# Critique for the Arab gurus ;)



## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

This is Zaim, 5 yr old Arabian gelding. He's been a rather late bloomer and I'm enjoying watching him grow and transform. Anywho, he's my baby and I'm a little partial so thought I'd see what ya'll saw. I know he's not perfect but anything major stand out to anyone? Also ideas on what he'd be good for? I'm kinda thinking about getting into long distance riding... I've brought it up on here before but wondering on your experiences with growing Arabs. He turns 5 next month. Anyone have an Arab hit a growth spurt after 5yrs old? 





















And for comparison this was him last year. I think he really filled out in the last year, though he hasn't grown much height wise...


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## arrowattack09 (Jul 10, 2012)

I like his shoulder. 

However, I find him to be very long. He is also bum high, and probably won't be growing out of it. The bone in his legs is pretty slight, he toes out in front, and has a narrow chest.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

What stands out to me is his long back, which is not very typical of the breed as they tend to have short backs, bum-high and slightly cow-hocked.
At his age and being a rather lightly built horse he probably will not have anymore growth spurts, though he may muscle up nicely, giving him more presence


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Lol he's actually Very short backed. He wears a size 64 rug and can't go over a 26" saddle skirt or its on his bum. And his legs look skinny but his cannon measures close to 7" at the midpoint. Is that still considered small? Everything else is things I see too but being a bit biased I have a hard time critiquing my own boys  Will the high bum affect anything? Sorry for all the questions, I enjoy learning how all this ties in 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

lilruffian said:


> What stands out to me is his long back, which is not very typical of the breed as they tend to have short backs, bum-high and slightly cow-hocked.
> At his age and being a rather lightly built horse he probably will not have anymore growth spurts, though he may muscle up nicely, giving him more presence


I've never been fond of his rear end. When ya'll say he's got a long back is it a ratio with his body length? I've just always thought of him having a short back. I knew he toed out. He was given to me because the breeder only did halter horses and he wasn't halter quality. When I got him as a yearling I was shown his toeing out and was told then that his back was actually too short... Anything that will affect his soundness for trail riding and possible long distance (probably no more than 25 miles at a time)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

I agree with the long back. The size blanket does not matter, its long for his proportions.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

KigerQueen said:


> I agree with the long back. The size blanket does not matter, its long for his proportions.


Thanks  One more question... where do you measure the back from? End of withers to top of croup?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Ok, just joking, I do have another question  Sorry to be a pain, just trying to learn! This is my mother's 3yr old Arab gelding. Only looking at his back do you think he's long. I'm curious cause they measure identical but have different breeding and builds.... Thanks for your help and knowledge!


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

It is not so much a long back.. look at the placement of his hip... it is a poorly placed peak of croup.. that makes it appear long through a weak coupling. 

This horse is thin through the back.. with a spine sticking up and no muscling either side of it.. so it is shaped like a roof ridge that pitches either side of it. I think he needs weight. 

Of course, even weight will not help his other faults though bit more weight might mask some of those faults better..


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Elana said:


> It is not so much a long back.. look at the placement of his hip... it is a poorly placed peak of croup.. that makes it appear long through a weak coupling.
> 
> This horse is thin through the back.. with a spine sticking up and no muscling either side of it.. so it is shaped like a roof ridge that pitches either side of it. I think he needs weight.
> 
> Of course, even weight will not help his other faults though bit more weight might mask some of those faults better..


Thanks. Yes we're coming out of winter here finally and he's a little thinner than I like. I will post a pic later of him chubbed up and see if that makes a difference. And by other faults do you mean the ones already mentioned or something new?


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

They're not the best photos but here's a couple that show him at a higher weight.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

And yeah he's standing facing down a hill in the second pic.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

He does look better with more weight on him. As far as his back, if it doesn't fill in more, saddle fit could be an issue. You may have to do a lot of work to get a saddle and pad combination that will not cause the high point of his croup to get rubbed. Just so you work with being sure he doesn't get rubbed and sore from the saddle, he should ride just fine. 

For that matter, I think everybody needs to be careful with saddle fit. Sore backs cause a lot of behavior problems, but that's another topic.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Celeste said:


> He does look better with more weight on him. As far as his back, if it doesn't fill in more, saddle fit could be an issue. You may have to do a lot of work to get a saddle and pad combination that will not cause the high point of his croup to get rubbed. Just so you work with being sure he doesn't get rubbed and sore from the saddle, he should ride just fine.
> 
> For that matter, I think everybody needs to be careful with saddle fit. Sore backs cause a lot of behavior problems, but that's another topic.


Thanks Celeste. I've changed to an aussie saddle for fitting reasons (and have fallen in love with them on the trail). Every western saddle I tried that was in my budget was too long for him and pads are even worse. He's just being started under saddle and I'm using an English all purpose right now that seems to work well.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

My husband rides a horse with a similar back and it took quite a bit to get her happy with a saddle. I'm glad that you are aware of the issue and paying attention to it. By the way, his horse can go all day.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

See the area circled? That line is called a "poor line." Horses that show that line _unless being ridden hard in competition_ have something not right. They either need more feed, better feed or a different work program or all three.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Proverty line is what I call it, means the same thing though. Agree with other posts.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Elana said:


> See the area circled? That line is called a "poor line." Horses that show that line _unless being ridden hard in competition_ have something not right. They either need more feed, better feed or a different work program or all three.


He wasn't being worked at all here and is just starting so he has not yet gotten the muscle build up. He gets fed Safe choice.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

And looking at the recent pics I don't see it on him.


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## Janasse (Nov 22, 2008)

Scratch that, I see it in another photo. But again he's just starting to work and hasn't built up those muscles and from what I've read it's as much a conditioning thing as a weight thing. As you can see he was not underweight in the older pics (which are about 2 yrs old).


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