>>>> yes we can agree on that they don´t shrink,but then how do we measure different?
That, I couldn't answer you. Do you use a "stick" to measure them? This is like the one I use - sorry it's not a good picture: http://tinyurl.com/38n4nb In the one evaluation video where I saw horses being measured, it looked to me like the judge was measuring further up the horse's neck, not at the withers, and the horse's head was up. I've always been told to measure AT the withers, not in front of. I've owned seven horses prior to getting Icelandic's: two Quarter Horses, two Tennessee Walking Horses (NOT show horses), one Appaloosa, and one Arab, and one mustang/Quarter horse cross. These are (or were) 14.0H, 16.1H, 15.3H, 14.1H, 16.1H, 14.2 1/2H, and 14.1 1/2H. I'm SURE about the Arab's height - he had to be officially measured for the hunter shows my daughter used to go to, and he's 14.2 1/2H - just barely missing being able to show in "pony" classes. That's the only way I know to measure them. Having had four horses here in the 14.0-14.2 1/2 H range, I'm pretty comfortable recognizing horses of that height. Plus, I'm "15.0H" myself, so I learned to BE a measuring stick when I went to look at horses. The top of my head is 15.0H, so I know to watch when a horse's withers comes to my chin, my mouth, my nose and my eyes - I'm a walking measuring stick for horses between 14 and 15H! If the ground isn't perfectly flat, I'll stand beside the horse in a couple of places, uphill and downhill - I can be pretty close even without a stick. That's why I'm so convinced there are so few Icelandic's over 14H - a few, but not many. I don't claim to be nearly so accurate for horses under 13.2H or those over 15H, but between 14 and 15H, I can guess pretty closely! I've never seen an Icelandic as tall as our 14.2 1/2H Arab. I'm not saying there aren't a FEW scattered across the world, but they sure aren't common. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
