# Coming two year old critic



## TexasBlaze (Oct 4, 2010)

This is a shot of my Reg pinto gelding. He's 21 months old. I just want to see if everyone else is seeing what im seeing in his confo. And i want to see if there is anything i missed. Also i want to make sure he's going to be sound for riding in the future. I personally think he'll be mature enough for light riding at 2 1/2 years. He seems like a mature guy for his age.


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## caljane (Feb 7, 2009)

I am by no means a conformation expert, but since nobody replied I thought I give your request a boost - and my unprofessional opinion 
First: I love pintos and he has a very nice eye, great color, and decent build - so I would take him home in a heart beat.
Then there are very few horses without conformational flaws, and your guy is still growing and the picture is a bit awkward. That his butt is higher than his withers will most likely grow out. His front pastern looks a bit too long and soft (could be the angle of the picture). His neck seems to be a bit short and tied in a tad low and the head a bit too big to make an overall smooth picture. But there is nothing about him that suggests that he would not be sound for riding. I love his short back and he has very good withers.


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## Breezy2011 (Nov 23, 2012)

He seems to have a good big hip. This is my coming 2 year old filly


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I'm not sure what Breezy is seeing, because I'm seeing a horse with a woefully inadequate hip, although at this stage of his development that may improve.

His neck does tie in oddly, and those front pasterns are a bit scary. He is downhill at this point in time [may grow out of it] and has a very upright shoulder that has a very closed angle. Based on his shoulder angle he might be a choppy ride though the long and over-sloped pasterns may smooth that out a little [yes the pasterns ARE a fault because they will be weaker than a more ideal leg, but he will be a little more comfortable to ride].

He is less mature than my mother's coming 2yo [23 months] and less mature even than Satin was at 20 months on the dot, so I wouldn't call him super-mature for a coming 2yo [though Satin is quite a "mature" coming 2yo]. He's about average to me, maybe even a little immature. My 2yo rather immature TB was around that mature physically when she was his age.

However, that doesn't mean to say you can't start him when you want to... as long as you keep the work load light. I know someone who will ride a 2yo 2x/week very lightly at walk/trot for 5-10 minutes at a time, and by the time they turn 3 that time frame goes up to 20-30 minutes and another ridden session is added to the week. Then when they turn 4 they get ridden 4x/week, and when they turn 5 they come into full work [6 days a week for an hour a day with one jumping session every week].

I think your little guy will make a lovely pleasure/trail horse and maybe a low-level allrounder. If his pasterns were better he could hold up to quite a heavy workload but I don't think he's for high-impact sports like jumping, barrels/gaming, cutting, reining etc.


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## TexasBlaze (Oct 4, 2010)

Thanks guys! My thought is trail horse/kids lesson horse. He is a QH/Saddlebred cross which is a BIT strange but his mother and father are both trail horse extraordinaires. And he IS reg. through the pinto association.

I highly agree with his thick awkward neck and big head. Im hoping he might grow into his head a little more. Thats mainly what i saw when i looked. Didnt see all the leg things but im not great with lengths and angles but i can spot defects.

Breezy your gonna be suprised but his half sister looks just like your two year old! Not physically but same markings and color. 









I definitally will not go over his mentality with his workload. Ill be moving an hour away in January and will be coming home on the weekends and will probably do 30 minute short slow trail rides with him. That and working on moving his body independantly.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I figure he's hugely better than this:
http://vichorse.com/forum/index.php?t=getfile&id=40549&private=0

...which makes him a good horse 

bit hard to be WORSE than the poor thing I posted above haha


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## TexasBlaze (Oct 4, 2010)

I couldnt see the pic BEP =( I figure his attitude makes up for it. He's the picture of a kids horse in personality. My seven year old neice can do ANYTHING with him. And he takes everything in stride and LOVES being douted on. Good kids horses are worth their weight in gold though i never plan on selling him. He will probably be the horse my kids ride. I had him bred because at the time i didnt HAVE a horse and i wanted to raise one (LOTS of experience). The stallion owner LOVES him because of his attitude. She says she's probably prouder than him than she is his show foals because of how well behaved he is.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

We have a QH/Saddlebred gelding! He's seven and a wonderful rodeo/allaround/ranch horse. He has huge strides and a butter-smooth trot and canter. I love it 

Does your boy gait at all?

I tend to agree that he's about average for his age, but not terrible looking at all. I do see the faults that Blue Eyed pointed out, but he may develope a better hip as he grows. I'd definitely watch his pastern though. They're not _extremely_ long like our TB colt's, but definitely much more angled than they should be. I'm wondering if some of that might be corrected with differend hoof trimming though?

I wouldn't worry about his butt-high stature or scrawny neck at this stage, I rarely see a 2 year old without a scrawny neck and once you have him under saddle as a three or four year old you can condition his top line and make a real nice trail horse out of him!


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## TexasBlaze (Oct 4, 2010)

Id rather not mess with his feet. My farrier is AMAZING. 

Ill watch his legs and make sure he stays sound. Even if he doesnt he will have a forever home with me.

He doesnt gait but he has some HUGE gaits that are very floaty from what i can tell.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Thats fine, just something to think about  his feet don't look bad, but his hoof angle doesnt quite match his pastern angle so I thought that might be putting extra stress on his pastern/tendons.

So does our QHxSB! No gaiting but giant strides that eat up the ground. Plus he has that natural round carriage and high set tail which is quite beautiful when he's trotting.

this is the only motion picture of him trotting that I have xD


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## TexasBlaze (Oct 4, 2010)

His are due for a trim within a few weeks. Its just my farrier has spent a lot of time in school and apprenticing under some GREAT farriers. 

My only other choice are guys who dont keep appointments, and just kinda decided to be a farrier one day.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

The 21 month old Pinto is weak behind and has a dip behind his withers that will likely only get worse as he matures. This will make saddle fit a challenge. He has a low neck set in spite of him having his head up. He is almost ewe necked. 

His legs are solid and that is what you want at this age. 

As the old horsemen have said, "tops may come but borroms never." This means he may mature into a better horse through his body but the legs you have are the legs you have. Let him grow up a bit more and see if he improves. I have my doubts.. but would not be eager to toss him out without giving him another year of growth.


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