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RachelB

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...critique Maiden's conformation! Confirm to me exactly WHY I refuse to breed from her, perfect temperament or not!
Bearing in mind that:
1) she is THE sweetest, kindest, most willing mare you will EVER meet, so technically conformation doesn't matter
2) I already know her faults, especially the one about the true upright-ness of her pasterns/pedal bone not being shown other than on X-ray (her pastern axis was actually broken back, causing her deep tendon tear)
3) she's now retired anyway and will only potter about again!
4) please ignore her front feet looking short, farrier and vet were experimenting with getting her sound by straightening her pasterns.
5) to me, she's perfect in every way
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Do your worst, HHOers!
maiden2603200715-1.jpg
 
OK, I'm not being mean here just trying to help by responding. I would say that she is too long in the back, upright shoulder and hocks, short through the neck which makes her head look a little large for her body. Her fronts look a bit too boxy to me.

In fact she looks a lot like my boy who I love to bits but aint going to win any show horse classes!
 
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Well why do you want to rub salt in the wounds then?
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No, I just thought it might be educational for others to have an obviously less than perfect horse on display for critique, rather than these almost-perfect ones that keep appearing!
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sweet but incredibly boxy footed in the front (i know you mentioned farier had been working on them) but they do not look comfortable! i would also like to see a bit more muscle on the hind aswell.
 
No offence intended, but you are right, Silmarillion, she does have very poor conformation.
Do you really want someone to do a confo analysis on her?
I'd rather have a trier with poor conformation than a perfect horse with bad attitude, if that helps?
S
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i totally agree that if she's the sweetest, kindest, willingest horse, then she's perfect... but if pushed, i'd say she has a terribly straight hind leg, that's what stands out for me.
but she's a saint, obv, and that's more important... i'd rather have 1 of those than a complete witch with perfect conformation...!
 
Nono, no offense taken at all - I wouldn't have posted this if I had been at all worried! I probably should also have mentioned that she may look uncomfortable as the photo was taken a month or two after she tore her tendon and she was still lame with it. Farrier was trying to make her more upright to alleviate signs (at this point she was un-diagnosed). She's now barefoot and her foot is growing and waering as is most comfortable for her.
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Shilasdair - her temperament is what makes it all up, she is just perfect in every way as long as you have your eyes closed!
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Just as well I am keeping hold of her, I'd hate to sell her on and someone thought they should bute her up and ride her/sell her or even worse, breed from her!
 
Ok, I'll bite.

Very straight hind leg
Hind leg camped out
Badly connected hip/loin
Lack of rump (she doesn't divide into 3rds as one would like)
Long back
Low tied in neck
Short neck
Common head (sorry!)
& pasterns as you mentioned
 
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Low tied in neck

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That one I always forget (particularly as she's now "wild and free" in the field!) - she's a bugger to get rugs with a low enough neck line to not rub her chest!
Glad to see someone likes her as much as I do - useless beast!
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Don't get me wrong people, I love my horse!!
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Ok, I'll bite.

Hind leg camped out
Badly connected hip/loin
Lack of rump (she doesn't divide into 3rds as one would like)
Long back
Low tied in neck
Short neck
Common head (sorry!)
& pasterns as you mentioned

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I'm trying to get my conformation critique knowledge level up... please could someone be so kind as to explain to me what the above points in itallic mean?

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See this is why I posted!
I'm actually not entirely sure myself what the first one means
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Badly connected hip/loin - she seems to have grown an extra foot of loin space before her hips arrived, making her backside look like it's attached by extra unnecessary body!
Divide into thirds - technically a well put together horse should look like one horse but divide into equal thirds. Head neck and shoulder, body, hindquarters. Maiden has far too much body, and a pathetic back end. If you photoshopped the picture into three bits and asked someone with no previous knowledge of the horse to put her back together, they probably wouldn't associate each part of her!
I hope that's right, Druid?
 
The camped out behind bit refers to the fact that if you dropped a line off the point of her buttocks you'd like it touch her hock and run neatly down the back of the cannon in a line which is perpendicular to the ground. Due to the straight/post leggedness of your mare she has to stand with her leg further out behind her than you'd ideally like
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