Is it just me, or does her tongue look odd?
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You are absolutely right. She is anemic. The vet said she’s pale. It might also be the anaplasmosis.
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Sabino (SB1) isn’t all that common, depending on the breed. Very little in AQHA and APHA.
More common in TWs. There are a lot of KIT white patterns that resemble sabino, but aren’t SB1.
Those ears make me think she’s could be a black base, with sun fading, giving the bit of reddish look, because (at least on my monitor) look mostly black. Since she’s malnourished, she likely hasn’t shed out all her winter coat yet.
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I think @skydy was referring to the deep center line down the middle of her tongue, and the way the very end looks like there are two lobes. Almost like an upside down heart. (Please correct me if I’m wrong).
It almost looks like it was split or cut at one time.
Or is it just because she’s got her tongue extended all the way out, stretched?
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Yes, there seems to be an unusual cleft in her tongue, at the tip especially.
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Until you mentioned it, I didn’t really notice. I wonder if the poor mare cut her tongue at some point on the aforementioned dilapidated wire fence?
She looks so sweet and deserving of love. It’s wonderful that @moonlitoaksranch has her now!
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It sure is. She looks better already!
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It might be just the way she’s standing but i wonder if she could be TWH or SSH?
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She is very cute.
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Actually, I have no idea. But she does trot. I’ve seen that. When gets more energy, and her quarantine ends, we might be able to tell when she’s turned out with my mare for the first time.
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I’ll watch next time her mouth is open. I do think she was extending it down.
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@Rackonteur A TWH or SSH was also my knee jerk reaction.
If she goes gait, she has no doubt lost the muscle memory with all she has been thru, but she is safe now:)
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It is inborn. but they can and often do lose their muscle memory to gait.
I have had my 29 yr old TWH for 27 years. He had that champagne-smooth running walk people lust after, lol. He was consistent in that gait clear thru his early 20’s, then health issues forced me to stop riding. He always did mimic my trotting Arab, as time progressed and his stifles got a little squeaky it became easier for him to trot.
When I lost my 27 yr old TWH to colic last year, the pasture mate I found is a Dutch Warmblood. Now my TWH does a mix-mosh of a running walk and a trot because his gene pool still tells him to gait but his stifles and his companion tell him to trot, lol
I have also read of registered TWH’s and SSH’s that have never gaited because some fool taught them to trot early on.
Beautiful Matilda looks every bit to me like a TWH or SSH. She is built just like my Rusty who is Generator and Ebony’s Masterpiece.
Walking Horses are, by and large, extremely forgiving of human error; that’s what gets them into so much trouble in some venues. I was a lifelong trail rider and had trailed on Walking Horses since 1990. They are tough, strong and courageous. Rusty saved my husband’s bacon in two instances, one of which could have got them both killed had Rusty not stopped dead and remained calm, That was in 2003 and DH has not been allowed on any of my horses since - no kidding.
I am like everyone else following along in that I can’t wait to see Matilda filled out. If she does have tongue damage, it’s probably from someone ripping a bit around in her mouth. I’ve seen that happen with someone’s horse before she bought the horse. The vet marveled the tongue had not been severed completely off. The half brother to that horse ended up blind in one eye at the hands of that same “trainer”.
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Wow, that’s interesting! Thank you. I’ll watch her next time she tries, as she gets more energy. Would she revert back on her own?
That’s terrible about the tongue. Now, I want to look more closely.
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The seller told us she worked her, despite her condition. I think she was trying to determine if she had any speed because she does games (barrels, etc…). She said she was slow, even with spurs, but never mentioned any gaiting. I can imagine she was slow in her condition. I felt horrible being on her for a few minutes. I rode to test her, then our son rode, but we only walked her to and from her buddies/barn to see how bad she might be. We didn’t want to be on her for more than a few minutes because she was so thin. I can’t imagine asking any more of her than that until she feels much better. We did ask the seller to trot her in hand briefly to check for soundness. I made a video of it because a trainer friend was helping me from afar in real time. I asked her tell me what she saw because my son and I just wanted to “take her home and feed her.” It was a trot, but, like you said, her muscles may be weak. Not trying to judge here about someone riding a skinny horse. The sellers seemed like nice people and all their other horses were at proper weight. Perhaps they felt they had to try her to know what they were selling. Not something I could ever do, but it might be standard, especially when you’re in a bind, like they were, and needed to sell a few horses quickly because of money issues.
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If Matilda is a gaited horse, once her weight is good and she gets some conditioning, she may show signs at Liberty. Their legs can often get in tangle to where one marvels they don’t fall over, especially if they are under five, lol.
If there is a chance of her gaiting, someone with years of riding gaited horses or a fair-minded gaited horse trainer might be able to bring it out:).
No offense to the trotting horse trainers, but unless you have experience with gaited horses, getting one of them back into their gait is not that easy:)
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I have seen some TWHs trot in turnout. They really surprised me. 
OTOH I once had a Saddlebred start to rack when i was driving her and something startled her.
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I cannot believe the good side view photos I do NOT have of Rusty:(
Except for Rusty, on the left, being sorrel and having pretty short ears for a TWH, the front end should look somewhat familiar:)
Rusty may be thin on the front end but his 29 yr old self still has a handsome powerhouse butt in the second photo.
The seal bay is the 27 yr old Dutch WB of came here for full retirement after my Joker passed last year. He has some leg injuries that make him unridable as deemed by his x-rays and the sports medicine vet. He is, however, 17H of a big baby who loves attention:)
This is the best side view I can find for you to try and compare shoulder slope and butt structure.
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Rusty is adorable! I can see the resemblance. I think Matilda has a lower tail set, though. That may indicate that she’s of stock horse origins. That’s a bit more horrifying because of how much she would need to gain back. TWHs seem to be a bit lighter in frame.
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