I have been watching Atala too - he is cute!
Thanks for all the replied everyone! I really appreciate it! I have been out horse shopping (TBs), haven’t find the right one yet. Also took someone’s advise to network and have a lead on a holsteiner/tb cross, though he’s more hunter bred. Through networking I found someone who may be interested in free-leasing my mare as broodie - she would have lovely babies - if I didn’t want to wait 5 years I would go that route. But at 51 I am feeling like I want to keep riding instead of breed - the idea of trying before buying is appealing.
It’s a tough market at my price, but I’ll trudge along!
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They certainly can do 4 th and above…I had one of the bigger well knows come 2 x to see OTTB with lovely huge elastic expressive gaits with natural,uphill transitions. Unfortunately they wouldn t pay competitive pricing because they were OTTB. So the horses are out there you just need to know what your looking at and not be blinded by adrenaline fueled exaggerated gaits in a dead fit just out of race training horse coupled with the gorgeous flesh muscle and coat. It takes an eye to see the architecture under it, and you need a willing partner who will enjoy the work. Take your time look at how the neck is set into the withers and shoulder look at the throat latch and watch how the hind end pushes and if the front end lifts Up then thru not just out then up, they will need a strong back also…have fun buy a OTTB
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I’ll offer another perspective/opinion on this:
A long loin - which is relatively common among TBs, though they’re by no means the only breed - is a conformation element that seems to predispose to some weakness and challenge in collection. This really seems to be conflated/confused with a long back - which really doesn’t mean inherent weakness in and of itself. I have personally found that most TBs I’ve laid hands on tend toward a relatively short back, and the ones who appear longer over the topline often have that length in the loin.
A horse with a relatively long back and a strong long connection is actually often easier to keep straight through corners and circles than a very short-backed horse, which will often tend toward pivoting in turns (ask me how I know… :lol:).
That being said, back length that really runs to either extreme is going to cause challenges - a true “long as a country mile” horse is challenging to keep together, and the very short ones get more challenging to keep straight. Despite the evidence of my current horse and my last horse, if given the choice between a horse that was a bit long vs one that was a bit short, I’d pick long, assuming all other things were equal.
TL;DR - long weak loin = maybe not so great. Long back and good loin connection = no prob!
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Hear, hear!
People always think my mare is a Warmblood. ALWAYS. She has Danzig on the bottom. Deputy Minister on the top as well, who I’ve heard several people say they like for sport lines.
I’ve also met far more nutty WBs than TBs, myself.
@Boomer pming you
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This actually is helpful. Thank you very much.
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