Hi everyone, I’m looking at picking up a TB mare that’s pretty skinny, and wondering how much her conformation might change once she gets back to normal weight. She came off the track last October due to a suspensory injury. She’s been rehabbed and has just been sitting in a field ever since, so has lost all her muscle and quite a bit of weight. She’s not emaciated, just ribby, and of course looks a lot skinnier due to no muscle tone. What I’m most concerned about is that the way she stands now, she looks very narrow behind. I’m just not sure how much proper weight and muscling would affect that. Any advice is appreciated.
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That is a classic pain stance from NPA (negative palmar/plantar angle) behind and/or up front. Fix the feet and she will begin to stand less under herself and stand over more ground. Those hind feet both look bullnosed and terribly long.
Beautiful mare. Thank you for giving her a soft landing.
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Thanks, beowulf. The guy told me that he’d take $ equivalent to killer buyer for her, because right now, if she doesn’t get sold, that’s her next stop. 
She doesn’t have a stunning pedigree, but better than average. And she had 44 starts, (mostly knocking around in the claiming ranks) so she’s got some toughness to her. Here’s her pedigree, to any who are interested: https://www.pedigreequery.com/alluring+approval
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Personally I think she will change a lot. One of my mares was severely under weight and malnutritioned when I got her off the track. A few years later she is just now showing her true shape. Her feet were awful and very very tiny. They are normal size now but went through countless abscesses to get here.
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I like her expression. Good luck with her
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Ataxia from being thin can make them stand close in the back. Once the weight is back on and they regain muscle this can change.
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In general OTTB have good functional conformation and they look fantastic once they are in good shape. But they can look just pitiful when they are underweight, and they drop weight faster than other breeds.
Conformation per se does not really change with weight, because conformation is the hard wired bone and joint angles. In most OTTB these are good.
I agree that this is a pain or stiffness stance behind. I’ve seen it in other horses and seen it resolve.
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No advice, but I want to see her 4 months from now in your care. I love her face.
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Her conformation won’t change at all, but her stance and posture will change.
I don’t necessarily see NPA in any feet, but the angle of the photos doesn’t lend well to properly critiquing anything
Any sore body part can make a horse stand in a way that skews real conformation. Just being thin doesn’t do that, and in fact, being thin makes it easier to see the true conformation.
This is a body soreness issue, not a weight issue. How easily that can be resolved, if ever, entirely depends on what’s going on
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Did you decide to buy her or not?
I did! As a matter of fact, the shipper is picking her up early tomorrow morning, and she should be here early afternoon. Will definitely take a couple pics of her once she’s settled in a bit and post them here. 
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Good luck with her. I think she has a nice pedigree. She’ll look good when she has some groceries and a farrier/vet consult.
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I agree, more like the other way, club foot possible.
I just got a horse thru an odd deal that had similar problems.
Seller had older pictures, horse had been turned out for a year in another state as rider was old and had quit riding.
When horse came, with great apologies from seller, horse was so skinny, a 2, barely 3 and hooves had been chopped to nubs and was very footsore.
Vet took x-rays, both fronts were similar to that mare and had palmar angles showing club foot, surprisingly plantar angles was one negative, the other fine, soles very thin all around.
Horse was standing behind like that mare, other than less sickle hocked, more straight.
Excellent farrier did such a great work horse walked out sound right away with first set of shoes, not enough foot to shoe behind.
Horse has been on rehab, not being ridden yet, until now starting slowly.
Tomorrow will be three months, just had second set of x-rays and shoes on all around, to protect new hoof growth, he may not need them later, he has good feet growing out now.
Sole is normal thickness now and the angles have corrected wonderfully without over stressing suspensory apparatus, always a worry with those changes.
His stride has gained from a painful shuffle to stepping under himself and wonderfully loose shoulders.
Horse has gained so much it doesn’t look like the same horse at all.
Since OP just bought her, now the task is to figure a plan to get her back in fair shape.
I would start with a comprehensive vet exam, x-rays do help, proper good foot care, sensible nutrition, we followed the Davis re-feeding protocol of several meals of very pretty alfalfa hay initially, then started adding senior feed, etc.
Good luck with her, have a name picked up yet? 
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She arrived early yesterday afternoon, as expected. She is pretty ribby, and almost no muscling whatsoever. I decided to turn her out with my other guys this morning, and she’s pretty timid- spending most of her time well away from them. She had a pretty bad wound on the front of her right shoulder that is still healing, but doesn’t look too bad. In true track horse “fashion”, she has absolutely no heels on her feet to speak of.
I do need to clarify something I said in my original post. I stated she was bound for slaughter, but I was mistaken. The guy said he knew what horses were going for, and he wasn’t going to let her go for that. I took it to mean he wanted at least what he would’ve gotten for her at a sale, but actually meant he wouldn’t sell her that cheap to ensure she wouldn’t end up there. The guy turned out to be very caring about where his horses end up and wanted to make sure she would be safe. Just wanted to state that, in case anyone happens to know who she was with. He’s a relative of a very BNT in the racing business, and sincerely cares about the horses in his charge.
All that being said, here’s a couple quick pics of her. I haven’t decided on a barn name for her yet, but so far have been referring to her as Aly. Any suggestions are welcome!
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Keep taking pictures, in a month she will look so much better.
We normally try to find new horse’s old name.
If they don’t come with one most, given a bit of time, practically name themselves.
Aly is nice sounding and ties in well with her registered name.
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I see a really good-looking horse under that thinness and odd stance 
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Congrats on your new beauty!! Please update as she blossoms in your care.
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Yay!!! Like I said 4 month update- a different horse. Her face is so great.
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If I may suggest, maybe keep an eye on the herd dynamics, she might feel too weak to defend herself.
I foolishly put my thin rescue out with my mare and he could barely stay out of her way, he was so weak. I kept them separate until he recovered a bit, at least a month.
She’s beautiful.
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This is what I see as well. Choice of farrier, and most likely followed by chiro as well, is going to be really important in getting this mare pain free.
edited to add: JB you were tagged on this because I was attempting to quote multiple people, and I failed miserably, LOL.
I agree with you about conformation not changing, yet I find it almost miraculous how much it can appear to change once their posture changes and the body can relax.
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