Pictures Conformation Critique - Post Yours!

Here's mine,
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I think she is pretty hard to fault, apart from her head which is a little on the large side and very plain for a horse of her quality. On saying that it contains the most fabulous brain, she is just a super mare and lovely to ride..

This is my cute gelding, He looks to have a dipped back in the photo but doesn't it is just the way he is standing. He is a very short coupled and in his case a bit too much perhaps. Again he is the horse version of a labrador and I absolutely adore him.
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This thread is really interesting. I'm no expert on conformation, I tend to just notice if there's anything really awful sticking out. In the spirit of that, how does Chill look? I'm aware she isn't perfect, but one thing I do think is that she has a cute little head!
For context, she is an 18yo 15.2/15.3 TB

Looking a wee bit chubby, after a bath last summer:
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Ignore the tack and bad angling of the photo:
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One ridden:
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And finally one of her head, having an excited chomp of the bit haha:
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Isn't it difficult to take a really good confo pic? The reason I haven't commented on many of the pics is that it's almost impossible if the horse is not stood up correctly or they are a type that I'm not familiar with eg liked the grey connie a lot but didnt see the hocks however we have owned connies so I know what they should look like. I think I just look at the horse as a whole and they either look "right" or they don't. Probably a good job that I always vet and have a good discussion about anything that might be an issue!
 
J_sarahd said:
Sorry for the rubbish photo! Every time I get my phone out he thinks it’s food... so this was the best one
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This made me laugh, I had the same problem. I'd get my phone out while he was standing nicely, and then it'd be 'No stand! Go away! Stand, STAND, no stand, GO AWAY, oh for God's sake forget it...'
 
ForbiddenHorse said:
I'm just enjoying looking at everyones photos, what gorgeous horses!
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Me too, I'm thinking they all look lovely 🙂

I was expecting there to be some kind of quasmodo horse but confomation is clearly way to subtle for me.
I just keep thinking 'that looks alright' 😂
 
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Thats the thing. A picture is a snap shot in time and horses look much better from even a couple of inches over and in the flesh. Gray actually looks worse in his pic that he does in real life 😂
 
I'll post a picture of The Beast in a minute. I find she looks much, much better to me in real life - I can't get a picture to look like what I see in person. I think she probably has "presence" which make you overlook the faults a bit, she makes more sense in motion too! Also I'm clearly biased. Hahaha.

Granny horse on the other hand... I'll see of I've got a picture.... She was a bit like an encyclopeadia of conformation faults god love her. But she stayed pretty sound considering! Just not into her 20s.

I don't feel I know enough to critique other people's horses but will critique my own with pictures. I just need to make a cup of tea and let the dogs out first.
 
oldie48 said:
Isn't it difficult to take a really good confo pic? The reason I haven't commented on many of the pics is that it's almost impossible if the horse is not stood up correctly or they are a type that I'm not familiar with eg liked the grey connie a lot but didnt see the hocks however we have owned connies so I know what they should look like. I think I just look at the horse as a whole and they either look "right" or they don't. Probably a good job that I always vet and have a good discussion about anything that might be an issue!
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So hard! I’d love to get a critique on share horse but he has a terrible habit of looking as long as a barge when I photograph him, even though he’s genuinely not very long in real life!
 
Ok. Beast first.

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I think she's pretty good. Good angle of pelvis and a nice slope to her shoulder. She's long in the back and perhaps a bit short in the neck? But I like the set of her neck and she's not as thick through the jowl as you might expect for her type. Obviously she's got a simply enormous bucket head and a roman nose (but I love that!) Nice teeth, haha. Short, kind of upright pasterns and not quite enough bone for her size but not bad. She has a tendency to look slightly sickle hocked but I really think that is just in photographs, I can't see it in real life. Her front legs are not as dead straight from the front view as they should be but I can't find a picture to show it. Overall I think she's pretty functional... I hope so anyway.

Oh and... she needs a haircut!
 
Granny horse. I feel bad being mean about her because she was the absolute love of my life and I'm still crying looking at pictures of her but honest to goodness... this picture is actually flattering!

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She had the most beautiful face though. Apart from the grumpy ears obviously. lol. Sway back. Loooooooooong back (15.2hh and a 6ft9 rug FGS) Croup high. Jumpers bump. Low set neck and it was a ewe neck too if she wasn't in good work... she was doing a fair amount of correct schooling at this point and I'd got the muscle at the top of her neck comparatively built up! Shoulder a little upright but not dreadful. Pelvis is flat as a pancake... tucking her pelvis and collecting was really hard for her. He rib cage was very well-sprung. She was wider than The Beast. I always used a tree-less saddle on her because getting a tree to fit would have been a bloody nightmare! Stifle, gaskin and hock practically straight! But pasterns actually a nice length and nicely sloping. She's stood over in front which she had a tendency to but that seemed to vary, I have some pictures where she's worse and some where she's not at all. A tiny bit back at the knee? I think that's it. Sorry Granny. x
 
Thanks SA... she knows it too and is a complete show off!

I forgot one for Granny cos you can't see it in the picture but she was also pigeon toed! I defy anyone to find a horse with a better work ethic though. As long as you asked her right! Hahaha.
 
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28yo 14.2hh Irish Sports Pony, lived in Ireland until 13yo where he was a second string jumping pony who either won or didn't get over first fence quirky sod, came over here at 14yo re registered as horse and did very well with my jumping upto senior newcomers BSJA. Please tell me his good points and faults. I really am useless
 
Here's the beast.
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He definitely has conformational faults but he's never knocked a fence and is basically bombproof 😃 (he hadn't been in work so his top line is less developed than normal and he's a bit plump) Do your worst;)
 
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BMWKIPP said:
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28yo 14.2hh Irish Sports Pony, lived in Ireland until 13yo where he was a second string jumping pony who either won or didn't get over first fence quirky sod, came over here at 14yo re registered as horse and did very well with my jumping upto senior newcomers BSJA. Please tell me his good points and faults. I really am useless
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Credit to you for keeping him looking so good into old age. Confo is good which is what has kept him going so successfully for so long.
 
Pippity said:
Difficult to get a photo of Blue where she isn't looking at you...

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She has a coarse head and enormous ears. Neck could do with being a bit longer. The big one - her back goes on into the next county. Shoulders are enormous, but she's a cob so kind of expected. You can't see it so much in this photo, but they do have a reasonable slope to them for her type. Legs are too woolly to really see much, but there are no serious sins there - she's straight and, despite the deceptive white blob on her off knee, she isn't back at the knee.

What the confo doesn't show is that she moves beautifully. Even my extremely picky instructor says so - while exhorting me not to screw her up - so that bit isn't just rose-tinted glasses! I'm hoping to get her out showing at some point. If she does moderately well, it'll be down to movement and schooling over confo.

I'd love to hear what other people think.
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My type of horse. I am rubbish at confo. I am attract to hairy beasties though.
Aren't cobs meant to have shorter necks? Mine has a short neck I think.
 
Denbob said:
I love these threads! I haven't got a really solid picture of Denzel so will try and get one tonight - but will post two slightly rubbish photos in the meantime. One is from 3 years ago, the other is this winter just gone as a rising 6yo out of work. I always joke that until about 2 months ago he looked like two horses stitched together in the middle, or the same horse but 2 years apart! Even now he's quite quarters heavy I think. That being said despite his flaws I adore the bones of him and hope his flaws don't lend themselves to any issues down the road.

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As a very young 3yo, he's croup high, back at the knee, can't see it very well but cow-hocked, short in the neck and just a bit meh! To me this isn't a horse who was physically ready to be backed and working away. He's quite straight and slightly long in his hinds, and which pushes him onto the forehand.

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Still croup high, neck is more in proportion and there's the beginning of a shoulder, VERY back at the knee here but from seeing him daily most of that is the angle of the ground.
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This has been an interesting exercise for me - conformation wasn't something I was really aware of until I started getting into this forum! Has been great seeing some experienced commenters sharing thoughts on so many different (and lovely) horses I have no prior bias towards.

I'm realising the more I stare at pictures of D the harsher I'm being and he starts to look very very odd :/ his head is slightly too small, although that is somewhat unflattering angling. The length of his mane makes his neck look substantially chunkier than he is... I really like his shoulder, a bit long and upright in his pasterns, definitely back at the knee, feet are a bit small for his size (and a teeny bit pigeon toed making them appear smaller) his back left looks terrible but isn't that bad in real life I promise! Interesting to compare to his old pictures though even though the second one in my original post is only about 6 months ago. Would really value some objective feedback if anyone is feeling honest!
 
Here is the best confo shot i could get of mine ( he sees a phone and tries to mug you for sweets). He is 18 years old. He is a purebred welsh C
He is a bit long in the back IMO and the photo makes his neck look weird but Its just the angle
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