Would you guys be willing to critique my mare’s conformation? I am still working on her topline, so I know that it’s not quite all there. I would really appreciate anything constructive you guys have to offer. I would try to myself, but I’m biased… :winkgrin:
These are picture from about 3 weeks ago.
http://i.imgur.com/RNFFOYj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3Qtyzi7.jpg
[QUOTE=Dani;8846246]
Would you guys be willing to critique my mare’s conformation? I am still working on her topline, so I know that it’s not quite all there. I would really appreciate anything constructive you guys have to offer. I would try to myself, but I’m biased… :winkgrin:
These are picture from about 3 weeks ago.
http://i.imgur.com/RNFFOYj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3Qtyzi7.jpg[/QUOTE]
Sorry, those are not good conformation shots, where you can evaluate angles and such properly.
Hard to be sure the way those pictures look, because the next moment may look again a bit different.
There is no “perfct” horse out there and very few close to it and that is after we decide first what that horse is supposed to be good for.
Now, we can say, she has unique, very pretty coloring, that is clear from the pictures presented.
Thanks Bluey! Those are the closest pictures to conformation shots I have right now. She’s bulked up a lot within the past few months so I have to use recent pictures.
Yes it’s hard to tell from your photos. Cute horse though!
Thanks Skydy!
I found 1 more! This one is a profile that should be much better, just had to dig through all the files!
It is a better photo but still difficult to analyse because she is not standing “square”.
I’ll give you my best guess if you want it. She has many lovely features and some apparent minor faults (most horses do). You can take it or leave it since photos really have to be correct to see the horse properly so some features are a guess…
How long have you had her and what do you do with her?
She’s very cute! To my not-so-great eye, she is a little stronger up front than behind.
Skydy - I have had her since February of 2015. She is a rescue. She’s about 10 years old and I go team penning, playdays every once in a while, lots of trails (some easy some difficult, going on an 11 mile trail on Sunday), I’ve done some sorting, roundups, and I’m starting to throw a rope off of her (I don’t by any means intend to make her a rope horse).
Palm Beach - Thank you! She is, only issue I’ve had with that is she doesn’t like to pick up her shoulder and move over. She’s not heavy on the front end while we are moving though. She loves to stay collected under saddle.
She looks well cared for. I think she has a lovely head and a nice expression. A good neck and shoulder. She is a little light behind and perhaps a bit longer in the back than is ideal but she’s quite capable of what you are asking of her.
She really looks like a sweetheart. I bet you two are having a great time together.
Thank you! We have our arguments (mare…), but she’s been pretty good to me the past year and a half. She’s got quite the attitude, but when she finds something she likes her heart pours in to it. Oddly enough she’s not a terribly confident horse, but she’s trusting enough to try what I ask of her so we learn a lot together. We’re just starting to show, so we have a lot more to learn too.
Agree that it is difficult to give a good confo critique with having pictures that don’t showcase the horse very well.
Comparing to RANCH HORSE conformation (which is what you asked), I do not feel like she is completely balanced front-middle-back. It seems that her back looks long. Also, she’s got nice big strong shoulders but then her hindend lacks in comparison (looks “light”). I’d like to see her hindquarters more rounded. Personally, I’d also like to see her hocks sitting a smidge closer to the ground as well. I do like her bone structure in her legs; looks like she has good strong legs. Your most recent picture makes her look over-at-the-knee, but the others pictures don’t. Your most recent picture also makes her look like she may be a smidge sickle-hocked but it is hard to tell from the angle. Nice happy expression on her face in most of the pictures. “Average looking” horse head; nothing fancy, but nothing out of proportion either.
Of course, take my opinion with a grain of salt as I am certainly not an expert. 
Cute horse regardless, with a very cool color pattern.
I have shown my horse locally in open Ranch horse classes on two occasions. The first time, he took 1st place out of over 15 entries. The second time, he took 2nd place out of about 20 entries. He’s just a hair under 15.2 hands, and he weights 1,250 pounds when he is in shape. He’s a pretty stocky boy … probably exactly what they look for in a ranch horse class! He is a little pigeon-toed in front and base narrow, but it’s my job as an exhibitor to “mask” it by making sure he is standing nicely. I guess it’s worked so far!
(Excuse the winter fuzzies) http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k27/r_beau/2014%20Horse%20Pictures/03_zps11ff516e.jpg
Beau - Your guy looks really well put together. I see what you mean about mine being light in the hindquarters, not sure there is much I can do to improve that at this point, she’s already built up a lot of muscle there since I adopted her. Thank you for looking her over 
I really appreciate it!
[QUOTE=Dani;8851794]
Beau - Your guy looks really well put together. I see what you mean about mine being light in the hindquarters, not sure there is much I can do to improve that at this point, she’s already built up a lot of muscle there since I adopted her. [/QUOTE]
Exactly. While you can help a horse build muscle, topline, condition them, etc, there’s nothing you can do to change the natural conformation that they were born with.
Regardless, go have fun with your horse!
I always do! She’s a handful, but she’s just right for me!
When it comes down to it, your horse is taking you where you want to go, doing the kinds of things you want to do, “pretty well”. With her coloring, she is NOT a Quarter Horse, so her short rump length could be bred in.
I am an App fan, and do NOT want them to be spotted QHs. They were not that way originally, still did an EXCELLENT job out running the Cavalry when asked! So good the white guys took away the Indian"s horses after surrender and bred the mares to ^#^ stallions to ruin the breed.
I know a lot of shorter rumped horses that do great jobs as working horses, in a great many catagories, so have learned not to “look down” on it as a fault. European breeds and WBs often have a short rump, still manage to do a fine job for their owners in various disciplines.
Western horses are judged on abilities, with some comformational areas making them better at some things than others. The most emphasized areas might be great ring winning things to have in their build, but not so good to be as useful on an 8 hour day across the ranch. There are lines of horses that are terrible gaited, you walk like a cripple after a few hours on that animal. You would never notice that problem in use only when ring riding.
With more training your horse can be a BETTER competitor, skill can overcome some lesser conformation points on an animal. But for an all-rounder as you listed your desired uses for the horse, she looks quite capable of doing all of them with moderate skills. She is not bred to be a specialist, reiner, roper, jumper. You probably won’t be last if she is well trained, though you may not be first often. But you only need one good horse, take her anyplace and have a VERY GOOD TIME using her.
Thanks goodhors! We have started showing, I’m asking about her conformation for ranch horse because we will be doing halter. She carries me around and does anything for me she knows how to, if she doesn’t know how, she’s willing to learn what I need. I think we could be fairly competitive in trail at small shows, I’ve taught her everything she would need to know for trail classes. Regardless, I just want to see what others think, I like having outside opinions
lots of good things with this horse. Good shoulder, clean throat latch, neck set up high on the shoulder and longer on top than underneath. Nice pasterns and good, wide, flat hocks, looks like nice big feet. Perhaps a bit light in the hindquarters, but that’s not a terrible thing.
Thanks Altermyne! Her feet are some of the healthiest I’ve come across, they’re big and hard without being dry. I’ve never had her shod and she does great on most terrains.
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