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Post by horseguy on Nov 25, 2016 13:48:28 GMT
This is a very good conformation picture (from a photography standpoint), especially for craigslist. The horse is described as a 12 yo, 15.2 gelding, no breed, and "He's a lover. He has tons of potential but hasn't been rode a lot over the last three years but his owner could jump on him every two months and take him out trail riding with no issues. Loads, barefoot, current coggins, is getting back into regular work to build his muscles. He tends to pace instead of gait. If you want him to gait you will need to know how to teach a horse to gait. He's a looker! Price reduced for quick sale. $1000 OBO."
Sounds like a sweet horse. Not sure I agree with "He's a looker!"
For me the biggest issue is his straight shoulder. Although a horse that carries his head that high might be able to swing his front legs more than I'd think. We had a Mustang, Kevin, with a very straight shoulder. We pushed him and pushed him to get a little speed so he could hunt, which he ultimately did well, and he responded to the encouragement for some speed by lifting his head to "get out of the way" of his straight shoulder. It worked.
What do you think?
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Post by rideanotherday on Nov 25, 2016 14:21:21 GMT
This is a very good conformation picture (from a photography standpoint), especially for craigslist. The horse is described as a 12 yo, 15.2 gelding, no breed, and "He's a lover. He has tons of potential but hasn't been rode a lot over the last three years but his owner could jump on him every two months and take him out trail riding with no issues. Loads, barefoot, current coggins, is getting back into regular work to build his muscles. He tends to pace instead of gait. If you want him to gait you will need to know how to teach a horse to gait. He's a looker! Price reduced for quick sale. $1000 OBO."
Sounds like a sweet horse. Not sure I agree with "He's a looker!"
For me the biggest issue is his straight shoulder. Although a horse that carries his head that high might be able to swing his front legs more than I'd think. We had a Mustang, Kevin, with a very straight shoulder. We pushed him and pushed him to get a little speed so he could hunt, which he ultimately did well, and he responded to the encouragement for some speed by lifting his head to "get out of the way" of his straight shoulder. It worked.
What do you think?
I think for a gaited type horse he has a much better hip than you usually see. That shoulder is really straight. He is odd...none of his angles match. I wish the halter fit, but it wouldn't help that head at all. He does have substantial bone which I like and short pasterns which could contribute to a rough ride. For a craigslist ad picture, that's pretty decent to judge him on. |
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Post by horseguy on Nov 25, 2016 14:30:36 GMT
"none of his angles match" yes, and the proportions (leg length to body, for one) are equally discordant.
I had a horse like this once. I told the story here of my young pregnant neighbor years ago who needed money and was desperate to sell her barrel prospect. I bought him and he could have been this horses full brother. He turned out to be a good lesson horse and played a decent game of slow club polo. Some horses can compensate beyond your imagination. Still, I have a hard time looking at this guy.
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Post by horseguy on Nov 25, 2016 14:49:07 GMT
Here is a craigslist registered solid App, something I never understood as a desirable horse in that breed. Just thought he'd be visual relief from the other one. I like his reach and more.   REG 2015 ApHC 14.2 H GELDING $1,200 |
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Post by jimmy on Nov 25, 2016 15:07:25 GMT
If I had to choose, I would ride the appy, and, I don't know, maybe eat the paint!
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Post by rideanotherday on Nov 25, 2016 15:39:04 GMT
Here is a craigslist registered solid App, something I never understood as a desirable horse in that breed. Just thought he'd be visual relief from the other one. I like his reach and more. REG 2015 ApHC 14.2 H GELDING $1,200 Color is one of those genetic grab bags. He's a decent put together horse. He's also young yet, he might show more "color" as he ages, especially looking at his tail and over his hips. He might turn out to be a "varnish" roan. He has the sclera showing. I can't tell if he has striped hooves or not. MUCH easier to look at. |
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Post by horseguy on Nov 25, 2016 16:18:08 GMT
If I had to choose, I would ride the appy, and, I don't know, maybe eat the paint! I read an Indian Wars Cavalry Officer's diary that described the Apache tribe's view of horses. It was "mobile food". |
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Post by Laura on Dec 2, 2016 5:31:43 GMT
 Someone posted this picture of facebook asking for people's opinion's on which conformation they liked the best. I read a lot of interesting answers but a lot of it seemed like nonsense. Most people seemed to prefer the bottom two horses. I believe the top horse is 3, the middle horse is 10, and the bottom horse is 5. Several people commented on the 5 year old's good uphill build. From my point of view, the horse's withers are too big. It seems like it would be near impossible to find a fitting saddle. The neck seems short and the pasterns appear a little on the straight side. The 10 year old looks fairly okay, but the shoulders appear shorter than the hips. A lot of people either didn't like the 3 year old or just ignored it. I personally thought it's conformation was the best out of the 3. I'd love to hear your opinions on their conformations. *if you click on the picture it will get larger* (Laura, I added the enlarged version for non-members who cannot click and get the bigger version - hope you don't mind be editing your post) |
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Post by horseguy on Dec 2, 2016 22:55:13 GMT
First I want to tell readers that I accidently logged on to this forum but did not log in and discovered that I could not click on the pictures Laura posted to see an enlarged version. This forum does not permit nonmembers to see full size images. Interesting. My take, I don't like any of these horses. Here is what I like or not about each one. The top one looks very fit and muscular to me. His shoulders are almost over developed as some racehorses get as a result of pulling so hard with their forehand. He is too fine for me, especially his legs. He looks very "Native Dancer" in his conformation, a mind I do not like. The second horse has bone. I love lots of bone. I do not like his long back and that he appears to be somewhat downhill. His legs are a little short for me too. The bottom horse is also too fine for me. And as Laura points out his wither might be a problem. He's a pretty face though, nice short back, good slope of the shoulder. But when I was training a lot of polo horses, recycled race horses like 1 & 3 TBs, those fine legs just never held up. This is Man 'O War a Thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1917.  Look at his bone and muscle. When I began riding in the early 1950's his off spring type were the type of TBs I saw. How they have bred modern TBs is a crime. |
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jimc
New Member
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Post by jimc on Dec 3, 2016 12:22:55 GMT
HG,
My understanding of the practice of registering the solid color Apps is to help the breeders sell them for more than they would get for an unregistered animal. I believe that the criteria for breeding should be Conformation, Temperament, and Athletic ability. when you depart from this to include color as a criteria, you risk degrading the quality of the stock. I actually heard a breeder say about his stallion, "He has poor feet but he throws color."App breeders around here found that maybe fifteen to twenty percent of their foals were solid colors. Sometimes these foals were the best they produced. A business can not stand that kind of loss.
Many color breeders around here chose these breeds after they found that they could not compete at shows with the big name, established AQHA breeders and trainers, even if they paid outrageous prices for their horses. The breeders trainers,and judges seemed to have made cooperative arrangements. Consequently, the color associations held their own shows andthe color breeds looked more and more like QH's
JimC
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Post by horseguy on Dec 3, 2016 14:14:16 GMT
HG, My understanding of the practice of registering the solid color Apps is to help the breeders sell them for more than they would get for an unregistered animal. I believe that the criteria for breeding should be Conformation, Temperament, and Athletic ability. when you depart from this to include color as a criteria, you risk degrading the quality of the stock. I actually heard a breeder say about his stallion, "He has poor feet but he throws color."App breeders around here found that maybe fifteen to twenty percent of their foals were solid colors. Sometimes these foals were the best they produced. A business can not stand that kind of loss. Many color breeders around here chose these breeds after they found that they could not compete at shows with the big name, established AQHA breeders and trainers, even if they paid outrageous prices for their horses. The breeders trainers,and judges seemed to have made cooperative arrangements. Consequently, the color associations held their own shows andthe color breeds looked more and more like QH's JimC
I could not agree more that "the criteria for breeding should be Conformation, Temperament, and Athletic ability". Having said that, I am of an age that remembers the "break up" of the Quarter Horse association around coat breeds. When I get around to it, I will create the It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Hall of Fame and coat breeds will be in it along with George Morris's crest release. I did get, at the time, why coat breeds were formed. People wanted to preserve the Palomino, the App, and others. These were sensible people who loved a certain look. Nothing wrong with that. What got lost along the way, it seems, were the sensible people. Breeding for coat with a completely blind eye to Conformation, Temperament, and Athletic ability made for some very odd and dysfunctional horses.
In hindsight the breeders could have seen it coming that "twenty percent of their foals would be solid colors. Sometimes these foals were the best they produced. A business can not stand that kind of loss" and a lot of very poor horses being bred could have been avoided by simply staying with the QH Association and having that organization set standards for what was important (Conformation, Temperament, and Athletic ability ) and have classes for the coats... best of both worlds. Instead humans once again put equines through a lot of unnecessary stress and the duct tape fix, it seems, is the registered solid color App, which for me has no authentic meaning.
This summarizes my recollections and view. If I am off on my facts, I am open to being educated. Thanks for your comment Jim.
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