Redhead: well, it's no good folks trying to compare horses over (let's say for argument's sake) 3m 2f in 1978 when the same race, at the same course, is now actually 3m but with all the jumps 2" shorter, and the water jump missing! A lot of people are obsessed with lengths and distances covered per stride, etc., so that's why they'd have to take any changes in the races into account.
I'm never too sure about horses' sizes 'then and now'. Generally, the average for today's steeplechaser is around the 1,500 lbs mark, give or take, per average height for a TB, which is 16 hands. But if a horse has a narrow frame, he may only need to weigh 1,375 lbs, or else be too heavy for his frame. KAUTO STAR is, viewed from the front, quite narrow, in fact. He doesn't have the girth of DENMAN, either, not that that has stopped him from his excellent exploits. You could have two horses of the same height, say 16.3, where one has a very broad frame (not just a deep one, but wide between the front legs), and one is narrower. They wouldn't want to weigh the same.
There were some outstanding smallish horses in NH in the past, but many lighter horses today in hurdling, thanks to the much expanded fixtures list, and its continual absorption of ex-Flat bred (and built). Hence you may well see any number of of 15 - 15.2 hurdlers, compactly built and scrappy in action, with Flat pedigrees.
I'm never too sure about horses' sizes 'then and now'. Generally, the average for today's steeplechaser is around the 1,500 lbs mark, give or take, per average height for a TB, which is 16 hands. But if a horse has a narrow frame, he may only need to weigh 1,375 lbs, or else be too heavy for his frame. KAUTO STAR is, viewed from the front, quite narrow, in fact. He doesn't have the girth of DENMAN, either, not that that has stopped him from his excellent exploits. You could have two horses of the same height, say 16.3, where one has a very broad frame (not just a deep one, but wide between the front legs), and one is narrower. They wouldn't want to weigh the same.
There were some outstanding smallish horses in NH in the past, but many lighter horses today in hurdling, thanks to the much expanded fixtures list, and its continual absorption of ex-Flat bred (and built). Hence you may well see any number of of 15 - 15.2 hurdlers, compactly built and scrappy in action, with Flat pedigrees.