Just like in real life, a horse's height is genetic and has some large effects on what a horse can or can't do.
Height is controlled by 11 genes in the game, a few of which are based on real genes.
If you want to read more, here are the studies we based a few genes on:
4 Loci explain majority of horse size variation paper
^Reading these probably won't help you figure out the game's genetics too much, but they're cool!
Height is a major determinant for your horse's body type in the game. This means we have limited certain alleles from some/all of the 11 height genes in the imported horses, so that purebred horses, or grades created from breeds of only one body type, can never deviate from their intended height ranges. Below are the height ranges within each body type:
| Body Type | Height Minimum | Height Maximum |
| Mini | 7.5 | 10.5 |
| Pony | 11.5 | 14.5 |
| Cob | 14.5 | 15.5 |
| Light | 14.75 | 16 |
| Stock | 14.75 | 16 |
| Saddle | 14.75 | 17.25 |
| Warmblood | 15.25 | 17.75 |
| Baroque | 14.75 | 17.25 |
| Draft | 15.75 | 20 |
Height has a strong affect on several performance abilities: Strength, Speed, and Jumping Ability. See the Performance Abilities wiki page to learn more!
Height also determines what disciplines your horses can show in. Well, really it just separates minis from every other body type. Minis, due to their size, can only be shown in-hand. This means conformation shows or in-hand jumping only.