I don’t think she is at all “fat”, but I would be concerned about how short and thick her neck appears to be at this age. Not in a “deal breaker” fashion, but it is something to keep an eye on for sure.
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I’ve mentioned my friend’s “pony on stilts” before. He was a Connemara/TB cross. Sire 14.1 hands and dam 15. He finished at nearly 17 hands, but wore a size 75 blanket! He had some pony-tude but was a talented fellow.
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I think she’s lovely! Regarding her neck, at 2 weeks I was a bit worried about my geldings neck length, and I’ll say at as a now almost 2 year old, I think he’s maturing quite nicely and his neck has definitely lengthened a bit! Now I’m just crossing everything that he keep growing to be the size I need!
The first picture is from last week, the two baby pictures are at 2 weeks! I adore him, and he has changed SO much!
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Ohhhh, so cute!! He’s much more refined than mine, even at 2 weeks! What’s his breeding?
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At @saturnalian e got much chunkier looking as he aged! He was born 6/29 and these are pictures of him middle of September of that year. He’s looking much more modern again now, they really change a lot!
He’s a Greenstone Farm baby, by On Target GSF out of Special Delivery GSF. I was really hoping he’d get his mom’s spots but no such luck. There are four babies from this cross and they are all geldings, one pinto and the rest rather plain bays!
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Greenstone is right in my backyard! Very cool!!
Totally feel you on the spots, lol - interesting that only 1 baby has been tobiano out of 4. Genetics can be so frustrating!! The pair I originally signed the contract for was going to be 100% tobiano but 50% buckskin 50% smoky black and I was just hoping to not get smoky black… but I absolutely wanted homozygous tobiano (I would’ve been so sad if I got a plain smoky black lol). My filly’s dam is actually only heterozygous but it all worked out!
I love your gelding’s snip, and he definitely takes after his father!! How tall is he vs his parents?
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@saturnalian That is so cool! I have known them for years, they are wonderful people who breed lovely, lovely horses! Murphy went to the YHS in MD last weekend and qualified for the finals! He is really growing up to be a lovely, lovely boy! His dad I believe is 17.2hh and his dam is around 16.2hh I’d say. I haven’t put a stick on him yet but I think he’s about 15.3/16hh currently.
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I will say that I own a tall rectangle horse. Extremely short back and long legs for his 16.3hh body. He is a very hard ride because if he isn’t perfectly balanced he tends to hit himself. I have to really work to hold him together and if he gets strung out he just falls apart. With that being said, he is EXTREMELY athletic and when he has himself together he is a total blast. I’m just not sure I would choose this conformation again.
This filly is adorable!
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what was his blanket size? I was always amazed that my 17h 1500lb WB wore “only” a size 80, because that’s how relativley short his back was, though he didn’t really look it when you saw him. But he also wore a 60" long girth, and 36/38" short girth, so he was NOT narrow, further astonishing that his blanket size was only 80"
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I have to really work to hold him together and if he gets strung out he just falls apart. With that being said, he is EXTREMELY athletic and when he has himself together he is a total blast. I’m just not sure I would choose this conformation again.
This filly is adorable!
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Amen to this. I have one too, she’s a teeny bit more “baroque” in that her legs aren’t alien proportions long, but short backed, high set neck, hip angle that really propels. She launches me naturally during upwards transitions.
My trainer will literally say to me, “take her apart and put her back together”, which means bend/counterbend renvers/travers like a Rubik’s cube until she files it away correctly. And then the angels come out and the lofty gaits feel transcendent…for a few strides!
Then I hop on my OTTB and it’s like driving a Subaru, smooth enough, you know where you’re going.
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my guy is in between a 76" and a 78" his 76" is slightly too small but the 78" is slightly too big. It is a huge pain in the butt getting him clothed. He uses a 56" girth, he probably could go with a 58’ but I am still barely getting it on. After he came to me I was talking to my farrier about him hitting him self and she was like “DUH! I’m sure he hits himself! have you ever looked at how he is built?” 
Totally agree! I spent the first year that I had him riding him exclusively. I leased out my homebred 1/4 Andalusian to one of my trainer’s students and was determined to make it work with him. Within that year I totally thought I had forgot to ride and went to my trainer to discuss options. She made me get on my mare again (mostly because she had been on my gelding and knew what I was trying to explain. I was like “oh I didn’t forget how to ride. It is just him”
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that IS short! LOL
So while we were visiting, we had a photographer come out - these pictures make me feel a lot better about her neck and build!!
(my husband took the last one)
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@saturnalian, she may be a little chunky but she’s awfully pretty. 
Thank you for the updates.
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What a cutie! Congratulations!
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well, when she goes through the two yr old fuglies and you despair, you can send her to me. I will even pay shipping. Just pm me 
She is adorable - really - I think you have a keeper!!
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Thank you so much, all!! She’s so damn cute, lol. Let’s see if she grows into those ears.
Definitely chunky for her age and compared to her other foal friends - she seems to be sucking her poor mom dry! She’s speedy and active though. I’m interested to see what this chunkiness means later on in her life (hopefully no health issues). Fingers crossed it bodes well for the hunter breeding classes, but I’m totally fine with a shorter powerful build!
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