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CANTER Cutie - BUT he's a 7yo stallion... thoughts?

Sounds like a really bad case of the slows…

I am with findeight completely on this one; he might be a worthwhile project ( at a lower price) for some with experience to reclaim and reschool, but I wouldn’t recommend him for a first timer with a board meter running.

I can’t tell if he’s actually camped out behind or just how he ended up standing that particular day. I’m with the others who are more concerned with his downhill balance, and pretty much his whole front half. Neck, shoulder and front legs. He looks particularly crooked on his right front, with a wide stance that toes in. If I were to guess, I’d say he might wing a bit. He also looks long in the pasterns.

Are you looking for a hunter or a jumper? This horse isn’t going to move like a hunter but I personally think it’s probably going to be a nice jumper prospect. Maybe not the world’s easiest to package but it will have plenty of power behind. I bet he’ll be scopey. Nice looking horse. Doubt it has much of a trot but I don’t really care about that. He’s downhill but the fact his neck is tied on high will help make the balance easier and help the rider with keeping him off the forehand. I’d like to see its canter before deciding, I would want it to be pretty floaty and nice and not on the forehand. If that was good I’d be happy with the horse as a prospect. I don’t know if this is the one above all others I would choose, but he’s cute.

As for the late stallion, I’d get one as long as my facility had the option of individual turnout because I’ve known it to go very well and I’ve also known them not to settle as well and need individual turnout. So…if I knew the horse was going to need to be in a herd situation, I’d be reluctant, unless I was willing to switch barns over it. My place I can do whatever, so I wouldn’t care.

Also, have a late stallion gelded at a clinic. They can have bleeding and other issues much more than weanlings. Better to have it done at a place where treatment was available fast if things go south. This is pretty standard advice but while we are on the topic thought I’d mention it.

I’m just going to mention that I know the trainer, and he is very caring about his horses, and honest. I don’t know anything about this horse, just that the trainer is a nice guy.

[QUOTE=kashmere;8405504]
The exact book I’m thinking of escapes me (Dressage in Harmony, Walter Zettl, maybe?) but there is a great illustration showing how untrained, green, and advanced horses carry weight under saddle using parallelograms, so an untrained/young horse carries weight on the forehand like this (imagine horse moving toward the right of the screen): //, a horse in intermediate/green stages of training will be more equal: ||, and horses who are advanced in their training will shift weight back, so they look more like __. All this to say, I bet it would be tough to get this guy to even the || stage, because he is built to go //.[/QUOTE]

That is a useful illustration :slight_smile:

I was recently half leasing a horse that was pulled out of a field and gelded late. He had a fine temperament, and no issues being turned out with mares AFAIK.
I’m with the others who find his confo to be questionable at best.