Sounds like COTH thinks I should buy a horse. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised by how supportive this group can be!
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As someone with a lot of experience developing OTTBs I can assure you what you see now is nothing like what you will see in a few years with good training and nutrition. If you see something in the movement and body you like I say GO FOR IT. Its only going to improve with good care and riding.
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I feel like I should share my best example…
Would you buy this yearling/2 year old as a dressage prospect?
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And here she is now…ready to hit 2nd level this year. Won everything at Training level with 69% average. Her Thoroughbred aftercare agency couldn’t give her away because of her back. I paid $1 for her. IMO she is one of the greatest horses on the planet (biased I know 
)
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Incredible! Did her lordosis (not sure what other word to use?) improve over time? She doesn’t look at all impacted now? Lovely photos, love the Valentines themed one…
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Yeah that back was something… I had no idea that could improve that dramatically.
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Isn’t it crazy! She really taught me to try and look past the image and instead look at how the horse actually moves. Regardless of her shape then she still moved really nicely.
Her racing connection was the one who brought her to my attention and convinced me to take a chance on her and of course she was right about how great she is.
Im assuming Lordosis too. She was a bit sway backed when I got her, but I have just worked away in our dressage program and now she doesn’t have one at all. Its more a flat and very very wide back which you cant really tell - but shes an XL wide in her saddle.
and thank you…I like to do those photoshoots for Instagram 
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For many months I rode a rather ancient (later twenties) badly trained QH lesson horse whose back looked just like those first pictures (except he also had a very low set neck and the thickest throatlatch of any horse I’ve ever ridden and horrible gaits), a really UGLY horse. Of course I did not have an amazing conformational transition.
BUT he was the ONLY horse I have ever ridden who showed any real interest in dressagy type stuff. He seemed to think that it was really, really neat (just basic training, of course, as his prior training was abysmal/non-existent.)
After the first 5 minutes he also seemed to consider the double bridle as a gift from heaven.
You can never tell. He would have been the last horse I would have picked to train in basic dressage even at the very low level we worked on, but he was happy with the basic first steps. Since he came to me suspicious of people and VERY unhappy about being ridden at all (balking, backing up FAST) I was truly amazed by his response to my attempts to ride him at a higher level.
Good work Jealoushe!
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Never in a MILLION years would I think that’s the same horse. She just stunning now!
Do you have any videos of her movement prior to rehabbing?
I’m sure I do and if not my friend who was the one who raised her as a baby likely does. I will report back!
Thank you @Jackie_Cochran!
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WOW! That’s absolutely amazing @Jealoushe! What a testament to how correct dressage work can positively impact a horse!
The CANTER horse is cute too. I’m not qualified to discuss conformation but that face! 
Let us know how it goes @jonem004!
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Nice moving ugly horse? That is an interesting question. ‘Nice moving’ suggests that it is structurally correct: things in the wrong place don’t generally make for good movement. Ugly? Personal preference: I like big ears on a horse whilst others like small ones. “Handsome is as handsome does” is the old saying. What counts most is brains and character of course. I like the look of the horse in question.
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Echoing all the comments about her looking like a nice horse in an awkward phase 
My favorite feature! Bonus if it is a big old bay head too. Beauty is as beauty does!!
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@Jealoushe - WOW!
I think there is a big difference between an awkward phase that many go through particularly when they are letting down and before they re-shape and a truly ugly horse. They don’t all glow-up like Jealoushe’s
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I agree not all horses sufficiently transcend the ugly duckling stage. But that’s where knowing the breeding and parentage helps.
Honestly I don’t think there’s a truly ugly TB out there once they are grown up and fit. But they lose condition at the drop of a hat, and can look very sad when they are underweight. I’d say the big question with TB is whether any individual one has track injuries that will come back to haunt you and if the conformation is what you need for your job.
I would have been spooked by the back on that yearling too but then I dont have pasture and time to bring up a baby and see how it turns out.
I get a bunch of foal pics on FB. The QH foals definitely have much shorter necks than the WB and Iberian foals. But you can see the hip on a good QH right from birth.
On the other hand I get pics from an up country “rescue” that sells off cull weanlings and yearlings from the feral “wildie” bands on the native reserve lands. Those are some pretty fugly horses. They seem to grow up into functional grade stock horse types but not something I’d pick for English performance.
I’ve watched a couple of Andy cross foals grow up. They were lovely foals where you could see the bone structure of their beautiful parents. They had a very ugly duckling time at one to two years. They are now stunning 4 year olds.
So I’m starting to be able to see quality in a foal, but I still have trouble seeing through the 2 year old uglies.
Part of the problem for me is I grew up in the low end of horses when we were all riding grade stock horses and former wildies with no known pedigree. If you took on a ewe necked, sway backed, or otherwise odd horse, it was not going to improve because that was its basic conformation. Also we were buying adult horses. On a budget. At age 14 with non horsey parents and no intelligent adults in the mix, but some predatory low end horse dealers. Actually most of the horses were good functional stock horse types but there were a handful of amazingly fugly (but beloved) horses. Anyhow those days spooked me for anything that looked like a ewe neck or a sway back.
Although we lived in close proximity to a race track, none of the teenagers were sourcing OTTB out of the very real belief that if they went hacking bareback through the suburbs on one they would likely die. There were no trainers around. So I never got to see OTTB grow up until I returned to riding as an adult.
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@Jealoushe MAN how COOL are those pics and that transformation?!
I love how in the baby pics, if you just look at one half of the horse at a time, she looks totally normal. That is one HELL of a butt high phase! 
Give her about four inches up front and the horse she’s become is just so clear. That is so neat!
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What does it mean to say that a horse has “a really nice pair of pants?” It is a great turn of phrase. Enquiring minds want to know.
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Muscling on the gaskin.
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