My half Arab/Trak gelding is 24 and still great trail ride. But my sister who breeds Arabs for the Arab breed shows has offered me this gelding, half saddlebred, for a new horse. He’s coming 5.
I don’t like how he is being ridden but wonder if he could be restarted. He’s about 16h. He does have a breathing noise and has had two surgeries on his larynx.
Thoughts?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMZay-Olhec
This is him in 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XapnTTi46SM
He’s cute! With re-training, I think he would make a good prospect, assuming a vet clears him for work with his breathing issues.
He needs to learn to go out to the bit, seeking contact, with a long neck, so he stops breaking in the middle of his neck. Given how he is fighting the bit/rig where they’re trying to put him, it might be easier than some others to change.
Forward and straight will come with time. With really solid work over years, you can improve the lift and swing in his back, although it will likely never be the best.
I don’t see anything in that video that would tell me he couldn’t do third level+.
Agree, he’s very cute. Love how leggy he is and his at liberty video shows mostly clean changes. He’s certainly suitable for lower levels and if he’s got a good brain I think he could easily go beyond that with re-training. With correct training you’ll see his gaits improve significantly under saddle - he’s quite the fancy fellow 
The only thing I’d be concerned about is the breathing thing. Since you know there is an issue just be sure you do your due diligence as far as a PPE. I would probably seek a couple of opinions from different vets regarding the likelihood that he’ll need additional surgeries, what his long term care will entail, and find out in what ways it may affect his ability to work.
Haha I am the queen of Intro and Training and 12 inch jumps so my bar is pretty low!!!
He had his surgeries at the University of Georgia vet school so I can get info easily. I would not see him as a real eventing prospect but I think the noise is mostly cosmetic, not a physical disability. I think he could breathe easier if that guy would let go of his face, too.
He looks incredibly smooth to ride. Lovely.
He looks sore, something is pinching/annoying him (not just the rider) and that’s why I bet he’s acting up.
He’s a long way from being a dressage horse but yes, if physically he is sound and the retraining program includes lots, and lots and long and low - relaxation/suppleing and ‘‘go to the contact’’ exercices, of course he could a great low level dressage horse and even more.
He would do a great more than lower level with classical training and coaching
It would be a benefit to see the horse ridden in a “training level” frame vs. how overbent he is ridden in this video. That overbent neck could really hurt him. I’d like to see him trot with his nose poked out a bit and calm. I know that can come with training, but riding him like that would mean correcting more things about the horse and make it much harder than it needs to be. Also have someone more educated in dressage or English equitation ride him for a video.
I hope during your progression you can post videos of it. It would be delightful to see. He can surely be a lower level horse.
he would have to be very low / no cost a lot of retraining to do.
there is no reason I can see that he might not make a nice dressage project. His changes are in there. He actually appears pretty light on his feet. He might be a touch long in the back but there is nothing you can tell from the most recent vid. This is an interesting prospect for an experienced rider. Are you comfortable at taking this on?
I could not watch but a minute of the first video. If I were a horse I would have blasted his ass out of the saddle. :mad: Says something about this horses character ( or mine?)
Roaring should not change scores and it will be interesting to see what softening the neck does to help lessen this
The suitability is there, probably for more than your modest ambitions. The retraining is going to be the hard part, though as someone says, the way he’s resisting being cranked might make stretching him out easier than might be expected. I would reassure myself about the breathing question before taking him on, though, were I you.
My horse is Arab/Appaloosa, and the Appaloosa part of his pedigree has a heavy dose of ASB about four generations back, and my horse was specifically bred by his breeder to be a dressage horse, so thumbs up from me!
I went and looked at an Arab mare that had training similar to this, and was warned by a few members on here about retraining her out of this over bent frame. So I would keep in mind that he may never come out of it. I didn’t listen to the video with sound on, but are they trying to bait him? Is that why he keeps spooking? If he is naturally that reactive, I would consider long and hard if you want to deal with that or can deal with that on a regular basis.
Poor thing! Please someone save him!
I was so impressed at how pure his gaits were in spite of being so horribly ridden. I wonder if he would breath better if his head and neck weren’t folded in half? He is in some kind of bitting rig that might make it very hard for him to breathe even if he had no problems!
To all those people who are concerned about bad riding in dressage - sorry, THIS is an example of horrible riding. The rider is SO STIFF and SO set against the horse, and the poor horse is forced into a fake frame with gadgets, and being jerked in the mouth and wrenched around. This is just sad…
I really like him! But I have a bias because he looks a bit like my horse did when he was younger.
I think he has the potential to be a super dressage horse, as others have said, and likely could go much higher than ‘lower level’. I think he’d be a great project if you have lots of patience and are willing to invest lots of time in slowly and correctly building on the basics, and if you have someone to help you along the way.
I’m not sure about the physical issues though. I would want a clear bill of health from the vet, but I have no experience dealing with anything like that.
I think he has potential! Just get a dressage trainer who knows what to do to restart him! He is behind the vertical which makes him not use his back which can make him sore…possibility for the outbursts. Let him stretch out and learn to collect correctly. It will take awhile but well worth the time!! Good luck! He’s cute like everyone said!
To clarify, he’d be free and there would be no resale - he’d be my next 20 year horse. My sister has his full sister who’s younger so she’d like to have just one of them in training. He did really well I think as a halter baby which is what she likes best as far as showing. She herself rides a half arab in amateur western pleasure. She has no interest in riding him herself.
If I take him, we’d probably spend months just hacking out on a loose rein and some lunging over cavaletti. I retrained my horse’s mother, an English pleasure Arab to do dressage and cavalletti and trot pole were our friends as far as getting her to lift her back and stretch her neck.
Would he be free considering he has had surgery twice and needs retraining?
He has very nice conformation and would be quite suitable for both dressage and arabian sport horse classes, however are you capable of taking on a remedial retraining project?
He is quite well bred, but he is bred on the hot side and is bred to be up headed and a real knee flinger, not necessarily things suitable for dressage, but great for being a park horse. You can see he is quite sensitive and spooky in the video, although this will taper off when he is in a different program it could be something to consider. Are you comfortable with a very large hot and athletic horse?
In addition to the throat surgery how are his legs? Park horse training can be intensive and I would check his legs as well.
I do like that he has show experience.
Sorry, that first video was really painful to watch.
I love him. The rider in the first video is asking to get launched and I think that video shows a ton about this horse’s mind and character. I think that a rider who will let him hack out and give him time to let go of his top line and stretch will see a completely transformed horse. If he vets sound and his personality is still amicable I’d be all over him.
I really like him, assuming the roaring is ok’d by a vet you trust (and assuming no other physical issues) I see a lot of potential there. In that first video he’s overbent, with his head forced down with a lot of pressure on his jaw. That puts enormous strain on the muscles and ligaments of his neck, totally inhibits any ability to lift his shoulders, and hollows and stiffens all the rest of his back. In addition he’s getting repeatedly hit in the mouth and back by the rider.
Even with all of that going against him he’s STILL trying to lift and carry himself uphill even though he should by all rights be way on the forehand in that position, and his tail is awfully quiet to boot. If he can look that light on his feet with all of these things fighting against him, can you imagine what he’d look like after a year or two of getting to relax/classical training?!
Plus IMO the fact that he’s as calm as he is in that situation says a lot about his temperment. If someone tried that set up on my (far-too-fancy-for-the-likes-of-me) mare, I doubt they’d make it two steps before getting launched violently through the air. Then she’d trample them for good measure. And if they managed to get up she’d probably blind them with angry tail swishing.
Hmm, on second thought actually I don’t think you’ll like him at all. Send him to me! 
I like him a lot but he looks catch-y and lame behind. I’d want to do a vet check or know you could give him back if hen was still looking lame once he’s left down.
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