# Appaloosa Gelding: Jumper



## Horses4Healing (Feb 3, 2012)

Hello All,

I have decided to see what you all have to say about the confirmation on Rusty. He is purebred appaloosa, 13.3hh. Do you think he would make a good jumper with confirmation like this?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

As usual, Appy's are too cute for words! but, Rusty is back at the knee, which means that it is not the best conformation for jumping. his pastern angle is a bit low, and his back is long and seems to sag somewhat.
That's looking at his photo, not knowing his personality. He looks perky and probably has a lot of go-go, so he's probably fun to ride. he does have a lot of good bone in his legs and maybe he's just sturdy enough that being a bit back at the knee won't matter.


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## Horses4Healing (Feb 3, 2012)

As you can see, confirmation isn't everything. This little guy is the last horse I would ever expect to be a jumper but his heart loves it.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I kind of suspected that by the expression on his face. 

Just out of curiosity, why did you ask? I mean if you know he jumps well, why ask about the conformation and if he'd be good for jumping or not?


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

B4 you posted jumping photos, I was going to say he looks to have a nice open shoulder and would be tight with his front end... but his back is a little long and he might be a little flat or a little laggy with his hind end. I am feeling pretty good about being correct. LOL

He is nice and tight and also very careful (he does not want to touch that jump). However his back takes and flattens out the scope his front starts with. He has a good hind leg so can get some loft, which helps him. 

His heels seem a little low on his front feet.. like his toes were trimmed and dubbed and his heels left a little short. Difficult angle to judge. 

Nice little horse.


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## jumanji321 (Dec 1, 2010)

One thing I don't like is that his hind legs are off-set in several of the jumping pictures. However, that could be the result of rider error or a bad take-off. The rest of him was already covered by other posters.


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## equestrianfriend (Jun 27, 2013)

his a bit back at the knee, his back is a bit long and needs to be worked up. Very cute though, pretty head.


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## Horses4Healing (Feb 3, 2012)

I asked because I know too many people who would judge a horse just on their confirmation and if their confirmation wasn't good, they would deem the horse useless to whatever discipline they are selected for. I just wanted to show people that confirmation isn't everything. I recently posted a confirmation post on a horse that I was looking at buying and everyone said that he wouldn't be a very good jumper and he too is pretty good. So I just wanted to prove a minor point is all. Plus I kinda wanted to know what everyone thought of Rusty. He was starved as a foal otherwise he would be about 16hh like his parents so he is a little oddly portioned.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

A lot of times critiquers aren't looking at the horse as just a low level jumper, but rather higher levels. Any horse can try, and any horse can improve, but every horse has it's limit and conformation plays a big role in how limited the animal will be. Granted, some horses have a LOT of heart and can make up for some of their conformation, but the way they are built plays a big part not just in how they perform NOW but also how long they will last in the future.

For example, I have a 5 year old mini mare. She has a TON of drive and loves to work, so I taught her to pull a cart. She loves it. However, her conformation is poor and she has a clubbed foot as well as a straight back, straight shoulder, and high croup. Those things don't hinder her ability to pull the cart, how much fun I have driving her, or how much she enjoys having a job, but they SIGNIFICANTLY affect how hard I can work her, how she looks under cart, how she looks when she's pulling the cart (she'd never make it as a cart show horse), and how much weight she can pull.


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## Horses4Healing (Feb 3, 2012)

Endiku said:


> A lot of times critiquers aren't looking at the horse as just a low level jumper, but rather higher levels. Any horse can try, and any horse can improve, but every horse has it's limit and conformation plays a big role in how limited the animal will be. Granted, some horses have a LOT of heart and can make up for some of their conformation, but the way they are built plays a big part not just in how they perform NOW but also how long they will last in the future.
> 
> For example, I have a 5 year old mini mare. She has a TON of drive and loves to work, so I taught her to pull a cart. She loves it. However, her conformation is poor and she has a clubbed foot as well as a straight back, straight shoulder, and high croup. Those things don't hinder her ability to pull the cart, how much fun I have driving her, or how much she enjoys having a job, but they SIGNIFICANTLY affect how hard I can work her, how she looks under cart, how she looks when she's pulling the cart (she'd never make it as a cart show horse), and how much weight she can pull.


I will say that you have a good point.


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## alexischristina (Jun 30, 2009)

Conformation*

As Endiku posted, when you ask for a confo critique people will typically assume you mean a thorough critique of how the horse will work at the various levels, including upper levels. Almost any horse can jump, almost any horse can jump to the three footer classes, but not all horses can do it and consistently win and move on to the upper levels. You should always take conformation critiques with a grain of salt, and specify exactly what level you're looking to compete :wink:


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

You're going to make people mad if you continue to post critiques only to throw it back in posters' faces and try to prove them wrong. If you want a critique, please ask for a critique, but if you're just trying to prove a point, don't post it in this section.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Endiku makes a good point. A horse I leased previously didn't have great conformation for jumping but was competing at over 3' on a regular basis. He really seemed to enjoy it and placed reasonably well at shows, but it ended up doing a lot of damage to him and he had to be put on pasture rest for 6 months. When I got him, the lease specified no jumping because of it.


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## JustWingIt (Jul 29, 2012)

I do think that sometimes people get too caught up in looking for the 'ideal' conformation that they discount heart, soul, and passion. My little gelding got a pretty bad confo critique on here, but when I posted a picture of his jumping form in the jumping section, people agreed he was pretty darn perfect. Everyone was pretty astounded when I showed him standing square. 

Just saying, I understand the OP's point, even though they should have gone about making it a bit more gracefully. 

Heres my old thread if anyones interested...

/http://www.horseforum.com/jumping/jumping-form-critique-150773/


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## Horses4Healing (Feb 3, 2012)

Don't get me wrong, I wanted critique on his confirmation but I also wanted to show people that it isn't everything. If I offended anyone I am sorry.


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## toto (Mar 3, 2013)

I dont this horse is back at the knee-- not to argue. His toes are just too long. 


Appys make for good jumping horses! ;-) 

i had a 14hander that loved to jump too. :thumbsup:


I think its kinda rude for some to tell you not to post here! :mrgreen:


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## Tryst (Feb 8, 2012)

I don't think a single critiquer in here has ever said that conformation was the only thing that matters in a horses career. Of course heart and enjoyment for the sport are as important, and in some cases more important than a horse's build, otherwise all those million dollar yearling race horses with impeccable conformation for their sport would go on to be top winners, which of course is not the case. When you come on here we have just one thing (usually) to go on - a few still photos (often taken poorly - not specific to the OP). From that all we can assess is does the horse appear from these few photos to possess the desired traits for the OPs desired sport? Does this horse appear to have traits that are consistent with a successful and sound career? The internal qualities of heart, drive and try can not be assessed from a still photo. 

No critique should ever be taken as 100% proof of anything. We also might say this horse (just an example, not OPs horse) has long pasterns and not suggest jumping - well you can find many long pasterned horses out there jumping and staying sound, but what you wont find at the shows (because they are home heeling or pasture ornament) are all the long pasterned horses that tore a suspensory ligament of have lameness from damage to those long pasterns. Will every long pasterned horse go lame - of course not! is there an increased risk though- YES!! Should a horse be passed over because it has long pasterns and you want to jump? That is something that only you can decide.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

To the OP.. it is conformation not confirmation. A horse conforms to a standard.. does not confirm that the standard is right.

Lots of horses have excelled at things they did not seem to be built for. Lots of race horses such as Exterminator, Sea Biscuit, John Henry.. excelled beyond their conformation. 

Your horse jumps exactly how I would have called it from his photos. The only thing that is could not be predicted is his careful overjumping. And he is over jumping. 

He is flat through the back and lags behind which his conformation would indicate. 

Enjoy him. There are no perfect horses except for your own.... 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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