Barrel Horse Prospect?

[WhiskeyFlash]

Hello,
Looking for some opinions.
I have come across a Dash For Cash, Streakin Six (grand sire is First Down Dash) gelding that has most of the attributes I look for in a barrel horse. Nice breeding, long underline, quick start, straight leg movement, deep girth, nice muscle, clean feet.
The shoulder and hip could be a tad longer, and hocks a little lower to the ground, not quite as cowy as I usually buy but I can live with that.
The main thing I’m not sure about is his back, most for my barrel horses have a nice strong, short and straight back. This gelding has a decent dip in his back, a lot more than any of my previous barrel horses. Will this affect his performance or cause issues over time?

Thanks In Advance!

[Dani]

It could be the way he’s built, or it could be lordosis. Lordosis usually doesn’t cause any issues other that saddle fit until it progresses to the point that a saddle won’t fit the horse no matter what. It usually doesn’t even get that bad. My first step would be to look at the oldest pictures I could find of this horse and compare his spine in each. If it looks the same, then he just has a prominent wither and his back isn’t changing, if it’s more pronounced now then it could be lordosis and depending on how long you’re wanting to use him for barrels you might want to look elsewhere.

[beau159]

Can you post a picture? Hard to tell what’s going on, just from a description.

Most conformation “issues” like this are usually not an issue for the horse at all. Just makes it an issue for saddle fitting.