Having trouble posting pictures hopefully the picture shows.
This mare is sickle hocked, hence why her feet of under her more. She is short backed and lacks depth in her croup - croup is heavily angled. That along with sickle hocks means a weaker hind end. Her should is decent as is her neck. She could struggle gaining sit in dressage. Her long pasterns will add to her hind end weakness, but they means a smoother trot for sitting. A guess would be second level horse. If she has good coordination maybe a third as need a flying change. I’ve seen horses with worse conformation do Third level, usually not well but this horse had advantages those didn’t, like a lighter front end. And an excellent personality for work can make up for a myriad of sins.
Thank you.
She came to me last month for training. She really lacked confidence. But, She tries so hard, really watches me and So far has been very trainable, she remembers everything.
Little to nothing can be properly critiqued about this picture, both due to her stance and the angle of the photo
You can’t call a horse sickle-hocked if they’re standing with their hind legs pulled forward. What’s seen here is stance - can’t take that to mean she’s sickle-hocked
Likewise, due to the front-centric angle of the photo, and her hind legs pulled under, you can’t assess the angle of her hind end
Her front pasterns do appear a little long, but until she stands with a vertical cannon bone, its function can’t be assessed. Longer, but more upright, is better than longer but more sloped
Her front legs are at least decently in front of her withers, that much we can see. Her shoulder’s a bit upright, but withing proper angles . But her shoulder angle - scapula to humerus - can’t really be assessed because of her stance. It will open once she’s standing properly. That said, it looks to be at least 90*, which is what you want
Neck tie-in is good - above the point of the shoulder and high enough out of the withers.
It’s hard to say, given her hind end stance, whether her loin is longer and flatter, or if that’s a function of the tilted pelvis, but wither location is nice (great for supporting saddle placement), and her back isn’t long.
You really need a much better conformation photo to assess much of anything else
If your goal is to be successful in competitive dressage, that horse is a no.
If you’re goal is dressage <2nd trail jump have fun then yes.
Well I would love to be successful at dressage lol.
Seeing the new pics:
She’s definitely not sickle hocked, but she does have a pretty good pelvic tilt as a discomfort issue, and not something I’d buy into. There’s no telling what’s there. If you really really love this horse, and the price is right, it could be worth seeing if you can lease her for a month or 2 and get some good body work done on her to see if things start improving
Her front feet need some work, they may actually have a 0* coffin bone. I’d definitely do at least a lateral xray of all 4 feet if you decided you wanted to buy her
She is standing like a goat on a rock. I’d plan on hoof rehab at a minimum to get her standing square. Asise front that, depends on your goals.
She is low in the heel for sure. She actually moves pretty evenly. Are you thinking she has something going on in her pelvis causing her to stand under herself?
Horses tilt their pelvis for a variety of reasons, from sore hind feet to sore SI or stifles, which unfortunately means someone just has to get their hands on her to see what’s what
Even when her hind leg is back, it angles forward. What is your definition of sickle hocked?
this isn’t sickle-hocked
Every picture where she looks sickle, is stance. This one has the slighest appearance of being sickle, but it’s due to that tipped pelvis.
Sickle hocks have an identifiable pastern angle, regardless of stance. It’s a straighter line between fetlock and hoof. This has normal angulation
Here’s a horse who’s camped under, and you can tell he’s sickle-hocked because of the straight line of his pastern between fetlock and hoof
You can also draw a line along the back of the back leg, when the leg is pulled forward. A sickle hock will have that line go behind the point of the butt, where a non-sickle line will still line up more or less with the point of the butt, assuming the pelvis isn’t tipped like in this case
Pics are not ideal, and honestly, I don’t think it is fair to post a critique on someone else’s horse.
@colorfan Buying any horse is always a jump into the unknown. You like her, you like her work ethic and she isn’t likely to be very expensive. You obviously don’t see glaring conformation faults in real life. It is hard to tell from the images. Buy her and see what you can develop. Any horse can do low level dressage, a horse with a good attitude can progress higher as their training improves them and sometimes a horse can far exceed everyone’s expectations. If she doesn’t work out as a dressage horse, there is always a good market for a well schooled young horse who has seen a bit of the world.
Edited to correct auto check: conformation is not confirmation. Grrr
I had some body work done, the only discomfort was possibly in her belly, I say possibly because this filly is very ticklish there, was not used to being touched on her lower belly so some of her reaction could have been to just being touched.
I appreciate the sentiment but I am asking for opinions. I know her conformation is not great,(front legs are not straight either) I am more wondering how being sickle hocked will affect her performance.
Generally speaking, what being sickle hocked does, is amplify stress on the legs.
I would not ask any horse with this fault to do much above basic training level. Could you do it? Sure. People do, but it will only bring on the arthritis faster, causing an early breakdown.
If this horse truly has sickle hocks - and I’m still not convinced, none of the pictures are really good enough, then it’s mild mild, and a horse with very mild sickle hocks should be able to do at least 2nd Level. That’s not hard training, not hard work (relatively speaking of course!), it’s a level that any Hunter showing at a even 2’9" should be able to do. If they can’t work to that level without breaking down, there’s something else doing on.
I still say this horse isn’t sickle-hocked, for the reason of the pastern angle I mentioned above. If anything, I think she may be a little camped out, which is better than sickle, all else equal. But until her pelvis tilt is resolved, I couldn’t say she’s camped out either.
A method to determine if a horse is sickle hocked that I was taught long ago:
Stand the horse with the back of the hock directly under the end of the butt. The ideal was that the cannons would be perfectly vertical. Small variations were to be expected. But if the cannons slope severely forward, the horse is sickle hocked (the front of the leg forms the sickle shape)
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
