# 4 Year Old Quarter Horse Conformation



## TexasBlaze

I think she looks pretty good. She's the first horse i ever searched for, found, bought, and paid for myself. She's my drill horse and she's pretty fast as an ex barrel racer but she's got a very good head on her shoulders. She's bomb proof and very soft and supple. Im wanting to retrain her for reining and i was wondering about her confo in general, and if anyone thought she might do well in reining. She's long bodied and she seems to be slightly sickle hocked to me.


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## GotaDunQH

She's really not sickle hocked, she just appears to be by the offside leg. If you drop a plumb line from the point of buttocks to her hock on the near side, it lines up straight. She actually has a decent hock set on her....they line up nice with the knees, and have a nice angle. She does show some straightness from her stifle down through the gaskin, I'd like to see noot such a straight line. Her back IS long and does show weakness in her long loin connection. What I love is her uphill build. She's got a wither that is set back further which I personally like and combine that with a lower neck to chest tie in (I'm a WP person). What I would LIKE to see is a more fit topline from her poll to her croup. She doesn't show any fitness and musculature there, and I'm thinking she carries her head high and her back hollow.


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## blue eyed pony

I strongly disagree with the above about the "uphill" part. Um, no. I see a downhill horse. She's actually posty all through the hind leg, not sickle hocked at all but too upright! Shoulder is ok. I do not like her neck and she looks a little back at the knee to me... Reining is fairly high impact and overall her build is not for high impact sports. She would do well as a trail mount.

I actually cannot believe that this horse was ever used for barrels... just another classic case of people forcing a discipline onto a horse without considering its conformation. I commend you for asking about how she is put together before you start training for reining. Which IMO this horse should not do. She's just all wrong for it.


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## TexasBlaze

What do you consider she would do well in? She was actually an AMAZING barrel horse. She could get down low and had an amazing motor. However im not a speed type person. She's got a very good foundation for riding. She's got flying lead changes, slide stops, really puts her back end under her. She DOES carry her head high until she's settled down and working. She could never be a western pleasure horse. She's too high energy to do so. She's a bombshell trail horse but im looking for somethin to do in the arena with her and i just dont see her doing anything thats slow like trail or WP or horsemanship because she isnt slow enough for it. She works like a reining in her gaits. Once she's forced slower than that she loses her rhythm.


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## GotaDunQH

^ The HMS patterns these days are getting more like mini-reining patterns, with extensions at the jog and the lope. And the patterns are getting more distance between the manuevers, not as tight at they used to be. So, HMS may work for her.

And I still contend that she is not downhill...look at her wither placement and the point of croup, as well as the knee/hock placement. This horse is uphill.


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## Annnie31

^^^agree. Her neck gives the illusion of downhill although she is more level than uphill I think. ) Agree she is flat stifled but does have nice hock placement. I dont like the length of her back in relationship to her height and width. Its a bit of a flaw that concerns me although with some topline development she would stay sound.


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## smrobs

Hmm, I really don't get where you guys are seeing uphill build. There are very very few quarter horses that have uphill builds, more that are truly level, and most have a slight to severe downhill build.

If you want to see an uphill built horse, look at a good warmblood that is bred for dressage. That is uphill.









I mostly agree with Blue Eyed Pony about her basic conformation... straight hocks, just a weak looking hindquarter in general, slightly back at the knee, downhill (not severely, but downhill nonetheless), long-ish back, very high tail set. Also, her left knee seems to be a bit offset.

However, I disagree that she couldn't have been successful as a barrel racer. I've seen some very good ones with a lot worse conformation than her. The biggest problem with using a less-than-ideal conformed horse for a high impact/high stress sport is that the wear on their body is much more than it is on a horse conformed for the sport.

I really don't see any reason why you couldn't train her for reining. She'll likely never be capable of higher levels but for lower level, local shows, she'd probably be just fine. Plus, every horse can benefit from reining training.


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## waresbear

Decent horse, but I see downhill. Use her reasonably & sensibly as to what she likes to do. Lots of pleasure trail rides between arena work.


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## soenjer55

A little butt high, slightly sickle-hocked, with short cannon bones, a bit of an ewe neck, a high tail set, and a longish back. She has kind of a weak build, overall, but it's not bad. Although she's a little less substantial, she looks like the average working quarter horse.
I think most of the issue with the weak body is her lack of muscle on her top line, though. Try to collect her more when you ride, so she builds up a crest and back muscle. Overall, she's a nice looking horse.


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## TexasBlaze

It would never be anything but local shows with her. Maybe a 4-H show now and then. Right now she's just been in slow work from the transition out of a barrel horse. She's my rodeo queens horse so horsemanship is definitally in her future however i was looking at local reining. I just wanted to make sure it wouldnt hurt her to do it. I do a LOT of slow work with her. She gets to run maybe once every two weeks and i take her on a lot of trails because she gets arena sour if she doesnt get to go on a trail at least once a week. She's out of working stock, not show stock but farm horses. She's my queens horse, team penning (man can she CUT!!) fast and precision drill, 4-H reining, and 4-H horsemanship. Ive only had her for 6 months and she lost a LOT of weight when i brought her home. She's just finally filling out again. I plan on getting her lunging on some hills soon.


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## smrobs

She'd be perfect for that kind of thing.


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## TexasBlaze

Thats good to hear! I just wanted to make sure it wouldnt hurt her in the long run if i did something like that one her. She's my baby even if i didnt want her at first haha! I kinda got stuck with her but now she's my favorite horse!


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## soenjer55

I just read all the above comments, and I have to disagree, especially with _blue eyed pony_. I think she'll make a fine horse for any western discipline, fast ones since she does like to go faster. I can see how she'd be good at barrels and such at local levels, and although I have to agree that she may not go to the higher levels in reining, I think she's a fine representative of a working quarter horse. 

The problem isn't with her conformation as much as it is with her weight and lack of muscle. Once you get her in shape, she won't look half as weakly built. Especially her back end- merely lacking in muscle and weight.


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## TexasBlaze

I have a picture of her before i brought her home when she was in tip top shape if youd like to see that? She lost a lot of muscle and weight after we brought her home and these pics were right when i started working her again so she had been out of work for three months.


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## soenjer55

Yes please!!


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## TexasBlaze

Her darker spots are where she had been sprayed with a water hose lol 











This isnt even a confo pic. It was a pic i took to show her to my friend, however i figured it might show her muscle better


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## soenjer55

Wow. She really is a nice working quarter horse. Not overly bulky, a little more lean, but still plenty of power. I think you have a great all-around western horse on your hands. You said before that she has a mean turn and can pick up some serious speed, and I believe that- she looks like a great worker.
I personally feel that this type of quarter horse is more true to the breed than a lot of the show horses they have now... I'd love to hear how she does in reining when you start!


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## TexasBlaze

Thank you so much. Right now were mostly looking forward to is team penning. Man can she cut a cow. We had some wild cows come into our yard and i used her to get them back to their owners house. She's got a good head on her shoulders and she has a wicked stop to go with her wicked gas pedal however she'll tuck her head and really work if you ask her too. She's been a roping horse as well, but she's got good ground manners and she can do a horsemanship pattern with ease.


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## soenjer55

Oops, I think I mixed up reining with penning haha.... Well, cutting, reining, penning, what ever you choose to do, it sounds like you have the whole package. Great representation of the breed!


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## tinyliny

I am amazed at what negative press she got, when to me she's a pretty decent quarter horse. Her back legs are LESS posty than many qh's we see here for confo critique. I wouldn't call them posty, though the stifle is short and upright. Netiher do I think she is back at the knee, just nuetral.
her loin/back coupling is kind of sunk in and not the best. Her neck is set on normal, just lacks muscling in the upper muscles.

I see absolutely no reason she could not do fine at either barrels or reining.


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## TexasBlaze

Thanks Tiny. Thats kinda where i am in my thinking. Ive seen soo much worse and she's lackin in muscle but she isnt horrible like it seems some people think she is apparently. O-o


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## paintedpastures

How old is she?? Overall I like her,she does look better in the last pic you posted.Her back is a tad long but not bad, She is common headed,don't see she is posty hocked:?? biggest thing I noticed is her weak topline. Her topline is reason I asked her age,as that is one thing that an older horse starts to loose/looks weaker.
I think for the things you want to do with her she is going to be good match


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## TexasBlaze

She's only 4 years old. She'll be 5 in Jan. She had een out of work for three months in the first pics because she lost a lot of weight from the stress of moving and had been out in pasture to gain her weight back.


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## Horsegears

Shorter stocky limbs with good shorter cannons and strong muscle type. The blade is a touch upright. Back may have a possible forming roach or may not. The croup is a little shorter for a QH. Good deep girth adds strength and short term speed. Rear cannons not quite lining up as expected although that may be an uneven surface. Overall a fairly typical QH type and western discipline should be fine.


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## blue eyed pony

smrobs said:


> However, I disagree that she couldn't have been successful as a barrel racer. I've seen some very good ones with a lot worse conformation than her. The biggest problem with using a less-than-ideal conformed horse for a high impact/high stress sport is that the wear on their body is much more than it is on a horse conformed for the sport.


I'm a bit slow but THAT was why I was saying I can't believe she was used as a barrel horse.

Long-term soundness.

ESPECIALLY as a four-year-old!


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## soenjer55

Oh, I understand what you were saying better now... 

My question is, if she had been allowed to grow completely before used for barrel racing, would that have helped her long term soundness??


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## TexasBlaze

She hadnt been finished. She is patterned but she isnt even competed on yet. She's got a fantastic turn and she's quick on her feet. She was started very slowly and brought up over a few months from what i understand. She's an excellent girl for horsemanship. She's been worked with on her horsemanship more than barrels but she understands them.


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## smrobs

Soen, in this mare's case, it's not so much that she was started early, it's just that she has less than ideal conformation for a sport that puts so much torque on joints, tendons, and muscles. With some of her points already weak, like the straight-ish hocks and the offset knee, asking for that much torque would just put that much more wear and tear on her. Doing anything at a competitive level beyond local shows and such requires a horse to be able to go all out every time and that is hard on a body.


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## soenjer55

Okay, thank you, smrobs! That question always nagged at my mind...


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## TexasBlaze

I finally found my camera. She's soaking wet but i figured youd all be able to see her topline and muscling better in this one since she's been under work for a while and actually has muscle


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## COWCHICK77

I think her topline will muscle up a little the longer you are doing slow work with her getting her collected and rounded. Top Sail Cody bred horses are build a little long and have a higher tail set than other reiners but they make great reiners and have a big stop. 

I think she will be fun for little local shows, at least if she doesn't work out for reining you can do plenty of other things on her
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kywalkers2012

She's downhill built. Not extremely, but she is downhill, which will probably make it difficult to properly fit a saddle to her. Her back is a little long, too. I wouldn't use her for anything other than trail riding. The stress from showing in any kind of performance discipline will just be too much on her body based on her conformation.


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## cowboy1393

overall she is not bad, i find it interesting again how some people critique and say she is not a choice for barrels.. it doesn't mean because she is a bit off she can not have good runs and make a barrel horse. I have seen plent barrel horses worse than her confo that have been great barrel horses and hold up...


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## HAFWalkers

she would do ok in a local show


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