>>>> http://www.womenandhorses.com/newsletter-2006january.html
Notice that she's talking about "skeletal maturity." Dr. Deb is a paleontologist, and I certainly bow to her expertise in that area. Obviously, none of us have x-ray eyes and can't just see the horse's frame while they play in the pasture. I have no reason to doubt her in her area of great expertise. I don't think what she says conflicts necessarily with what I've seen though. She says that a horse will not be skeletally mature until he is at least six, and she certainly knows more about that than I do. But, as far as certain VISIBLE traits, I see my horses maturing even later. So, my guess is that it takes at least six years for their skeletons to mature, but that there muscles and other soft tissue may continue to grow even longer. Back when I was using treed saddles, I noticed that I had to continue monitoring saddle fit until the horses were at least seven, maybe eight...and then Skjoni outgrew his FnE when he was nine. I guess we all realize that mammals can develop muscles at any point in their adult lives, but I'm not talking about horses in any sort of extreme fitness program - many of the ones I'm talking about are only ridden fairly lightly. And the treed Duett saddle that fit Sina so well when she was about 6-7 years old was too snug for her when she returned to work from maternity leave - reasonably slim and very out of shape. So, I'm not trying to argue with Dr. Deb - just pointing out that something goes on for longer than six years in the physical maturity of the horses. (I'm not saying it's unique to Icelandic's either - I wasn't watching this so closely pre-Icelandic's, but I suspect it applied to my other breed horses too.) Please don't take her article to mean that you can wait until the horse is six and then buy him a treed saddle that will work for him for the rest of his life. If it's treeless, however, your odds are much better, but even treeless saddles need to be monitored for fit/comfort/appropriateness issues over the lifetime of the horse. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.11/837 - Release Date: 6/6/2007 2:03 PM
