In photos where they're not together its not really that noticeable. Both are solid black. Both are fairly nice looking. Both have a slight wave to their manes and tails, long thick manes and tails at that.
Rainy:
Voodoo:
But whenever they're together, wow... its noticeable!! lolA few weeks ago Kimfer and I went to go for a nice, sunny winter ride. She brought Baron in but his legs were stocked up and she didn't want to risk hurting him. We went to the house where Kimer asked her dad if she could ride Rainy. After a quick 'what the heck?' look and some teasing about riding Ty (who is slightly mental lol) her dad said sure.
Riding along the height difference in the boys was noted. So much so that I said I wanted a picture of the two of them tacked up and side by side. When we got back to the yard Kimfer held Voodoo while I grabbed my camera.
Voodoo looks soooo tiny!As Kimfer and I were heading out on our ride I told her that I bet some people would be driving by and saying "Oh look. A mommy horse and its child" lol
What's really interesting though is that when we untacked the boys we measured Rainy.
I had measured Voodoo when I bought him, I had been thinking he'd be about 14.3 but he came out dead even at 15hh, I was pretty surprised and remeasured him a few time. lol
We were pretty sure Rainy was going to be well over 16hh, probably about 16.2ish. So we were quite shocked when we got everything as square as we could get it. Rainy is a TWH and was not the most cooperative at standing square... he kept wanting to stand 'parked' lol. But as I was saying, once he was as square as we could get him and the bubble was level it read 16hh.
"What?!?!" you say (as did we)
"But look at those pictures!" you say.
Well yes, it does look like Rainy absolutely towers over my little man. However this makes for a very interesting point, and something important to remember. How a horse is built, and how he holds himself, will effect how tall (or small) he seems. Rainy is built with a higher set neck and naturally carries himself more upright. As a result when he is next to our stock horse bred horses he seems much larger. Voodoo, for example, has a neck that is much lower set and he carries it more low and level (not peanut roller low though!)
Also a hand is "only" 4 inches. That may not seem like a lot but boy howdy does it make a difference! I'm not trying to imply that Rainy and Voodoo are the same size, that full hand makes a difference. I'm just saying that its not as drastic as it may appear.
Here is one last pic of the Men in Black from a slightly different angle, see there's not as much difference as it appeared from the front.
Interesting that you should post this. We sticked Heather's stallion Scorch and got 15.3, but he towers over both Poco (14.2) and Jaz (15 and change). And you're right, a lot of it has to do with the way the neck is connected to the body and how they carry themselves.
ReplyDeleteHandsome MIB there!
I was thinking, as I read the first part of this post, that Rainy carries his head and neck quite high. It really shows in that last photo! I might have to measure Beamer, I keep getting asked how tall he is, but I've never measured him. I'm guessing 14 3.
ReplyDeleteThey're both beautiful! But yeah, 4 inches I guess does make a difference. Love that last pic!
ReplyDeleteI can believe it - people did that with my old gelding all the time - thinking he had to be near 17H - but no - just a solid 16.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post!
ReplyDeleteIt can often be very deceiving and honestly not everyone has been around enough horses to really get a feel for where certain heights come on them.
By the way....that is one very handsome duo!!!
Interesting --- it is true that how they hold their heads can make them look either small or or larger. John's mare, Zora, often walks along in the pasture with her head hanging down. But when we ride and she has her head upright, she is definitely more impressive looking.
ReplyDeleteNeat to see the pictures - they look lovely against the white snow!
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed by the difference carriage can make in how tall a horse looks. Friends of ours have a huge Quarter Horse gelding that's marked very similarly to Sunny. Loading them in the trailer last fall we had a good chuckle over the fact that Sunny is not only considerably shorter than Buddy in height, he's also a good foot shorter in length. Swapping horses is a truly interesting experience!
I have a thing for true black horses. Do they ever get a brown/lighter coat or do they stay black all year round?
ReplyDelete- The Equestrian Vagabond
What beautiful pictures. The MIB's look great on the white snow!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Voodoo would compare to Casey. Casey is 16hh, but his carriage is similar to Voodoo's. Head level, relaxed.
ReplyDeleteI do love the mini me images! They just rock!
How awesome that you took these pictures and were interested enough to check it al out. I found this post fascinating! They look so handsome standing there in the snow, too.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if neck length has anything to do with it, too? Baby Doll's neck was so long and, even though she carried her head like a WP horse, when I would take photos from her back, her ears were always in the picture.
Now with Rosie, I have to hold the camera down lower to get her ears in the photo, and she actually carries her head a little higher than Baby Doll did. Of course she's just a shorter horse, about 14.3, but it's still not easy getting up on her back yet. lol!
I don't know who I hauled my butt up on top of Baby Doll's 15.3 back.
~Lisa
gah! HOW not who.
ReplyDelete~Lisa