Pet Peeve Rant!

[litehold]

Can’t stand it anymore!

When looking at conformation photos of stallions, mares, and offspring or ANY horse photos, I am really, really sick of people standing the horse on uphill ground to make the horse look more “uphill”!

Is anyone else sick of this?! Please, would people just stand their horse on level ground for a conformation photo so people can get a decent idea of the horse’s balance and conformation? Do the photographers not see that it is manipulative to put the horse on a slope to affect the way the horse looks? It makes the photo of little use to see a horse standing on uneven ground.

Kinda like the old trick of standing a horse in the tall grass to disguise hoof/leg problems, or putting the tail over the hock to disguise hock blemishes or poor conformation!

Maddening! :mad: I’ve finally had my limit of it! Anyone else?

OK. Rant over. I am now back to my calm self. For now.

[Kerole]

I have to laugh when I see this sort of thing. To me it is very transparent and immediately raises suspicions of what is being hidden/disguised.

I also get irritated by those that tilt the photo to make the horse appear more uphill.

[oldernewbie]

Back in the old days you could just tilt the magazine to get the picture leveled. Kind of hard to do now unless you tilt your computer screen! :lol:

I know it’s no consolation but this has been going on for a long long time. My husband - a professionally trained amateur photographer - took a horse photography class long ago. Tilting the picture was just one of many many ways to kind of tart things up.

Buyer beware!

[Megaladon]

I don’t like it when there is just a picture of the face/head. And, advertising a breeding horse and don’t fill in the pedigree chart!

[crosscreeksh]

Recently there was a picture of a Canter OTTB prospect on COTH and the horse was posed with it’s head up like a giraffe and all poster raved about how “uphill” the horse’s conformation was. ???

[HorseKrazy]

My pet peeve is, “out of so and so stallion” and “having a stud to breed to”…

[Cindyg]

To say nothing of photoshopping.

And on another topic, it’s astonishing in the age of digital photography that one can’t take a “true” picture for their Craig’s list ad.

[oldernewbie]

Craigslist is a veritable garbage dump of horse photography! I’ll take a tilted, but clear and basically good sales picture any day over the “head down eating grass” or “rear end shot” or “legs and/or head cut off” or “in the stall with head down” or any other useless shots you see on there on a daily basis. Jeeeeeesh!

[VirginiaBred]

Adding to the list of Pet Peeves:

Mares produce
Stallions sire. They don’t produce.
Look up the definition (to bring forth; to give birth is listed as a definition!)

Regarding photos…many people will not take one directly from the side. Everyone needs to see that angle. That way you can tell if the animal is long in the back.

[Foxtrot_s]

Brings to mind when someone posted here some time ago a video of a stallion being photoshopped for improvement where he may have been lacking, and just how easy it is to fill here, and take away there.

Good reason to try and go see the stallion, or look at lots of photos of him.

[Texarkana]

My advertising pet peeve: no conformation shot!

It doesn’t happen nearly as much with sport horses, but it happens quite frequently with race horses!

[litehold]

Kerole - Oh yes, the tilt! Arrrrggggh. The problem is, that I keep seeing it in photos of the nicer stallions! I’m looking at stallions right now for the coming breeding season, and it is just so frustrating that I run across these issues so often. Several of the nicer stallions from prestigious farms do this. Don’t they realize that their potential customers are more savvy than that, and it just frustrates people no end?

Yes, it does make me suspicious too!

[litehold]

Sheesh. You’d think people would know better. It’s just so annoying!

[litehold]

Megaladon - Ooh ooh ooh, don’t even get me started! I know!
You’re thinking of possibly producing a HORSE with the prospective stallion, which costs a veritable fortune, and why would you not need to know the pedigree? Why would you even think about going to see a stallion when there is only a photo of the neck and head? Aaah! Why?
:yes:

[litehold]

Crosscreeksh - No. Just NO. How does that make a horse “uphill”? Have to agree, that’s just as bad as putting the horse on a hill.
Raises my pet peeve hackles. :lol:

[litehold]

Texarkana - Have to agree, that is worse than a weird photo of a horse uphill and all the other tactics. I see that all the time too. A lot of the time I just pass on and am much more interested in the stallions that have really good photos.
It goes for horses for sale, and evaluating broodmares too, and of course evaluating offspring of stallions.
Everyone has hit upon a treasure trove of pet peeves! Now I’ve added a bunch more to my list, thanks! :lol:

[litehold]

Foxtrot’s - Now that is just bad. Why would someone go to the trouble to do that? How is that going to be disguised when a foal pops out with some glaring conformation flaw? That’s kinda scary.
Well, you’re right, it just shows you how important it is to see a stallion, mare, horse for sale, etc. in person.
I just wished people would realize that potential customers are much more likely to go see the horse if there are really good, clear, honest photos, with a horse standing on level ground and nothing obscured or manipulated.

[litehold]

Virginia Bred - Oh my, that is so true. It is really showing ignorance when someone mixes up produce and sire, and “out of” such and such stallion, eek.

Could not agree more about people needing to take photos of the horse from the side. You can see so much that you need to know from the side! I wouldn’t even want to go see a horse if I could not see the horse from the side first.

[litehold]

Virginia Bred - Oh my, that is so true. It is really showing ignorance when someone mixes up produce and sire, and “out of” such and such stallion, eek.

Could not agree more about people needing to take photos of the horse from the side. You can see so much that you need to know from the side! I wouldn’t even want to go see a horse if I could not see the horse from the side first.

[oldernewbie]

When I saw this ad this morning, I thought of this thread…

http://dayton.craigslist.org/grd/4267655677.html

You don’t suppose anyone who might be interested in an Appaloosa might also be interested in his color?

At least there’s a conformation shot from the side! :lol: