# Please Critique OTTB Conformation :)



## appylover132 (May 17, 2013)

Very nice muscles  his front looks bigger than his back, but then it looks normal in other pictures, idk, he's a cutie for sure


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

VERY thin. This horse needs feed. He has ribs showing, poor lines along his rump and back bone is prominent. He needs his feet properly cared for. He looks to be at least 2 weeks.. likely more.. past when he should have had a trim. 

He has an extremely flat croup and a very weak coupling which likely limits the reach of his hind legs. Hind legs are sickle hocked and over straight thru both the stifle and the hock. from behind he looks to have a knocked down left hip. He is over at the knee (cosmetic issue) and has good bone. He has nice large hocks. He stands under himself in front probably due to the weak coupling. His shoulder is steepish and he is a little pigeon breasted. He has a decent neck and a very kind expression. 

Get some weight on him (150 pounds I am thinking). If he is eating good feed and not gaining he could have ulcers. He could also have chronic pain from that back and hip which will show up as shortened strides, not out right lameness. That can interfere with weight gain. 

I think he just needs decent hay and grain.. looks like he is not getting enough of that.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Agree that he is VERY thin. You should not be able to see his spine when looking at him from behind.

he stands under himself, has a horrid hind end, ewe neck, narrow base, sickle hocked, long long back, long neck, and hes very under muscled.

he needs dewormed, his feet done, and quality feed. 

With his "pot belly" and being able to see his ribs, hes either not getting good nutrition...crappy hay...or he's wormy.

he definitely has a kind eye and a sweet face though.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TBforever (Jan 26, 2013)

i honestly wouldnt be riding him just yet..he needs weight


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## Kayella (Feb 11, 2012)

The first thing I've noticed as well is he's underweight, wormy, and seriously needs his feet trimmed. I would not be riding him at this point, I can't imagine how painful that is with those feet. You're just asking him to overreach and clip his front pasterns with those long toes. Though like Elana said, he is probably short strided. How long have you had him?

Very steep shoulder, flat croup, straight through his stifle and a weak coupling. He's a bit light on bone in his front legs but they aren't too bad.


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## TBforever (Jan 26, 2013)

and hes standing under himself at the front


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

he's always been a hard keeper.. He gets dewormed twice as often as the other horses who are all more fat than they should be. and in all honesty I don't see it do much difference (i go by the veterinarian recommendation for deworming as far as which types to use at which points in the season and deworm him at two week intervals when he gets dewormed) 

I have him on one and a half metric cups of Finishing Touch, half a cup of flax seeds, about a 1/4 cup of Cocosoya, and sometimes add a few handfuls of minute oats in there, or some fresh cut apples, carrots or other fresh veggies I have. The horses have free choice hay, and there are only two horses not borderline fat out of 26. They are my guy and an ex-standardbred racer. He's been checked for ulcers previously, and came up clear. 

His feet had damage at the cornery band when I got him.. So there are a few cracks that don't split but have always been there. I've had him three years and am learning quite a bit from him as we go. The two main barefoot farriers that we have in my area both got into car accidents about a year ago and only one has come back to continue working, but he has substantial cut back on his client base and takes about two three weeks to get a hold of when called on. So I have the barn manager doing his feet for me... The ground here is soft, and he has never been lame or off with me except for a time about two years ago when he cut his front knee. He is due to be trimmed again though. 

And thanks  he is a very kind soul. A great horse to learn off of and with.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

He's extremely skinny, his coat is absolutely rank [by the way that really doesn't sound like enough... my TB is a very easy keeper, for a TB, and she's getting more than that! free choice hay is great but TB's just don't do well on just that and that little grain, they need more].. if he's only "due" to be trimmed you BADLY need a new farrier because those feet are disgusting and it's NOT "TB feet"... a TB foot is only as bad as its farrier, except that some bloodlines tend to want to throw bad internal structure and there's not a lot you can do about that... I don't mean to be nasty but I see a severely neglected horse.

"He's a hard keeper" is NO excuse for a horse to be in that condition. EVER. My neighbour's horse is a hard keeper and he was in magnificent condition when they bought him... skinny NOW, because they, like you, either don't know enough to, or can't be bothered forking out the cash to, feed him enough. My friend's horse was FORTY YEARS OLD, a hard keeper even in his prime, had no teeth, and still looked magnificent up until the week before she put him to rest.

A horse is never that skinny with an owner who actually cares, unless it has an underlying issue - in which case he needs a vet and bloods done if he has no ulcers.

Most of all, do NOT ride this horse, or ANY horse, in this condition. It's cruel.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

he is cute. I agree needs some gorceries. Try adding beet pulp , alfalfa pellets, or an alfalfa shred or other hay shred. You could try a product like 'fatcat' or another one called 'coolcalories' which are high in fat, rice bran pellets high in fat calories. I would try a complete feed of some sort also. 
he looked a bit over at the knee, but you have him standing on a hill or an angle he does not look like he is on level ground.


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Well he may be a bit of an ugly duckling, but he looks like a sweety! No CC as it ihas already been done. Keep in contact with your vet and maybe try adding fat and more calories and a balancer to his diet to help build his weight. Have his teeth been floated recently? He may not be eating enough hay due to tooth pain.

As long as he is sound and happy and you are happy with him, work on his weight and just enjoy him.


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

I would suggest treating him for ulcers (as someone else suggested). A lot of TBs are prone to them and it can definitely contribute to him being a hard keeper and overall unthrifty in his appearance.


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