Training a Thoroughbred and training a warmblood

[Elles]

I have only said to the rider that it might be an idea to do some gymnastics but I am happy with the rider. And I am certainly not pushing my horse, he gets the time he needs.

[Highflyer]

Gymnastics are important to improve a horse’s form/ timing/ confidence, but they need to be done in moderation and chosen thoughtfully.

[findeight]

I didn’t infer you are pushing your horse. IMO based on these pictures, showing rolling over the shoulder, split forelegs over the top, loose below the knee and a hints of a trailing hind, end he may not be able to close his shoulder angles enough to bring the forearms high enough to easily fold the front legs over the fence or close the hip angle enough to really get up and under to push off and power the hind end over. If this is the case, he has to overjump to get his legs over and will be limited in fence height and spread. The effort to over jump might make him sore.

Gymnastics wont fix skeletal angles. That doesn’t mean he’s worthless but you need to consider where he’s going to shine performance wise. And if you are looking for mare owners, don’t show what he’s not perfect at. Far as a Eventing, if he’s not naturally tight and careful? Wouldnt want to put him at a table off a downhill approach.

He might be better pointed alsewhere. That’s my opinion and what I get out if the pictures. Please don’t take it personally. YMMV.

[beowulf]

@findeight

OK, judging by the pictures of what I think is him and not a relative, shown over a high enough fence to actually create a jump? His forlegs are below the horizontal and often uneven and loose, he’s a leg hanger in a couple of them. He wants to roll over his shoulder because he’s not picking his forearms up high enough. You want to see horizontal or close to it. He may not be physically able to lift them that high.

His shoulder angle may not allow him to lfit the forearm high enough to easily clear the rail. If that’s so the hip angle will match and is also not going to generate much power in the back end and the only way he can compensate would be jumping higher and harder then he has to. That could lead to a sore back. He does look a bit long backed, his neck ties a touch lower then ideal and these also indicate a straighter shoulder angle that does not allow the forearm to be raised as high as needed for clean jumping. The back end willl match with the same issues. The higher the fences get, the harder he’ll have to work to get over cleanly. He might be topped out for his conformation.

The grain of salt would be, judging if he is sore or has back problems, that of course it would impact the horse’s way of going over fences so looking at this horse and gauging his athletic potential might be hard to do, in other words, clear as mud, considering Elles divulged he is having some soreness recently.

[Manni01]

Also if he is sore, there usually is a reason for it. So maybe I would do more dressage basics with him, which would also improve his general performance… Most good eventers do a lot of dressage with their horses… And honestly that is my experience with my TB like horse as well. When I started out with her, She looked tight and uncomfortable most of the time and tended to explode when anything went wrong. I worked on rythm and relaxation with her a very very long time. And it took forever to get a connection. Now I am very pleased because as soon as we have a good connection she feels amazing, But it’s also very easy for her to loose her balance… As soon as she looses her balance she gets tight…

[findeight]

@beowulf

The grain of salt would be, judging if he is sore or has back problems, that of course it would impact the horse’s way of going over fences so looking at this horse and gauging his athletic potential might be hard to do, in other words, clear as mud, considering Elles divulged he is having some soreness recently.

Sure, that’s a valid point. But if I’m looking at a long distance date for my mare, have to go by what I see. These pictures are over a span of time, not all from the recent past. OP asked about why her stud was not drawing more interest. Not why he was sore. That came up later in the thread. These might all be bad pictures and folks with mares don’t want to dig deeper and click to the next stud prospect.

[Elles]

Actually he is not available for breeding at the moment. I was not wondering why he is not drawing more attention.

[findeight]

My bad, sorry. Got that idea from your Instagram link with references to stud services sprinkled throughout not obviously linked to a name or picture.

Something you might want to do is get a neutral professional rider/trainer ( not the one working for you, you need an outside opinion) to honestly evaluate your horse and it’s potential. Obviously it will cost but it would be a smart move.