Just curious, but what conformation flaws are deal breakers for you when looking at horses? I realize this may be different depending upon the discipline, so maybe mention that, too.
Over at the knee. Not that it is a no go for dressage horses necessarily, but it just looks so wrong I couldnāt live with it every day.
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I dislike long backs and I wonāt touch long pasterns.
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Horses that twist the hind leg at the walk. You know youāre just begging for hock problems.
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Long pasterns, long back, over at the knee, and roach back.
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Answering my own question (ha!), but long backs are definitely my red-flag. Iām also pretty turned off by horses that are too upright in the shoulder or toe-in.
Long pasterns or hyperextending fetlocks. I donāt mind long backs!
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Back at the knee and upright pasterns
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Upright pasterns are an interesting one to me, as Iām on the fence about that flaw. Obviously really upright is a disaster waiting to happen, but the slightly upright onesā¦wellā¦itās a maybe for me. Just curious, what discipline do you ride?
Back at the knee sickle hocks, long weak pasterns, and long weak backs.
long backs, weak loins (skinny waists), lowset necks, long pasterns, toeing in.
Ewe necks, roach backs, sway backs, post legged, knock kneed or cow hocked. Most everything else Iāll take a chance on, depending on the job :lol:
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Huh! Iām good with a longish sloping pastern. Not too long obviously or too sloping. Short, upright pasterns are more of a no-no for me.
I donāt mind ever so slight toeing in but canāt abide toeing out in the front. A little bit behind is a-ok in my books.
Ultimately Iām more interested in how the āpackageā looks. I can live with a few individual flaws if overall the horse appears strong and functional. Must say that an excessively long back is an automatic no go.
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I guess itās not a conformational flaw but small eyes get a pass from me. Do they still call them āpig eyesā? I never liked that term, but that is the kind of eye I am talking about.
Roach backs would also be a no.
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Built downhill, along with some of the already mentioned.
Iām with ohmyheck.
Itās too hard to make rules. Some of my best and most iron-clad/sound type horses have been, long-backed, twisted the hind legs on each step, paddlers, pigeon-toed, club-footed, long-pasterned, shitty-footed, roach-backed, and so on. And weāre talking horses that have shown at the higher levels of the jumper world (1.40m+). Itās all about how the rest of the body is put together around (or to compensate for) that flaw.
On a side note and to aregardās point - Iāve had several horses who twisted the hind legs with each step and none of them have wound up with hock problems (nor hind end problems in general) EXCEPT when a farrier has tried to ācorrectā the twisting. But beyond one foray in that (wrong) direction with my current top horse, that hasnāt wound up being indicative of anything.
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Yup. It all depends.
This too. But an upright shoulder and/or upright pasterns get a pass from me. I donāt like wasp-waistedness or ewe necks. Not a fan of Roman noses but if the rest of the package fits together well I can live with it, so long as the Roman nose isnāt part of a big heavy head. Iāll take slightly over at the knee but never back.
It depends. Are we talking a prospect or a horse successfully doing the job?
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Oh gosh Iām with you on a lot of this but I do feel weak-kneed around a Roman nose!! ~ (but not too Roman ā¦ see I have a theme ;)) - And especially on a big heavy head lol :lol:.
Funny how weāre all wired differently 
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