what makes a good county level Maxi cob?

Luci07

Luci07

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A friend and I sat (in the pouring rain) to watch the 2nd half of the maxi cob class at Hickstewd yesterday. I felt so very sorry for all the owners/riders/grooms who had put so much into these horses prep only for the efforts to be washed away.

Said friend has a very lovely cob which it was suggested would do well in this class hence watching it carefully.

At the end, I "think" the judges wanted a cob who matched both ends (not over muscled in front etc), one that seemed to be good off the leg and forward as well as polite. Saw a lot with very pretty heads (said mare has a lovely head and we weren't sure that was required for this class)

All the cobs were lovely, some really noble looking. So....show experts...what exactly do the judges want? At a top level.
 
Correct confo, manners and more manners, light and schooled off the forehand ride that goes and stops with the merest of aids . Quality bone, depth a good step and an awesome gallop.
 
Ah yes bone....how much? Because there was a big difference in height and bone in the (one) class we saw. Mare is lovely and polite, forward off the leg and has a very good engine. Her acceleration matched that of my event mare! I had a vision of overheight heavy weight cobs but that didn't seem to be the case yesterday.
 
Maxi or any cob have to ride like a Ferrari on the lightest of aids, bone needs to meet the requirement for LW or HW for maxi cobs.
They need to be noble/attractive (I'm aware this can be in the eye of the beholder;)) A maxi must still be a cob type so short, stocky, compact, but still capable of working. Topline not over topped.
 
Once you ve a horse with the correct conformation , is well schooled and mannered ,MOVEMENT is the only other main criteria. So many cobs/maxis fall down at this hurdle. At top level they must move like a hunter - active through the shoulder, as little knee action as possible and cover ground/gallop . In fact you can get away with some conformation faults [ eg poor shaped feet, a bit of dishing] as long as they move well. Different judges have differing ideas of a perfect cob [ except the outstanding such as Hallmark,] that you d need a season s campaigning to see where your horse fits in. R I D S ,either pure or part bred ,do ver well.
 
Not mine but my friends. The mare is actually British warmblood X proper full up traditional gypsy cob. Both "parents"' were very well put together. The mare has been schooled and worked with a view to carrying on up the grades with dressage so the well schooled and polite is a given. It was a question over bone and head as she does not have a remotely cobby head. Thank you all, I will pass this onto my friend.
 
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