At 12 months that horse will have reached 94% of its adult height or around 15 hands, and at 22 months it has almost finished growing in height, reaching 97% of its full height at approximately 15.2 hands. Assuming a mature Thoroughbred will be 16 hands, the six-month-old weanling will be approximately 13.2 hands. Thoroughbreds and other light horse breeds will reach 84% of their mature height at six months of age. The records illustrate how quickly foals grow. Harold Hintz reported Windfields Farm’s growth data for 1,992 foals from birth to 22 months of age. However, most of what we have learned about the growth of horses has been recorded in the past 20-30 years. The selection and breeding of horses for desirable traits have been practiced for over 2,000 years.
The relationships between growth, nutrition, bone strength and development, body weight, and the forces applied to bone are all orchestrated in a careful balance when optimal growth is achieved. At this stage of life, even with this exceptionally early development, horses have only 17% of their mature bone mineral content, but they also have only 10% of their ultimate body weight. Within 20 minutes of birth a foal may stand, and within hours can be ready to run at speeds no human athlete will ever achieve. Few animals are as precocious as the horse.
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