What size horse should I be looking for?

[onlyanarabian]

My mare that I was hoping to do endurance with just is not going to work for that as she is not to steady on her foot placement she seems to trip and fall a lot. nothing wrong with her she is just to lazy to pick her feet up high enough she does fine on a flat surface She will more than likely become a wp for my daughter.
So my seach for a started Arabian is in the works. My question is what size should I really be looking for for me I am 5'9" and about 145lbs? My older gelding is just pushing 14.2 and is a stocky arab I feel great on him and he is the pick up and go type. The man that I take care of his horses just picked up a paint gelding that is over 15hh and I feel to off the ground with him (probably to many years of riding shorter arabs). Any advice would be helpful thanks in advance

[rugbygirl]

I am 5'10" and weight varies, but generally around 175lbs...in other words, not a small woman ;)

My first Arabian was BARELY 15hh and typically Polish-built. She had ample barrel to take up my leg, and I didn't look bad on her at all. The high head carriage helps, I think.

With your height and size, I think you'd be fine on just about any size, although a fine-boned Arabian of any height may not be a great endurance prospect. I know ladies much larger than you who are competitive endurance riders (Tevis Cup competitive) and their current mounts are right around 14.2hh :)

[Icecapade]

I think its a bit relative to how competative you are interested. I competed with my father for many years on average sized arabs.... we did quiet well (Rawhide and Rosita competed internationally and dad was an alternate for the US team at his peak)... both those horses were from Nebraska off the Rushcreek ranch and were both 15ish... rawhide being a taller old time qh look for an arab (straight boney legs, high high withers) rosita was more round in all ways and was probably 14.3 maybe? her withers were just not as high... but they both did fine, apart and together. I ran two other horses with decent success... the mare, average low 15 hands... rio a tall leggy 15... and did quiet well with him... 4th on our first 100 miler.

we both ride davenports now (highly highly recommend for anyone) and his mare now is a tall 15.2 or so... and my stallion is barely 13.1/13.2 (depends on trim and shoes) and while he has an AMAZING extended trot and a hell of a lot of heart... he is not big enough to keep up with her. we pulled twice from tie ups in the rear. He has never had a real problem carrying me (I'm a solid 155 or 160 w/o tack)over any terrain or weather or milage... the biggest issue seemed to be his running mate was just so much bigger.

So as an average race just for kicks... get a horse that works well with you and you mesh with... for serious competition? you want a well built horse probably in the high 14 or 15 hands... its just reality that a leggier horse who moves welll will cover ground better than a shorter horse.

(yezzzz I know that there are exceptions... but its easier to find a well built horse of that size than find the one horse who is smaller who can just kick that much ass. :winkgrin: )

[islandhorse]

I am 5'9" and a lot heavier than you. My arabian is polish/cmk, so he is more heavier-boned, but is only 14.1 1/2 hands.

If you go to happyhoofer.com, a picture of me and my horse are on the home page. Click on the thumbnail of the white horse with rider in purple with the yellow background to see larger photo.

[would-be cob momma]

I have come to the conclusion that my body & dressage saddles are just incompatible & would like to return to my first love -- trail riding. I'm intrigued by the idea of endurance riding, and I'm very interested in purchasing a Welsh cob (Sec. D) in about a year's time. Does anyone else out there use a Welsh cob in endurance?
Thanks!
:)

[rugbygirl]

I am not all that involved in Endurance, but I was talking to a really serious rider. SHe has started using Le Cheval Canadien and some crosses on LCC for Endurance.

Not exactly the same as a section D, but quite similar in build and in terms of what they were bred for. She's loving their attitude for endurance and work ethic. I don't know how much of that is individual quality and how much is breed quality though.

[onlyanarabian]

Thanks to all for responding It gave me enough to go look at a gelding that I have been debating about seeing ( I tend to buy things that I don't really need or have a use for and keep them forever)
I Found a 6yr old 14.2 gelding 2hrs away from me online and have been exchanging emails with the owner for about a week now. So next weekend I will go meet him and his owner. He is mainly polish blood lines has been started in dressage, shown some, and done trails. So I hope my long search will come to an end with this cute little bay gelding.

[matryoshka]

I think it is personal preference. If you aren't comfortable with a 15hh horse, then go smaller. I find the stride to be more important than the height as far as comfort goes. Some strides just fit me better than others. Big horses with short strides make me grind my teeth. Teeny horses with super long strides can be tough to balance on for taller riders (I'm talking talented ponies). Somewhere in between is the ticket for me. BTW, I'm 5'8" and am currently riding a 15hh Arab. Last year I was riding a 16hh OTTB. I find them to be very similar as far as riding experience, except that the Arab doesn't "canter" as fast, nor does he buck.

For your other horse, this is waaaay off topic and I don't want to start an argument, but please look into her toe length. Stumbling can be caused by feet that are allowed to run forward, increasing the lever at the toe. Also, some horses who are more stumbly just do better with shorter toes, even if they look okay at first glance. I trim one who was a bad stumbler (owner cracked her sternum on him). It's a matter of 1/4" of toe between stumbling and not--I take them back from the front of the wall, not more shallow from the bottom. His toe needs to be shorter than one would commonly like to see. He's also insulin resistant. Once the owner got his diet under control AND I got the toe length right, he hasn't stumbled at all. If your horse is in shoes and the toe length is okay, the farrier can rocker the toe to make the horse break over sooner, which will decrease the incidence of stumbling. If the feet are run forward, he can set the shoe back to put the breakover in the correct spot for your horse.

I'm just offering this as something for the OP to look into for her horse to be ridden more safely. I'm hoping nobody takes it as a thrown gauntlet to argue about. :winkgrin: I've not seen the horse, but frequent stumbling=long toes in my experience.

[onlyanarabian]

Thank you matry. for your advice I will admit that we have tried a lot of different trims on her my father is a ferrier full time and he doesn't hesitate on my horses to try somthing new. We have come to the conclusion that it is her clumsy way. She is ok on flat grounds she just does it on the hills. She is such a clutz that when turned out to pasture she falls down a lot when running. When she was a foal it was a real concern with her we thought that she had back problems but she was given a clean bill of health.
So as for her ever being an endurance horse was just wishful thinking on my part she was one of our last foals on the farm and I wanted to use one that my parents had bred. My older gelding was born there too when I was young he would have been perfect for endurance I will still probably do some LD with him. Its just that I really want to get something younger and have for years to come hopefully doing endurance. Any horse that I own will be a life time resident for me. So I want to make the right choice now before I have more than I can handle.
Matry. as far as being a ferrier I have a lot of respect for you My dad has done it for well over 20yrs and I don't know how it is that his back holds out. I learned a lot from him during my childhood I did learn some of the basics just so I can take care of problems if they occur when he can't be there. I also learned so much more about horses because as a kid I got to go to every customer with him during summer break.

[matryoshka]

I'm with you on wanting a good horse for distance riding. I tried for 3 years with an OTTB, but finally had to give up on him because of his exuberant (and sometimes nasty) bucking. I'm too old for that.

Now I'm leasing an Arabian, but he just got hurt in the pasture this weekend. So fall competition is out for us. I'm just hoping he gets more comfortable soon. He's a sweet horse and very experienced. I've been looking for a horse to do distance with for 25 years now. I hope you find one that suits you soon!

As for farrier work, I stick to trimming. I'm too much of a clutz to handle hooves, nails and a hammer all at once. Plus, I can't stand to drive nails. Trimming keeps me busy. If I were to shoe, I'd never see my family! My kids already complain about how much I work.

[Icecapade]

check out the davenports as far as good horses... solid and dependable... they make great companions...very rarely are they truly flightly and they make great trial/endurance horses. =)

[Astraled]

Photos, Icecapade? I like me some Davenports :D. I'd love to add some more to my Aurab/Abu Farwas someday.