Silly but, am I in the wrong?

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Florrie

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This has been playing on my mind for a while, but I feel quite mardy opening up about it!
A few weeks back, we was discussing why we bought our horses and I said I bought Tag for his laid back temperament and another livery who was in the discussion said "I wouldn't be surprised, his conformation is terrible. You clearly wasn't going for something with good conformation."
Bear in mind this is coming from a Livery who has all the prim and proper show horses with absolutely "perfect" conformation.

Needless to say, this did upset me. But am I in the wrong for buying a horse who doesn't have the best conformation in the world (trust me it's not as bad as she makes out!) but more for his temperament and character?
 
No not at all. A good horse is a good horse. One persons rock is another persons diamond etc!
Very rude of her to say that, but if your horse makes you happy and is everything you want, ignore everyone else!
 
You are not wrong at all. As long as you didn't buy your horse for breeding or high level showing/competing, so what! If it is sound and happy and is right for you, ignore what others say!
 
Ignore her. There are plenty of "perfect" looking horses out there who are mental or stupid! I'd much rather have something with a good temperament that doesn't have perfect conformation. TBF I don't think many leisure horses have perfect conformation - just like people. If we did, we'd all be models!

I've seen plenty of people buy pretty horses who are downright useless! I don't care for pretty field ornaments!
 
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Florrie said:
But am I in the wrong for buying a horse who doesn't have the best conformation in the world (trust me it's not as bad as she makes out!) but more for his temperament and character?
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Absolutely not. We buy horses for all sorts of reasons, and your reason is at the top of most people's list.
 
I wouldnt worry, yes perfect conformation is great but we go on temprement and attitude. Sons pony has a long back, short neck and very upright hocks but he jumps like a stag, hunts etc we wouldnt swap him for a pretty one just because it is pretty
 
I think temperament is probably the most important thing for most owners to consider when buying, good conformation is more important if you want a horse to go on and perform well as being well put together should, although not always, help it to work to it's full ability and hopefully stay sound doing so.

Your horse having raced 89 times cannot have such bad conformation otherwise he would have been likely to have broken down during training, if he is still sound now that is all credit to him, his trainer and you:)
 
Horses for courses. If your horse does the job you bought it for and its confirmation "issues" are not causing health / soundless problems then I wouldn't worry about it.
 
How rude, handsome is as handsome does! You could have bought a one eyed donkey, if you loved it and it did what you wanted and made you happy, who cares!
 
Just wanted to add he won over £45,000 racing, hardly a fortune considering the costs involved but far more than the show horse will win in it's lifetime.
 
You're not wrong at all and somebody who gets their jollies out of trying to upset and humiliate people isn't someone to pay attention to. If you love your horse and he's just what you wanted then you are very lucky. I suspect fancy show livery would secretly love what you have. Enjoy yourself and to h3ll with what other people think :D
 
amymay said:
Absolutely not. We buy horses for all sorts of reasons, and your reason is at the top of most people's list.
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This. Neither Reggie nor Smokey are tremendously well made, both are over at the knee and Smokey has long pasterns. They both could be described as sickle-hocked when they were under muscled, although now neither does oddly.

Both are superb horses, and ones which are genuinely desired by others! People who'd pass them by for the minor faults are the ones who missed out :D
 
That person just sounds like a wee bit of a snob to me. Horses for courses - as long as ponios conformation is so bad that it's suffering (would have to be fairly extreme!), what does it matter? If you want do something where certain conformation would affect him, or breed, that's different. But if you want a confidence giver and a good friend, the textbook conformation won't guarantee you that. There was a thread on here a while ago about some girls making snide comments about a cobby pony (I think she belongs to OldBat) - but the pony looks an absolute superstar with a massive ping and loads of fun. Their loss.
 
Thank you guys! I'm glad people on here with me agree.
And I cannot quote on my phone but Be Positive - he is as sound as they come! He is 12 and still going strong.
I did say to her, he was bred to go as quickly as possible around a racetrack, not to prance around a show ring and look pretty!
His worst point is the fact he has a slightly high bum and big knees for a TB but that's nothing to me.
 
FubsyMog said:
That person just sounds like a wee bit of a snob to me. Horses for courses - as long as ponios conformation is so bad that it's suffering (would have to be fairly extreme!), what does it matter? If you want do something where certain conformation would affect him, or breed, that's different. But if you want a confidence giver and a good friend, the textbook conformation won't guarantee you that. There was a thread on here a while ago about some girls making snide comments about a cobby pony (I think she belongs to OldBat) - but the pony looks an absolute superstar with a massive ping and loads of fun. Their loss.
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I had someone make comments about my new one last year. He's not the prettiest horse and there's nothing striking about him (apart from a slightly odd colour) but he's a super star... you could put a child on him to hunt, he will jump anything you put him in front of (3rd ever SJ comp at the weekend and he popped around a 90cm J/O course like it wasn't there), and he's a thoroughly nice person to boot. So I say ba*ls to those who asked why I'd bought him! ;)
 
CC - that's exactly the kind of horse I would be after when I'm in a position to buy - he sounds ace. I think we need to see piccies of these 'ugly' horses (mainly so I can covet them!):D:D
 
Not at all my horse looks lovely till you go behind and she is cow hocked but she is the best horse i have ever owned would never give her up i would tell that livery to get stuffed :D
 
Wow! Manners cost nothing eh!?!

What a rude, stuck up brat! would she say that about a fellow human being?

No, you're totally not in the wrong. Conformation CAN matter but it isn't the be all and end all. A friend of mine had a horse with THE most HORRIFIC conformation (by her own admittance) but he was still carting her across the countryside quite happily at 20+...
 
be positive said:
I think temperament is probably the most important thing for most owners to consider when buying, good conformation is more important if you want a horse to go on and perform well as being well put together should, although not always, help it to work to it's full ability and hopefully stay sound doing so.

Your horse having raced 89 times cannot have such bad conformation otherwise he would have been likely to have broken down during training, if he is still sound now that is all credit to him, his trainer and you:)
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^^^^this
 
How rude! I'd be upset too at such blatant bitchy comments!
I'd rather have a horse with a brilliant temperament than one that looks 'perfect' any day.

Sounds like the person who said that is jealous/insecure about something if she feels the need to make you feel like crap and put your horse down. Maybe her show horses aren't so easy to handle and she is actually jealous of yours!?

I know it's hard but try forget about it and ignore anything else she says! :)
 
Sound like sour grapes to me. Temperament and attitude are worth far more than confirmation - even in a competitive environment - just look at some of the eventers at 4* level - some are lovely but some look like they have giraffe or elephant somewhere pretty close in their pedegree and they compete at the highest level because they have a good heart.
 
Personally I've never cared about confirmation, although of course I look over the horse when I go to see it and may be put off it there was something badly wrong. But generally its not high on my list - most important thing is temperament and attitude. A horse with amazing confirmation yet a miserable temperament gives you nothing but anything with a decent temperament there's hope for! My grey doesn't have amazing confirmation, but he has the most amazing temperament hence he did well competing.
 
Florrie said:
This has been playing on my mind for a while, but I feel quite mardy opening up about it!
A few weeks back, we was discussing why we bought our horses and I said I bought Tag for his laid back temperament and another livery who was in the discussion said "I wouldn't be surprised, his conformation is terrible. You clearly wasn't going for something with good conformation."
Bear in mind this is coming from a Livery who has all the prim and proper show horses with absolutely "perfect" conformation.

Needless to say, this did upset me. But am I in the wrong for buying a horse who doesn't have the best conformation in the world (trust me it's not as bad as she makes out!) but more for his temperament and character?
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OP I am in my mid 50's a life time horse owner. I have had very expensive horses in my time and now have a part shire with a short neck and post legged. Of all the many show and competition horses I have owned over the years this is the one I love . He's great. only cost me £200.
Its nothing to do with anyone else. Personally I'd tell the snotty c*^ to push her comments up her own ----where the sun dont shine.
Just love your horse and have loads of fun with him, its none of her or anyone elses business. Of course her vicious comments upset you, you love your horse, bet she doesnt love hers.
 
Rude and pay her no mind.

I do care about conformation from a breeding point of view and by that I mean that every horse has something to be improved. As far as my little diamond of a TB mare that I ride, she got every bad trait in the book. Long back,shortish legs, over at the knee, and is not a real beauty but she tries her heart out. Never says no and always dependable. She'd never impress except when you're on her. And that's all that matters. Everyone needs a Heidi in the herd!

Honestly it's not worth worrying about. Stupid comment from a silly girl.

Terri
 
I think it is a little of the green eyed monster from your fellow livery!

I have a beautiful horse, really stunning to look at but bu**er me what I wouldn't give for a sane level headed kind horse! I love my horse a lot but would never buy him if I had my time over again.
So no I think you are very sensible to have a honest kind horse you can have fun with.
 
Give me temperament over looks any day! I think that applies to all the important things in my life...horses, dogs, OH :D:D:D!

Having a daily battle with a pretty thing that may behave like a complete t!t is absolutely no fun in my books. My boy wasn't the prettiest but he tried his absolute heart out for me. Steady as a rock out hacking, loved his cross country and he had the kindest eyes ever. I was looking for an ISH, bay, definitely not a coloured, 16.2hh something pretty basically...and came home with a 16hh cob, coloured and massively overweight as a project. Would I have swapped him...not on your life.

Ignore your fellow livery and relish in the knowledge that you have a real poppet on your hands
 
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