# Famous Horse Confo



## Ne0n Zero

Oooo interesting thread. Subbing for sure!


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## SorrelHorse

Subbing.


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## cmarie

Personally I don't like the little spindly legs on Impressive's massive body.


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## lilruffian

I know Seabiscuit had bad front legs. He was over at the knee and his front left leg bent out a bit.








As for Hickstead, he had a rather high neck set, steep shoulder and his front legs seemed... off. Maybe someone else can see exactly what i am seeing...








Triple Crown winner Assault also had a club foot


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## equiniphile

Seabiscuit definitely had less than ideal confo, I agree on that one. I didn't think Hickstead was all that badly put together, though....


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## Ripper

csimkunas6 said:


> So Ive been thinking about this topic for quite some time now. Ive read a lot of people/sites and things saying that quite a few famous, successful horses had less than ideal confo for their career. Such as Seabiscuit, and Ive even heard of the same being said for Hickstead.
> 
> What are other famous horses that had less than ideal confo? Do you have any photos, confo critique for those horses? I think it would be really neat to see


Impressive (QH) had a little over bite.


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## soenjer55

I never realized quite how bad seabisquit's fronts were before, lol. And I'm not sure of the terminology, but Hickstead's cannons go... inwards, backwards? I think it might be 'over at the knee'? The angles just look wrong to me. And am I the only one who thinks his pasterns are a little long?
But I agree with equiniphile- He's not perfect, but he's not bad at all, to me. I was a big fan of him though, so I may be biased, lol.


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## csimkunas6

How neat! What are some other horses you know of that arent ideal?


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## BarrelBunny

Subbing!!


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## Snizard93

Subbing


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## DressageDreamer

Guess I am just a sucker for a cute face! I think they are both adorable :-D


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## Hidalgo13

subbing


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## Ripper

csimkunas6 said:


> How neat! What are some other horses you know of that arent ideal?


No horse is perfect.


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## csimkunas6

Ripper said:


> No horse is perfect.


Defiantly not!! Its just interesting to me to see horses that were very successful at what they did with confo that isnt ideal, or "acceptable" for that discipline!


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## trailhorserider

Ripper said:


> Impressive (QH) had a little over bite.


Based on what I know of Impressive that was the least of his worries!


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## trailhorserider

I would also like to say that although we should always try to breed for the best conformation possible, I think way too many people reject horses that are already on this earth based purely on conformation. I see it all the time on this forum. People will rip a horse up conformationally and that horse may be just fine for it's intended use and be sound just as long as any other horse. 

I bet folks would have been all over Seabiscuit and Hickstead if their photos were posted on a forum like this before they were famous. No one would say to buy them! And yet they somehow managed to do well for their owners didn't they?

Actually, to me anyway, Hickstead and Seabiscuit both had similar front legs. Maybe that should be considered a desirable conformation, lol!


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## csimkunas6

trailhorserider said:


> I would also like to say that although we should always try to breed for the best conformation possible, I think way too many people reject horses that are already on this earth based purely on conformation. I see it all the time on this forum. People will rip a horse up conformationally and that horse may be just fine for it's intended use and be sound just as long as any other horse.
> 
> I bet folks would have been all over Seabiscuit and Hickstead if their photos were posted on a forum like this before they were famous. No one would say to buy them! And yet they somehow managed to do well for their owners didn't they?
> 
> Actually, to me anyway, Hickstead and Seabiscuit both had similar front legs. Maybe that should be considered a desirable conformation, lol!




Very well said IMO trailhorserider! Different confo faults, may actually be more ideal for certain disciplined, than say a better conformed horse. It all depends on what you are doing! Also to add, although confo plays a big role in how far a horse can go, mind, and heart play a big role as well! IMO anyways


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## soenjer55

The stronger the mind and heart, the more necessary a strong, well-conformed body is to contain it- the saddest thing I can think of is a horse that has the passion but a body that just won't hold up. But there's a difference between a horse that has a strong enough body and a horse that is strong enough for what they need to do, if that makes sense.
I agree, some conformation 'faults' make the horse much better for a certain discipline. I've thought about this a lot, lol. Technically, a horse that's level would be ideal, right? But uphill horses are better for jumping/ dressage, and more downhill horses are better on the other end of the performance spectrum- I've noticed that horses with low-set necks are generally better mountain horses, too. 'Perfect' is relative to what you do.


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## WyomingRallyRacer

don't know how famous she is but she is the dam of some amazing horses
Fairy Gold Thoroughbred


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## csimkunas6

WyomingRallyRacer said:


> don't know how famous she is but she is the dam of some amazing horses
> Fairy Gold Thoroughbred


In the pic on there that they have of her, she looks like she may have laminitis.....


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## missnashvilletime

soenjer55 said:


> The stronger the mind and heart, the more necessary a strong, well-conformed body is to contain it- the saddest thing I can think of is a horse that has the passion but a body that just won't hold up.


That made me think of ruffian :'( such a great heart without the body to take the strain....


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## aqharyder

Well, for me (I show AQHA WP and Trial), i loved Good Asset. Great confirmation for a western pleasure horse, plus a great mind.


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## RoosHuman

What a cool thread!!!


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## lilruffian

Big Ben was another jumper with not ideal conformation. Spectacular horse, but in my opinion, rather homely:?







I've also never liked the looks of Special Effort, a famous QH.


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## palominolover

Subbing . What an interesting thread.


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## csimkunas6

lilruffian said:


> Big Ben was another jumper with not ideal conformation. Spectacular horse, but in my opinion, rather homely:?
> View attachment 98039
> 
> I've also never liked the looks of Special Effort, a famous QH.
> View attachment 98040


Big Ben sure does have some, well different confo, IMO....as for Special Effort, holy mackeral!! That back is as long as a bus, and butt high as ever.....how interesting!


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## Ripper

missnashvilletime said:


> That made me think of ruffian :'( such a great heart without the body to take the strain....


I blame Ruffian's trainer.

Match racing is never good.


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## Endiku

Great thread idea! Subbing.


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## ponyboy

soenjer55 said:


> The stronger the mind and heart, the more necessary a strong, well-conformed body is to contain it- the saddest thing I can think of is a horse that has the passion but a body that just won't hold up.


I think that applies to me, lol.


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## MakeYourMark

"Impressive"









Ew. I don't like him at all.

How in God's name did he win so much and get so famous?

:|


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## Snizard93

MakeYourMark said:


> "Impressive"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ew. I don't like him at all.
> 
> How in God's name did he win so much and get so famous?
> 
> :|


If you take away his neck and head, he looks like a Belgian Blue Cow :wink:


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## Ripper

That picture of Impressive was taken long after his showing days were over.

His get is on multiple all time lists.

http://www.bringinglighttohypp.org/Impressive.html


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## Laineylou

I dunno about famous horses, but my dad had a racing QH that broke track records all over the state of Iowa with club feet.


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## missnashvilletime

Ripper said:


> I blame Ruffian's trainer.
> 
> Match racing is never good.


Actually ruffians trainer advised against it; the owners didn't listen. Her trainer was very vocal in his dislike of match racing. So I blame the owner(s) :/
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## aqharyder

This is Peter the Great, one of the most famous trotting horses/sire of trotting horses. He was from Kalamazoo and many trotters can trace their lineage back to him. Please forgive my bragging a bit but his owner, Daniel Streeter, was my great-grandfather. As far as we know, my great-grandfather and me are the onlyl "horsey" people in our family. My dad always said he wished he had known me - I sure wish I had known him!


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## MakeYourMark

*shrug* Doesn't change the fact that he has a short neck, large unattractive ears, and a short, flat croup. Call me crazy, but there are much better horses out there and his whole HYPP legacy was _so_ not worth it.


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## soenjer55

This is a little off- topic, but... I like big ears. LOL. Everyone else seems to think they're unattractive, though...
I agree with MakeYourMark, though. He's not a stallion I ever found... well, worth keeping intact... and although his offspring may do well showing, the whole HYPP thing cancels out any possibility of him being a good producer. :/


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## CLaPorte432

Aqharyder, Im from Kalamazoo, Michigan. ;-) so that is awesome. I could go visit his remains. How epic that would be!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## aqharyder

I would love it if you did! I was born in California, but every summer we would go to Kalamazoo to visit my dad's relatives. We would also go to Gull Lake - I even caught a turtle in that lake! I really love Kalamazoo - great memories!


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