MiJodsR2BlinkinTite
Well-Known Member
OK. So you go to see a horse which comes as cheap as chips basically, a sort-of extended loan. Almost but not nearly a "gift horse".... (sort of).
BUT, as soon as you see it, you realise immediately that there are some conformation issues that in your view are going to cause issues, namely:-
A very heavy front end, with grossly over-developed neck and chest area, and a noticeably large head. Also the horse was very wide-sprung and had a very low wither and extremely short back - even though a full-up 15hh would probably only be able to take a 16" saddle if that. As if that wasn't enough, it had large bulky shoulders: the sort of shoulders that you find on driving ponies. The neck was very thick and cresty and the barrel of it was very chunky - and this isn't an issue that would be sorted by a loss of weight (tho' it could've done with that, no doubt), as the rib-cage and tummy area were quite firm, so this basically a low-slung undercarriage and not something that weight-loss alone would solve.
The legs were actually fine! BUT you couldn't help noticing that the body and bulk of the horse looked all wrong! You wanted to chop the horse in half horizontally TBH and say OK these are 15hh pony type legs, and/or take the top half and put that on the right set of legs. But not the two together.
To so summarise it was basically a 17.2hh Irish draught on a set of 15.0hh legs!! Described as a cob X, but god-alone-knows what crossed with! Looked like it could have been something like Percheron crossed in somewhere to give it that low-slung look.
Horse was 9yo, but apparently had a bad start and has been hanging around in fields/bad homes, and was re-backed earlier in the year with a reputable breaker. Rode very green; a 9yo riding as a 4yo as you'd expect. But isn't going to change shape! What you see is what you get with this one.
However...... however, my concern would be if you seriously started bringing this horse on and started to progress with groundwork (which it would now needs) that in ridden work you'd always struggle to get it off the forehand, certainly it would deffo struggle to get into anything resembling an outline, and would probably find it quite hard physically to do so - and if anyone did try it then my suspicion would be that it would struggle, i.e. pain/evasion issues. Also my gut reaction would be that being so heavy it front, it would lean on the bit very heavily and I suspect would be a puller, not through any fault of its own or deliberate vice, but purely because of the weight being in the wrong place and therefore it wouldn't be able to help itself basically, it would be totally weighted down on the forehand.
A real shame, coz my impression of this little horse was that he was a nice little chap and really wanted to please: he might just (only just) make a happy hacker, but would probably not ever be a really comfortable or pleasant hack TBH once a pulling/leaning habit had become established. Also saddle-fitting would be a total nightmare. He might however make a half-acceptable ride & drive, or even break him for purely driving, and forget about ridden work, might be the best option.
Which leads me on to the question: what importance do people place on conformation?? TBH I'd be prepared to overlook a few minor issues, or lumps and bumps (as long as the vet doesn't spin it!), but when issues of conformation hit you in the eye, and you can see them impacting on ridden work, then that gives pause for thought.
Thoughts/opinions folks?
BUT, as soon as you see it, you realise immediately that there are some conformation issues that in your view are going to cause issues, namely:-
A very heavy front end, with grossly over-developed neck and chest area, and a noticeably large head. Also the horse was very wide-sprung and had a very low wither and extremely short back - even though a full-up 15hh would probably only be able to take a 16" saddle if that. As if that wasn't enough, it had large bulky shoulders: the sort of shoulders that you find on driving ponies. The neck was very thick and cresty and the barrel of it was very chunky - and this isn't an issue that would be sorted by a loss of weight (tho' it could've done with that, no doubt), as the rib-cage and tummy area were quite firm, so this basically a low-slung undercarriage and not something that weight-loss alone would solve.
The legs were actually fine! BUT you couldn't help noticing that the body and bulk of the horse looked all wrong! You wanted to chop the horse in half horizontally TBH and say OK these are 15hh pony type legs, and/or take the top half and put that on the right set of legs. But not the two together.
To so summarise it was basically a 17.2hh Irish draught on a set of 15.0hh legs!! Described as a cob X, but god-alone-knows what crossed with! Looked like it could have been something like Percheron crossed in somewhere to give it that low-slung look.
Horse was 9yo, but apparently had a bad start and has been hanging around in fields/bad homes, and was re-backed earlier in the year with a reputable breaker. Rode very green; a 9yo riding as a 4yo as you'd expect. But isn't going to change shape! What you see is what you get with this one.
However...... however, my concern would be if you seriously started bringing this horse on and started to progress with groundwork (which it would now needs) that in ridden work you'd always struggle to get it off the forehand, certainly it would deffo struggle to get into anything resembling an outline, and would probably find it quite hard physically to do so - and if anyone did try it then my suspicion would be that it would struggle, i.e. pain/evasion issues. Also my gut reaction would be that being so heavy it front, it would lean on the bit very heavily and I suspect would be a puller, not through any fault of its own or deliberate vice, but purely because of the weight being in the wrong place and therefore it wouldn't be able to help itself basically, it would be totally weighted down on the forehand.
A real shame, coz my impression of this little horse was that he was a nice little chap and really wanted to please: he might just (only just) make a happy hacker, but would probably not ever be a really comfortable or pleasant hack TBH once a pulling/leaning habit had become established. Also saddle-fitting would be a total nightmare. He might however make a half-acceptable ride & drive, or even break him for purely driving, and forget about ridden work, might be the best option.
Which leads me on to the question: what importance do people place on conformation?? TBH I'd be prepared to overlook a few minor issues, or lumps and bumps (as long as the vet doesn't spin it!), but when issues of conformation hit you in the eye, and you can see them impacting on ridden work, then that gives pause for thought.
Thoughts/opinions folks?
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