Would you buy an ugly face? A small eye?

[Pocket_Pony]

For resale I probably wouldn’t pursue it, as most people want a pretty face to look at.

Having said that, however, the best horse I’ve ever had was Mr. PoPo’s now-deceased horse, Tomato. We were just talking about him last night. He had a big head, a small-ish eye for his head, long body, crooked legs, bad feet, he roared, and had an old hock injury that we didn’t find out about until later, and he went around with his tongue out. That horse was the best horse ever. He had the TB “heart” and that was his best feature of all. I remember when we were buying him, I had to tell myself we weren’t buying him because he was pretty. Yet at shows, all the little girls would come up to Mr. PoPo and Tomato and ooooh and ahhhhh over the Big Red Horse. He just had “it.”

My mustang that is my current horse has a big head that sometimes looks pretty, and sometimes he looks like a camel. Oh well. I trust him to take me on many trail adventures and it is his boldness and brains on the trails that I appreciate.

My pony, OTOH, is the cutest thing ever and I could look at her all day long.

[poltroon]

A funny head like this will make the horse more memorable. It’s his other qualities that will determine whether it’s good-memorable or bad-memorable.

[horsepoor]

I go back to something from Jimmy Wofford: “you should buy a horse whom you fall in love with again every morning when you see his face hanging over the stall door, waiting for breakfast.” For me, that isn’t going to be the horse with the ugly head or the small eye (or little ears – I like big ones!). But for someone else, it may be. If I was looking for resale, however, I’d be especially critical of looks as they WILL affect the resale.

[Pally]

Thanks all…lots to think about. I think it’s really going to come down to how well he presents himself, movement and temperament wise, when we get a full look at him in an arena.

Just to clarify, mvp, I have met the horse. I loved his demeanour when we were just hanging out with him in the paddock. Unfortunately, that’s all we really did as it’s super terrible footing here, there was not even an “ok let’s chase him a bit so I can see his trot”. When we go over to an indoor I plan to really pay attention to his reactions to the new situation, and I also definitely plan on putting a little pressure on him to gauge how that affects him. The temperament is really the number one quality for me, because my goal is to sell horses that the average owner can just love and have fun with. In addition, I want to have fun and stay (reasonably) safe when I’m doing it. I work with horses as my day job, and I’m crazy enough to take on more horses in my free time. While I can certainly handle all sorts, if I’m footing the bills, I want it to be one that I’m excited to go spend time with after work.

So, Bluey, I guess you would say this is somewhere between business and pleasure. I’m not a high volume seller who makes my bread and butter on resales. I would like to make money/recoup my dollars, but I’m ok with coming up short once you factor in the expenses. That’s part of why I sell - I get to replenish the horse fund between projects. But mostly it’s getting to enjoy and learn the training process on my terms and timelines.

[kcmel]

He will be harder to sell–you probably won’t get as much for him and it will take longer. But if he has a good attitude and talent, I bet you can find someone who will appreciate his abilities. Good luck! I hope he works out for you and you can have some fun with him.

[crosscreeksh]

I think most buyers want big, dark eyed horses with pretty heads!!! And eye size does reflect intelligence and trainability…according to many professionally written articles.

[Frosty_M]

It depends. If you are buying him as a show hunter, it probably matters. If he turns into a jumper, it doesn’t matter at all as long he is fast, agile, honest and tucks his knees up tight. Also, field hunters come in all sizes and shapes; heart and disposition are key there. If he’s safe and kind and honest, he will be worth his weight in gold as a child’s horse.

Please keep us posted as to what happens when you actually ride him. I’m pulling for the horse. Looks aren’t everything.

[invinoveritas]

I choose my animals by conformation, but then I look at things like the eyes. I’ve always looked for intelligent and expressive eyes in my dogs and cats and horses and in men. My father always said that is because “eyes are the windows to the soul.”

Whatever. I don’t buy horses with small nostrils either.

[Amwrider]

I would think a lot would depend on the market you are selling to.

Personally, you don’t ride eyeballs. It wouldn’t matter to me if I was shopping for a horse in a performance division. If it was a breed show where looks matter more, then no.

I think that if he is a talented horse with a kind disposition, there is always a market for that.

[Scribbler]

I honestly don’t think that the shape or size of the head (within reasonable limits) or the shape of the eye is any indicator of the personality or movement of the horse, except to the extent that if you are buying grade horses, it might indicate draft blood, which not that long ago was considered very undesirable in a riding horse!

Lots of these traditional ideas about horses come from the 19th century, which also had weird ideas about people’s heads and their personalities (google phrenology).

I also think that rather homely, gangly horses can look so much better when ridden correctly and “put together.” In fact, I’d almost go so far as to say that a lot of horse that are pretty in the paddock, don’t improve a lot under saddle. Whereas a horse that has very correct conformation but is rather homely can turn out gorgeous under saddle. I don’t know why a horse that has very correct conformation would be homely standing around, but I’ve seen it a number of times. You look at all the angles, they are all good, but horse just seems plain. And then you see him under saddle!

Also, at least in dressage horses, the Roman nose is a plus once they are doing collected work! I first noticed this watching a friend ride a Lipizanner with a true banana face. Once she had him on the bit, the Roman nose actually contributed to the impression of “roundness” in a positive way. I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it!

In general, you don’t see the horse’s face when he is in top condition and moving fast and well, just like you don’t see and judge the face of the human Olympic body builder or sprinter or swimmer, you are so impressed with the body and movement.

That said, for resale, I don’t know. If you had students or clients you could match up with horses, it might be easier than if you have to post FB photos for the random public.

[GraceLikeRain]

I am super pro ugly heads. My wonderful mare was certainly…plain looking. The photos I kept were all flattering but day to day in the cross ties she had large ears, slightly roman profile, small eyes, and a super droopy lower lip. People regularly confused her for a plain gelding.

However, an ugly head with a sub-par personality is absolutely a deal breaker for me. If he’s talented with a puppy dog personality, I don’t think you’ll have much of an issue with resale.

If he’s athletic but a bit of an ass on the ground, the ugly head just reinforces his difficult personality.

[Come_Shine]

I think the best name I ever heard for an, ahem, interesting looking horse was Borderline Gorgeous.

[peedin]

Count me in the shallow end. I would not buy a horse that I find physically unattractive. I don’t care what his/her sterling qualities are. If I don’t like that face over the stall door, I’m not going to like riding it. That said, I just bought a 15.2 red headed TB mare that cribs. I wanted none of those characteristics. But I bought her cuz she’s doll under saddle. And she does have a cute face.

[Heinz_57]

I own a horse who is not particularly stunning to look at from most angles. If I set him up just so and take photos from just the right angle, with just the right light, he looks lovely. The other 95% of the photos I have of him, he looks like a big gawky goon. But he is a NICE, nice mover, with an unbeatable mind. I have bought many projects that were ugly to look at but the talent was there. I have also bought a few that were pretty to look at, but difficult or less talented. The pretty but less talented/willing were the harder sells.

I suppose it would depend on just how bad it is. Are the eyes truly small, or are we talking about eyes with white sclera that make them appear smaller because of the visible white?

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Will just add that my horse had a bump below his eyes and above his nose for a while. It wasn’t there for most of his life, and then one day it was - and it was big and unsightly. Most likely explanation was that he bumped it hard on the top of his stall window. I tried various things like putting DMSO on it, but nothing really seemed to make an immediate difference. It looks a long time - like 2 to 3 years - but it finally diminished to the point of almost being unnoticeable.

I tend to be of the school that wants the horse I own to be handsome enough that just looking at him gives me pleasure - because when he is otherwise unrideable, there is at least that. Also, in this day of instant first impressions based on a couple of photos on the internet, it might take word of mouth to make me take a serious look at a horse that didn’t pass the “swipe” test. But different strokes for different folks…

[Pally]

Gah…wish I could quote. Anyway, that is quite strange, G&T. I’m pretty sure that is not his case for his bump. I looked up the sire, and can see a little bit of the same there, and in the photos of his progeny racing (not being flattered by some of the racing bridles, lol). I don’t so much mind the ridge - I’ll call that adding character - but moreso I wonder about the eyes. Heinz, there is definitely no visible sclera…it’s almost like they appear small because the eyelids are rather doughy. It’s not quite like anything I’ve seen before.

[HJdaydream]

So… when do we get to see a pic?!? :lol:

Count me in with the “shallows”. Horses are way too expensive IMO to buy an ugly one. That being said, my hanoverian has BIG ears that people love to comment on, but I LOVE them. So maybe beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJE-sA-jWK7/

[Hulk]

I would buy but I don’t do resale. That being said I have had my share of ugly horses that were stellar under saddle. I had lots of offers to buy them, but nope, I am so totally selfish I wasn’t parting with them.

[ThreeFigs]

If the bump you’re describing is right between his eyes on the forehead, the Arab people call that a “Jibbah” and it’s common among Arabian horses. I had a lovely OTTB mare that had the Jibbah. She looked like an Anglo-Arab. Smart and athletic.

While I like a big eye, the expression in the eye is more important. i’d go more by what you feel, not by what you see.

[m_m1]

For resale, he would have to be stunning. If I were shopping, I would buy an ugly horse, but I would hope not to. If he were the first or second horse I looked at, or if there were two similar horses I had looked at, he would definitely get placed lower on my list.

I absolutely agree that you don’t ride the head, and if Mr/Ms. Right came along in Butt Ugly, I’d take it. But…

(And in my opinion, pig eyes are unattractive. Forget whether or not they are indicative of any personality traits.)