# Critique my Mystery Mare



## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Well, mystery no more.

My BO got a message last week from a breeder friend. Someone had free mare that he knew and he wanted to know if my BO wanted her. My BO was getting a weanling and couldn't take a second horse, so I said "SURE, why not." She came highly recommended. All I knew was the Stallions name, and had a picture of her that was 6 years old. 

She got here at 230 in the morning on Wednesday with papers in hand, so the mystery is now solved for the most part.

Registered name (and Allbreed link) 
Cocoa Gun Starr Appaloosa
Very old timey bred. 2004 model. Some saddle training when she was 6 but mostly pasture horse.


It cost me 275.00 to haul her from Ohio to Maryland, but the horse was free. So here is my 275.00 gamble.








































































She's had a few injuries on her front left, so it's scarred up. She carries her head high and she needs some weight and some muscling. She is a very sweet girl though so far.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

I think she looks nice. She looks like she was cared for, just not used as you say and she has a nice face. Good luck with her!


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

She's nice, esp for that price.

That first picture made me laugh. She's adorable and looks every part the Appy.


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

She can't stop looking around  It is only her second day, and she is scoping out to see who might want to be her friend LoL She's very sweet though, just a little 'worried' and busy (stall walks, self-exercises in her QT pen), but has yet to spazz or spook.

The trouble with boarding at a breeding farm, my BO gets offers for free mares ALL THE TIME. This one just happened to be from a friend's stallion and he knew the couple that had bred her (They've had the maternal line for 4 generations). It was hard for them to let her go. She was the last foal they bred.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

utilizing this image:









I'd say you got a pretty nice horse. she is well balance all around, and has the typical longish back of most appy's. nice long neck, slim throatlatch, good shoulder, a tiny but upright. has a hint of a roach to the back. a whiff of one.

this is a very nice mare!


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

I like her coloring. Her butt may be a tad high and her legs are a bit under her but maybe that's just how she's standing. I'm sure she'll look a million times better with more muscles! 

side note hey! maryland! me too! haha


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

Is it just me or do I see a little arabian in there? I am probably missing something as I didn't really read the posts, just skipped straight to the pictures.

I really like her, but I just wish she didn't stand so far under herself.

EDIT: WOW, wow wow wow. hold on a second there. She has all four feet above the ground in her trot! She doesn't look particularly excited in that picture so Im going to bet thats natural suspension. That makes your life so much easier if you decide to do dressage with her!


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

No arab at all in her pedigree. she had QH 5 gen back and TB 6 gen back, but otherwise all appy.


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Yup, no Arabian. Though she does have a very dishy, feminine head like one. In fact I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy a cobb/arab sized halter and headstall because the average 'horse' size is too big on her.


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

Sounds like you got a good deal if you wanted a project! Overall she is cute. Very petite, famine head. Nice length of neck. It ties in a bit roughly at the withers, but may improve with muscle. Shoulder is adequate. Topline is average with perhaps coupling that is just a touch long. Hip is nicely shaped, but hind leg is too straight (a bit post legged). Pasterns show appropriate angle. She is a bit light on bone for my taste. I would be looking into a chiropractor as she looks to have some discomfort based on how she is standing with all feet under herself in every photo and the slight roach on the topline. Her feet also look to need some attention. Overall I think she is an attractive mare and hope her personality matches!


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks all!

This is the one picture I was given when offered the mare. I didn't learn untilt he day before her arrival that it was from when she was 3! 7 years ago. Found out her dam was brown, and with this picture, I'm going with she's brown. and the varnishing roan has faded out her color.


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## 4hoofbeat (Jun 27, 2013)

she's adorable. congratulations!


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

KigerQueen said:


> No arab at all in her pedigree. she had QH 5 gen back and TB 6 gen back, but otherwise all appy.


Well, go back a little farther and there is a lot of Arabian in the Appaloosas. Actually in the Quarter horses and Thoroughbreds. Arabian is way older than any of those breeds and is used to begin all of them. Do some research on how the breeds originated, it is eye opening and quite fun. It's not like studying for a test, just for fun!


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

I think the point Kiger was making was you'd have to go back several generations, to the late 1800's or earlier to possibly find an Arabian in her background. So her head is NOT from any recent (By recent I mean the last 100 years) breeding. She has neat bloodlines you don't see very much in the modern Appy world anymore.


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

Drifting said:


> I think the point Kiger was making was you'd have to go back several generations, to the late 1800's or earlier to possibly find an Arabian in her background. So her head is NOT from any recent (By recent I mean the last 100 years) breeding. She has neat bloodlines you don't see very much in the modern Appy world anymore.


Really, the ApHC started in 1938, by Claude Thompson and Dr. Francis Haines.
Claude Thompson had been using the Arabian, Ferras AHC 922, to refine the horses he was breeding. Ferras was born in 1932. Going back to Nureddin II, and Mesaoud.
Then there is Zaael, born in 1948, from the Arabian Zaross AHC 3,547. Zaross going back to Nureddin II and Skowronek.
Bloodlines to be proud of, and more recent than the late 1800's.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

If you go back far enough all tb and qh are related to eclipse and the Gedolphin Arabian. But THAT far back wont show in the physical features. I also know qhs used to be called Steel Dusts after a foundation sire. BUT within 6-9 generations there is no horse's breed labeled "Arabian". Just Appaloosa, Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred. Feel free to look. I clicked all of her grand sires and dams pedigrees, to see.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

As you can see, this mare has little (well ALMOST no arab) in her. She is of older blood where a horse that is 1/16 appy and the rest arab can be registered appy.


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

Darn it, I can't do anything with those attached images. They are tiny and I can't enlarge them.
I have to admit that I kinda lost sight of the mare in question. When you said the Arabians were that far back, it felt (to me) like a challenge. I'm an Appaloosa and Araloosa nut. On the history of anyway.Between a little age and my TBI, my memory is almost worthless, but I pulled out my books and looked at the dogeared pages and my notes. 
It started when I got a, solid, little mare for my 13th birthday. I knew she was Appaloosa but people kept asking me how much Arabian she was. It was several generations back to Ferras, but I was hooked. 
Call me a sentimental fool, but I do believe there are genes that can hide out for generations and pop up unexpectedly. Look at the cropout Paints that show up in "pure" Quarterhorse lines.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

My point is (you can look on all breed link she posted) you dont see ANY Arab until you hit the WAY early TB lines. You are so far back you are looking at likes that say "barb mare" "Arabian mare" basically when the mares did not even have a name lol. We are talking 100s of years ago. So she is "foundation" appy with lots of qh and tb. No added arab. And qhs are getting dishy faces, its just what people are breeding fore. "normal" arabs dont have seahorse faces either. that was bred into them. it was SLIGHT not pronounced.


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Doing her best Thoroughbred impression 










Farrier comes next week and I can't wait to get a little more weight on her, especially since we're suppose to have another bad winter.


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