the long run. This is due to the fact that their joints and bones are not fully developed, and are therefore not prepared to bear the additional weight that they will put on so quickly. It is better to feed your horse with their long-term health in mind.

 

Starting a horse 

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What age should a horse be started. It seems that the horse world will always debate at what is the best age for starting a horse. You should consider these factors -breed of horse, development of horse, conformation of horse, demands to be placed on the horse and the physical stature, balance and weight of the rider.

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If the horse is pushed too hard there can be some serious long-term injuries or problems created as it is far easier to overdo a young and not fully developed horse as if the horse is a  mature adult. As above the average horse is mature mentally and physically at 4 to 5 years.  If a horse is started under saddle before 4 or 5 years remember they are still developing and  your training regimen must not be too severe for their developing bodies to handle.

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The breed of the horse should also be taken into account.  Quarter horses and Paints are fully mature between 4 to 5 years of age. Each breed of horse have a different rate of development the same as the same as people you have to consider the individual horses confirmation and development.  If started to early when the horse is in the a strong growth spurt his joints are under to much pressure. 

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The training demands should be taken into account.   When starting to train a horse early an hour of riding may be okay for a fully developed horse but is most often not acceptable for a 2 year old.  Younger horses should have shorter training session of 15 to 30 minutes.  The other part of training that is important is the type of training done on the horse.  It is better to keep young horses to an easy, smooth and slow walk for most, if not all, of the training sessions since a trot or canter places much more stress on their developing bones and tendons.

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Another factor is the surface that the horse will be training on. If training in a ring with a deep layer of soft sand it can be a liability as the young horse has to work hard to clear his feet from the sand and by doing so places more stress on the joints. It is also important to train on a level riding area as working uphill and downhill work will place more stress on a horse.

Even a fully developed horse will have a difficult time bearing too heavy a load for extended periods of work under harsh demands, so you need to be careful when working with a young and developing horse.

 

When introducing a young horse to saddle work for the first time it is better to have a lighter rider.. The weight of the rider becomes less important as a horse ages and develops.

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