# Big draught mare- opinions?



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

I'm interested in this big draught mare for standard flatwork and jumping (description says she can do all this) and maybe some low level eventing in the future. Shes 16.2hh, 8 years old. I love her thick neck- any one notice any conformation question marker have suggestions about her? TIA


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

Photo below


----------



## GoGo5 (Jul 10, 2020)

-Deleted-


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

You need to upload your photo. Use the paperclip. On a phone it is in the took bar. On a pc you have to generally choose the advanced option for replies.


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

GoGo5 said:


> No pictures are coming up for me...


 sorry I uploaded it in the comment below my 1st- hope its come through now


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Yep. Just saw that.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

the photo is really small, so cannot see details, but from what I can see, she is absolutely gorgeous! Best of luck.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Is she a draft or a draft cross? Wouldn't jumping be hard on a draft horse?


----------



## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Post legged on hinds no angle at all weak looking hind quarters. Hindquarters are not well muscled compared to her massive frontend.


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

ACinATX said:


> Is she a draft or a draft cross? Wouldn't jumping be hard on a draft horse?


 all thanks for your comments so far. She is I have a photo attached showing her jumping. I've tried to get as big a photos as I can which I've attached below- I hope they help. She is described by the owner as a 1st class reg draught mare, old red Irish Draught, super weight carrying type.
The owner says "*to jumper her is super, completely genuine, totally reliable and just all round sensible. She will happily help her rider out, she's not at all the type to hold you to a mistake and pops anything you put in front of her"


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

tinyliny said:


> the photo is really small, so cannot see details, but from what I can see, she is absolutely gorgeous! Best of luck.



athanks for your comment so far. I've tried to get as big a photos as I can which I've attached below- I hope they help.


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

rambo99 said:


> Post legged on hinds no angle at all weak looking hind quarters. Hindquarters are not well muscled compared to her massive frontend.


 thnkyou for your assessment of her. Do you think I should avoid a post leg horse with weak hind quarters or is it not too severe and something I can improve with uphill and downhill exercises etc? Thankyou


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

her hind leg formation is very typical of draught horses. This kind of horse is designed/bred to 'pull', not push. That means that they have tremendous shoulders verses hindquarters. I have to respectfully disagree that she is not what I would call 'posty legged'.  she is a tiny bit straight through the hock, but this is not abnormal for her breed. judging by her trot, she reaches under nicely, and her jump, she has a nice bascule. the rider is hanging on her mouth, thus proventing her from rounding as much as she could.


I stand by her. She is lovely.


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

I would call her a little 'posty' but as Tiny explained, this is a breed trait, rather than a fault as such. And looking at the little pics I too thought she was quite 'light on' behind, but looking at the bigger pic, seems she's not that imbalanced - but stronger forehand, built to pull is also a breed trait. And for those reasons, if you're wanting to jump and do eventing, I wouldn't pick a 'drafty' type. Just because she CAN jump doesn't mean she SHOULD do a lot of it & it may cause soundness issues.


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Actually that is not ideal conformation. Mare is post legged and her hind end doesn't match her front end. She should be well balanced and parts should match. 
I'd like to see her neck in a more natural position. That is the second horse of that type this week pictured her that is shown like that.


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Here is both a nice Irish Draught stallion and mare. Not posty or not to that degree. At least not what I would consider posty. Both are balanced front to back.


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

QtrBel said:


> Actually that is not ideal conformation. Mare is post legged and her hind end doesn't match her front end. She should be well balanced and parts should match.
> I'd like to see her neck in a more natural position. That is the second horse of that type this week pictured her that is shown like that.


Thankyou for your reply- do you think If i was to do back end specific exercises like uphill and downhill hacking it would bulk up her back end so it matched her front more or would you recommend i give her a miss. Loosi mentioned above that this mare may not be ideal for jumping as she is drafty, and I do enjoy jumping along with the 3 paces
Thankyou


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

loosie said:


> I would call her a little 'posty' but as Tiny explained, this is a breed trait, rather than a fault as such. And looking at the little pics I too thought she was quite 'light on' behind, but looking at the bigger pic, seems she's not that imbalanced - but stronger forehand, built to pull is also a breed trait. And for those reasons, if you're wanting to jump and do eventing, I wouldn't pick a 'drafty' type. Just because she CAN jump doesn't mean she SHOULD do a lot of it & it may cause soundness issues.


 thankyou for your help, I do enjoy jumping along with the 3 paces as part of my riding so perhaps I should give this particular mare a miss


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

QtrBel said:


> Here is both a nice Irish Draught stallion and mare. Not posty or not to that degree. At least not what I would consider posty. Both are balanced front to back.


 thankyou for your thoughts and the photos, when comparing your photos to my photos I can see that the more in my photo is definitely heavier at the front


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

tinyliny said:


> her hind leg formation is very typical of draught horses. This kind of horse is designed/bred to 'pull', not push. That means that they have tremendous shoulders verses hindquarters. I have to respectfully disagree that she is not what I would call 'posty legged'. she is a tiny bit straight through the hock, but this is not abnormal for her breed. judging by her trot, she reaches under nicely, and her jump, she has a nice bascule. the rider is hanging on her mouth, thus proventing her from rounding as much as she could.
> 
> 
> I stand by her. She is lovely.


Thankyou for your thoughts TinyLily. When I saw her I was drawn to her powerful physique.


----------



## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Didn't know that about the draught breed. Not something I'd personally own not a
Fan of the looks. To each there own not a beauty in my eyes.


----------



## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

QtrBel said:


> Here is both a nice Irish Draught stallion and mare. Not posty or not to that degree. At least not what I would consider posty. Both are balanced front to back.


Now that's a nice looking well balanced horse. Unlike mare posted.


----------



## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

If you weren't looking for a jumping horse, she is nice. Too straight behind and too much muscle to be an ideal jumping horse. I would fear jumping will limit her longterm soundness. I had a percheron cross and I always said jumping him was like trying to get a football player to do ballet. We jumped up to 3 feet, but it was clunky. He went on to be a trail horse.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I'm sorry, but the very best physique costs money. A well trained, sound, decently conformed mare of youth, at under $10K (us $) is a good deal. You can always rider her, feel her out, check into her mind, and then make a respectful offer. She is not poorly conformed. really. She will make a very decent partner. 



If you want a competitive jumper, then look elsewhere. If you want a nice riding partner, check her out. 

her demeanor, her training . . welll . . in my opininon counts a LOT. As long as there are no real deificits, and in this case there are not.


my two cents.


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

tinyliny said:


> I'm sorry, but the very best physique costs money. A well trained, sound, decently conformed mare of youth, at under $10K (us $) is a good deal. You can always rider her, feel her out, check into her mind, and then make a respectful offer. She is not poorly conformed. really. She will make a very decent partner.
> 
> 
> If you want a competitive jumper, then look elsewhere. If you want a nice riding partner, check her out.
> ...


.

Thanks so much for your advice, I am looking to perhaps attend xc and jumping fun days so perhaps shes not the best choice then, I'll keep looking 🙂


----------



## Jj1001 (Aug 26, 2020)

4horses said:


> If you weren't looking for a jumping horse, she is nice. Too straight behind and too much muscle to be an ideal jumping horse. I would fear jumping will limit her longterm soundness. I had a percheron cross and I always said jumping him was like trying to get a football player to do ballet. We jumped up to 3 feet, but it was clunky. He went on to be a trail horse.


Thankyou for your advice, I am looking to do jumping so based on your advice and afew others in the group I will give her a miss and look for a less heavy breed


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

You need to remember that Irish Draughts aren’t cookie cutter so you shouldn’t dismiss the breed because one horse wasn’t ideal.

Years ago they introduced Clydesdale blood into the Irish Draught to get a taller, heavier horse and it created a lot of problems for the breed type.

There were also problems created by the ‘approval system’ that resulted in horses with some mixed blood being accepted, the horse itself could look ideal but when used for breeding, other external breed traits could surface.

Re. that horse, if I was wanting to do low level jumping and cross country, the straighter than average hock and rather mismatched hind end wouldn’t worry me at all.

I’ve worked with Irish Draught horses that wouldn’t have passed a ‘beauty/perfect conformation’ test at all but they hunted all season with large male ‘hobby’ riders till well into old age and never had any soundness issues.

If you want to have the option to go up through the grades then look for an ID with more TB or Connemara blood in it.


----------

