I’m considering buying this yearling, he’s a CSHA with a nice sprinkling of Hano and Dutch WB.
I’m not one for confirmation, so I would love some feedback. He’s got a great brain, very easy going. I mostly ride dressage but also like to jump for fun. I’m not looking for a GP horse, a good brain was top of my list. Something that will be dependable and possibly capable of 3rd level one day.
Thanks for the feedback 
They do hit some fugly stages at this age.
Do you have conformation photos of parents?
I feel like his hind legs are quite straight but don’t know if that’s typical for the age.
Does the breeder have photos of him at 3 days and 3 months old? You can get an idea of what he will look like as an adult. Otherwise, you wait until he 3 yrs old to see what you’ve got. Yearlings are awkward.
He certainly is cute. In the top picture, his hind leg appears straight to me, as well.
His hind legs are straight right now, because he’s so butt-high. It’s a really awkward stage to judge him.
I think there’s a perspective skew in the first pic with his front end a bit farther away from the camera than the hind end, and he’s “scrunched” a bit in his stance. He just looks much better in the 2nd pic.
His pillar of support - the line through the crease in his forearm, up and down, is good enough. Not great, in that his front legs would ideally be farther in front of his withers. But it’s good enough there. It also runs down to about the back quarter of the front foot, if you visualize him with the front leg perpendicular to the ground
His neck emergence is above the point if his shoulder - good.
His LS gap appears to be more or less over the point of his hip - good
His shoulder slope look good, and the angle with the humerus looks 90*+ which is also good
His hind end is more mature than his front end so it just makes him look weird at this stage. But I wouldn’t toss him away by any means, he looks like he’s more than decently built
I would be worried about how straight his hocks are. Not much of a shoulder if you are thinking dressage too.
That being said, I wouldn’t turn a horse away I loved because of confirmation unless it could lead to a soundness issues.
Thank you for the very thoughtful response
Being this butt-high straightens both the hind end angles, and the shoulder. Imagine the front end rising up 3-4" and how that rotates the withers back, and the point of the shoulder forward
Even if the slope were to stay the same, it’s well within a healthy range of 45-55* or so.
I totally agree with this. I think his angles are going to improve, perhaps dramatically.
He’s awfully cute, and if he has the brain you want, that’s pretty much priceless.
Absolutely could happen! I’m just going off what I see in front of me.
Naaah changed my mind.
You can’t go off of what you see in front of you, in some ways, with horses this young. I’ve owned my 2 year old since he was a yearling, and I have photos of him as a foal. It’s been interesting to watch how things change and develop. I’m fascinated by him in some ways.
Looking at the dam and sire certainly helps, and siblings as well, but you things can still vary.
Horses at this age can be deceptive. Mine was a bit straight in the hocks and close behind, sort of base narrow-ish, but that’s already changed quite a bit.
Lots of things do change, like back length, neck length, leg length relative to body depth, and some others.
But when they’re in a relatively balanced state of growth, there are things that are definitely what you see. Shoulder slope and angle don’t change, but length of scapula and humerus will. LS gap doesn’t change, no matter the state of growth - it’s either over the point of the hips, or it’s behind it. The neck emerges above the point of the shoulder, or it doesn’t, no matter its length or how upright it is.
Where the front legs are in relation to the wither doesn’t change a lot either. A very butt-high stage will visually put them a bit closer together, but not a lot. The OP horse is never going to have a REALLY good relationship here (pillar of support) but it’s good enough.
Even as a foal, you can get a really good idea how straight his hind legs will be based on how “camped out” his growth stage is. If you have a 3 month old foal who has adult angles back there, he’s going to end up straighter. If you have him with a decently camped out posture because his tibia/fibia and femur are long relative to his body, then he’s going to have more normal/desire adult angles Leg bones need to start out long, to give the body room to grow into. You don’t want foal leg angles looking like adult angles
Aside from the first type of things that DO change, things you need to look at the parents to get a decent idea of mature look, once a foal is fully unfolded, you can definitely tell functional conformation - pillar of support, LS gap, neck emergence.
How does he move?
JB gave you a good evaluation and he is at such an awkward phase right now that I wouldn’t turn him away if he was a nice mover. They can change so drastically and it usually is for the better 
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