Here's A Critique And A Half For You To Do

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Tia

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Been out this afternoon giving the old horses a little bit of extra care and attention. We are in the middle of a very mild Canadian winter so only -15 Celsius tonight. Horse below lives out 24/7 and is fed ad-lib hay and the soaked oats diet with sunflower seeds, hi-fibre pellets and a teeny little bit of coarsemix.

Have as much fun as you wish with your critiques with this horse and might be interesting if you make your reply before you read the codicil on the end of this post.

P.S. I took this picture of this horse about half an hour ago so it is very up to date:

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Codicil:

As previously said; this horse lives out 24/7 in sub-zero conditions . He hasn't been ridden for a couple of months and has basically retired from any major riding.

He is 21 years old and was backed at 18 months and then broken at 3 years old. He has won several 100 mile Long Distance Rides; the last LDR won by him was 3 years ago. This horse did a fair amount of showing in his heyday.

He was given to me a year and a half ago and has basically been kept ticking over since then, hence his lack of muscle-tone. He only goes out for a ride every couple of months however he has shown no signs of arthritis, is always sound and doesn't have a problem bombing around the field during the summer months.
 
Does he like his beer
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He;s cute and I know nothing about conformation although I haver had lessons on the subject but not enough years and experience. All my husband has said is "boxy feet" but he's even more novice than me and I think that's all he knows
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LOL!! No boxy feet are definitely not something he has......although he has just come out of the pond so I can see why you may think that.
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Bless him, his tummy is round isn't it - it does look like he's been on the beer!
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I think he's rather nicely put together actually. My immediate reaction was that his legs looked really short, but I think it's actually his tummy giving that impression!!
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Is he a bit rump high? His back looks a bit dippy, but considering his age that's unremarkable.
Am I waaaaay off? I don't really do conformation except as an overall impression thing
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I think his legs are quite short though - he's only 15.2hh and now with his "old man" belly, it seems to make them look even shorter.

No you're not way off - tricky one to do really as what they look like in their prime is often significantly lost when they get old. Bless him, I always feel that he seems much older than he is. He's sweet though and he must have been a good horse as he has only ever had one owner in his life, and then she gave him to me.
 
I hack three or four time a week with a friend and her horse reminds me of yours. Her horse is an Anglo Arab and is very greedy so he has a big belly and no ribs showing. He is 24 and still very 'on his toes'. The chestnut horse on the left.
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Sorry its so big.
 
He's 15.2?
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- I was gonna say he was more 13.2/14hh

Looks a nice sort and looks in good condition considering his age
 
Is that Red?

From memory he looks chunkier than when you first had him. I love his short little legs. Such a friendly looking horse. Conformationally I don't think anything about him is way off given his age etc.

I bet he's a perfect gent.
 
Aww he's lovely! Makes a big difference when they are ridden frequently. I have seen Red go downhill a lot since he hardly gets ridden anymore. Red is on Loan to one of my boarders so I don't really have much say in how much or how little he is exercised, but I think if she did do more with him then he would look better. When I rode him a fair amount he still had decent muscle-tone but this has pretty much gone now.

LOL!! The bellies are the same though!
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Yes it is Red. Here is a picture of him about 10 months ago, a couple of months before I gave him on Loan to one of my boarders. At this point in time we were riding him once or twice a week.

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He looks so much better there with your OH at the wheel...so to speak!

Just looks all untoned now, but even so, not as bad as you'd expect given the colder weather and living out 24/7, not to mention not being ridden as much as when you had him. Lets face it, it's harder for all of us to stay in shape the older we get. Boo hoo

Do you still get the smiley emails?
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(oooo....make that emails???????????????
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ETA: He doesn't look quite so special and look at me now does he? Poor soul. Looks happy enough though
 
That's nice you of you to say, he is a lovely boy for 24, my friend has owned him since he was 4. He's great fun out hacking but my horse is a lot more sensible (age 9) so sorry for hijacking your post but it just seemed appropriate because of age and type.
 
No thank goodness!! She sends me those silly FWD emails that she sends to everyone and his dog....but she never sends me personal emails anymore. Probably hasn't for at least 8 months.

I think he has gone downhill a lot too - he looked much better when hubby was riding him frequently.
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Is there not a possibility of having him back now that your OH is based over there more? His own special horse...or has he claimed Spotty now? Come to think of it, do you still have spotty?
 
You know it's something I have thought of a fair amount recently. Hubby really likes Red and has been riding an awful lot more than he used to. He was saying just the other day how much he always enjoyed riding Red - to be honest he would likely ride him more than he gets right now.

His loaner only comes up on rent-day and the last time he was ridden was probably back in October. I might suggest that hubby rides him once in a while to keep him ticking over for her??
 
Oh I'd do more than that!

I'd tell her how circumstances have changed now J is in the country more and he always thought of Red as his partner. Just say you'd like to take him back and cancel the loan agreement.

Seems a shame to let him remain a field ornament when you have a jockey eager to ride and a horse equally as willing and eager to please. Red seems such a fabulous gent. Shame to let his talents for babysitting the OH go to waste.

You could always offer a share to the loanee!
 
She used to be a sharer of him but then she fell in love with him and asked for full loan of him. I get on really well with her and she is lovely so I think I will see what she thinks of hubby exercising him for her. She always calls before she comes up so it isn't like we would have him out when she arrived.

Oh and yes, the adorable Spotty is still here! Hubby told me, at the same time as we were having the conversation about Red, that he has never felt that he clicked with Spots.......LOL!!

Jeez takes him 3 years to tell me that my Valentines Day present to him sucks!
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I think maybe Spots has too much personality for him. Cheeky horse isn't he?

Red is that rock steady dependable guy we all know and love!

I better get off to bed. Going on a pleasure ride tomorrow and will need all my strength to hold an excitable Patches when we hit the grass!
 
Yes Spots is cheeky and a load of fun.

Night night - I have to go off now to make dinner. Sleep well - have loads of fun tomorrow.
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long upright pasterns in his hind legs, croup high (altho might be the angle and lack of condition contributing to this) quite straight through his hocks but for his age looking and the fact that he hasnt been worked for a while hes looking good
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Looks exactly like a horse at my yard who is 14 and ridden by a 70 year old man. He has a belly, his coat is shiny, his eyes are bright, but owing to the fact that he walks and does short trots out for half hour a day, he has not a lot of muscle, hence resembles your pony! I schooled him yesterday as the owner was away and he cantered for the first time in a year (hilarious!) and did the smallest bit of ‘proper’ work….

Looks great to me, I was expecting a snow horse owing to the fact it is so cold… actually looks better than you would expect for something of his age!
 
He is not looking bad for an oldie living out 24 x 7. That said, definately not as good as the pic with your OH on him.

Personally having had golden oldies in the past and still do, providing they are sound, I am great believer in regular work - keeps them going and they seem to thrive better on it.

Vet has advised keeping Cairo in work for as long as possible - and if you had seen him racing down the bridleway Thursday you would have laughed to see an old clydie flat out and loving every minute of it with me perched in the western saddle whooping away.

Bet Red was a cracker in his younger days and I would love to see him back in work and enjoying himself - from the sound of it he was one active horse and they often hate to be retired and lose interest in life, seem sad and go downhill.
 
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they often hate to be retired and lose interest in life, seem sad and go downhill.

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That's my take on it.
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2007 - a New Year - time for a new contract methinks; hopefully one that will help everyone, including old Red.

I have another old horse, Kate. She is 19 years old and she is still in regular work - she rides out at least 3 or 4 times per week and she looks fabulous compared to the old lad.
 
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