# critique possible buy??



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Firstly, a bit of explanation on my situation at the moment. I've applied for a working pupil job with a big eventing stable on the other side of the country (with one of Australia's upper-level riders, who has competed and won at Olympic level for years), and need to decide what I'm doing if I get it. At the moment it looks like I'd be selling my current two and buying another horse over there, so I've been doing my research and considering what I would get for my two horses and looking for horses in the same state as this eventing stable, for less than that amount.

I have found a couple that I like but the one that stands out to me is this guy. 7yo TB gelding, 17.2hh, solid basic education ready to go on with. They want $2500 for him (OTTB's in Aus go for anything from free, to $5k and upwards, depending on their conformation and looks and therefore their potential) and I think that between my two I could MAYBE get $4k if I'm lucky...

but what I need to ask is, is he built for what I want to do? I showjump mainly, this rider I might end up working for is an eventer and dressage rider so the horse I end up with will HAVE to be built to event because that's what I will be learning if I get the position.

I wouldn't ask but it's SO much harder to look objectively at a horse when you're considering buying it!

Apologies for giving you a link, I can't for the life of me get the URL to the pic itself!
Horse Deals


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Nice looking horse. More pictures would be nice, though. I know it's not the best photo to judge but he really doesn't look 17.2...
as for confo, it's pretty good.
Good shoulder & neck set.
Depth of girth is good and he is built slightly uphill, which I believe is somewhat desirable in jumping.
Nothing glaringly off about his front legs.
Back isnt too long.
Well-shaped hindquarters.
Not standing square with his back legs but nothing severely wrong stands out to me.


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## GoldSahara (May 4, 2010)

I would say that he certainly has really nice conformation, but I agree that he doesn't look 17.2. He also has kind of short legs for eventing, but I'm no expert. I think he's gorgeous, though. If you get him, he may just disappear ;-)


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

I think you can do better. 

It may be partially the fault of the way he's standing the the photo, but I don't like his front end. Little too straight in the shoulder to have a ground covering stride or the movement for dressage. The way his neck ties into his shoulder is good, and ideal for dressage, but his neck is short and undermuscled on the top, which suggests it will be a struggle to get him to travel correctly for dressage. 

Also, the ratio of this canon bone to forearm is nearly 1:1; not a good indicator for jumping ability, especially when combined with that shoulder. 

In his favor, I love his short back and powerful hind end. His hind end construction is pretty close to ideal; I'd just want to put it on a horse with a better front.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks guys  I agree I don't think he looks 17.2 but they can be very deceptive!

There's a couple of others, let me just grab links to their pics 

Horse Deals - nice looking mare, I'm not really a fan of her neck or how it ties in but otherwise she looks pretty nice. VERY long cannons, seems to be a TB thing. $3500 for this one. She's 6 months off the track and currently ridden by an older gent, which says a lot about her temperament (which is another important consideration, I'm a bit of a nervous rider despite how driven I am). 16.1, 5yo.

Horse Deals - another nice looking mare, but definitely not the nicest I've found. $1000 is her asking price. Unraced, 4yo, 16.1hh.

these guys don't have any confo photos but they have some education and are showing talent. They ARE more pricey though :/

Horse Deals - only 18 months off the track but showing talent over fences, this is the only photo. That fence is probably around 3'3" or 3'4" high, I'm bad at width. They want $3500. He's 5yo, 16.1hh and only lightly raced.

Horse Deals - this guy is cute, but I don't like how he hangs his knees a little... can be tidied up with lots of grids and gymnastic work but the question is, how much improvement? He's 15.3hh, 7yo. They want $4500 for this one.

Horse Deals - I absolutely LOVE this one's jump, but I'm not into greys :/ he's also a bit much, $5000 and I don't think I'll be able to raise that much from the sale of my two. He's 11yo, 16.1hh and jumping around the 3'3" to 3'4" mark with scope to go higher.

Horse Deals - this guy only has a dressage picture and I'm not experienced enough in dressage to know if he's going well enough, but I like his height (16.1) age (6yo), and what they say they're doing with him... he is apparently jumping 3' now, I wouldn't want him jumping any higher than that at his age.

They are ALL larger horses because I like big horses, bar the one that's 15.3 and he's only on the list because I think he's cute and I like how tidy his cannons are... just wish he was a bit tidier with his knees.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

I liked the last one. 

The horse being free lunged over the barrels and rails was intriguing. Not conventional form but not convential training either. And the horse had an amazing attitude. Depending on what else has been done with him, he might be worth considering. I'd just worry about he knowledge gaps of his current owner/trainers.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

The horse only 18 months off the track looks really nice to me for Jumping. He is tucking everything up in the air.. look at his HIND feet. 

I saw a horse jump like this a long time ago.. Grand Prix at Madison Square Garden. The horse did not win (time) but jumped so carefully and with such concentration. This horse looks like she did (filly). 

Last horse looks good at this angle and trotting but this is not photo for conformation judging.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I liked the last one and the 18 months OTT one best too. The last is $5000, so a bit more than I wanted to spend, but worth a look in I think.

And I also found an attractive chestnut TB/Warmblood by a stallion called Aachimedes. He looks nice, has "big uphill movement", but he cribs and is it just me or are his hocks a bit sickled? Horse Deals But for $2500 my feeling is that he's worth a look... just have to see if my potential employer will allow a cribber in his facility, he may not.

This website will refresh with a whole new set of horse sale ads start of June but meanwhile I'm looking at what's there now. It's the website for a big sales magazine that comes out monthly.

EDIT; I just googled the warmblood cross gelding's sire, looks like he's a dressage stallion that can jump? The stallion is by Aachen, I'm not familiar with warmblood bloodlines so I have no idea whether this is a good thing or a bad thing! http://www.jaybeefarm.com.au/archie.html


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Found another nice TB, well nice in my eyes at least! Not on level ground, but square.









15.3hh, 3yo gelding. Owners are asking $1600


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## Amberish2002 (May 26, 2012)

"And I also found an attractive chestnut TB/Warmblood by a stallion called Aachimedes. He looks nice, has "big uphill movement", but he cribs and is it just me or are his hocks a bit sickled? "

Hocks def look funny, no matter what's up with them. They worry me.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Yeah... I took him off my short list. Got some more ridden horses and off the trackers but I think I'll let my possible employer vet the horses for me (conformationally speaking), he is after all an Olympian so he KNOWS what will do well and what won't.


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