Things to look out for when viewing a foal?

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Pinky94

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So, fingers crossed i'm going to be buying a foal for myself with plans to maybe show in-hand until mature enough to become my ridden horse & best friend! What else should I be looking out for apart from temperament of both foal & parents which I will be available to view and straightness of limbs. I have experience with foals as have worked on a stud farm previously.

A few i'm going to see tomorrow bred by the same person, not had much handling but i'm okay with that as i'd rather have baby trust me from the get go.

Anything else I should look out for?

Thanks in advance
 
how lovely! If you have experience with foals you will know better than I did when I bought mine (18 months ago). I fell for him but when the vet did his 2 stage vetting she pointed out a huge hernia - I had seen it but not realised what it was (as he was a colt I idiotically thought it was a bit of his kit!!). I felt really stupid and it held up the process, while the seller had him operated on and he recuperated before he could come home. He is fine now but it would have been better if I'd had more of a clue earlier.

I'd have a vetting done too, it will obviously only be 2 stage, but well worth it. How exciting... show us some pics. Oh - and try as hard as you possibly can to give your foal some similar aged company. Very important for their development into a well adjusted adult.
 
So, I went to view the foals this evening, and ended up falling in love with a yearling by the same stallion. hehe woops. :p

She's wonderful, left her friends and came walking straight over for a scratch and wouldn't leave me alone!

Also met the stallion, who is a stunning warmblood. The most wonderful temperament you could wish for which he has definitely passed on!

A few pictures. None of them are very good as she didn't want to stand still or straight for long enough :o Sorry for the size of them!

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Daddy
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That's the way it goes sometimes. :) There was a thread on here a few days ago about 'clicking' with certain horses and it looks like that's what happened to you with this filly. :D
 
Sounds like you have made your decision. Technically if looking at a foal with a big frame you want the legs to be slightly toe out but evenly so with no limb deviation. long legs in comparison to the body and a short compact body.
Mostly because as the chest fills out the legs come straight if they start out too straight they will end up toe in, Short and compact as a foal as they lengthen as they grow up and long legs as they dont grow and sometimes the legs are dumpy with a heavy body. Then a nice person and for me a very pretty head as they get plainer as they age too as the head lengthens
If you love your little filly she will have a super home with you and you may end up inseparable
 
Erm, a couple of things: what is it you ultimately want to do with this horse? The pictures, whilst cute, aren't really very useful as to conformation, etc. What has daddy (and mummy) done? Other than confirming it has a heart & lungs, I don't really see the point of vetting a yearling, and the fact that "it won't leave me alone" doesn't really point to anything useful. I'm sure you are "in love", but in the grand scheme of things horses are not really very sentimental beings and a pragmatic, practical approach will ultimately be more useful in securing you a reliable riding horse. As for buying yourself a new best friend; doesn't work that way. Good luck!
 
Maybe the pictures aren't that great, but I didn't ask you for your opinion. I'm looking for a horse that I can have grow up with over the next few years until rideable and then is going to be my riding horse to hack, hunt jump and do whatever I want to with. I'm going to get a vetting done for my own peace of mind. Her sire was bred and graded in germany and was brought over to the uk and had a short but successful eventing career.
 
The pictures are not good and what is the dam & why was the pairing done?

What society is the sire graded with?

TBH if you want to show, that filly has a lot against her just with blue eyes & her markings. Yearlings often look like cut & shuts but is she cow hocked?
 
Actually you did ask for opinions. Things to look out for include conformation, inherited ability from sire & dam (depending on what you intend to do with the horse), potential trainability and temperament. Don't ask for advice if all you want is gushing.
 
The foal I was going to view in the first place has much better markings than this girl does, and I agree that she doesn't have the best shot in the show ring, and i'm fine with that (:
 
The piccies aren't showing the filly in a great light. When you go next, take some nice confo pictures and maybe we can help give you some more informed thoughts on her :smile3:
 
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