# Conformation critique please for 16 mo. old filly



## xxxMYSTYxxx (Aug 4, 2007)

oooh very pretty
she actualy looks a lot like my old horse


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I think she built very nicely. She looks very quiet too (not like mine which tried to buck saddle off like crazy). However I would rather not put saddle on her till may be 2 years old (those leather saddles weight quite a lot).


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## Tessa Bear (May 15, 2007)

shes cute, the only thing i see that i would change is that her bridle path a way to far back. but she is a cutie. shes pretty dainty so i woulden't ride her until she is at least 2 and half, i woulden't even saddlebreak her for a another 6 months. but thats just me. shes a cutie!


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## stefie (May 24, 2007)

i think that she is very well built up but there is only one thing that i would work on and thats buildin up her neck i think it looks a bit thin lol but thats just me....and as for the saddle thing lol i first put a saddle on my filly when she was bout the same age as urs lol but i never rode her though, dont wanna buckle her legs lol. but i rode her the other day just for lik 5 mins but she is lik 2 yrs now lol


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## burrissa (Aug 1, 2007)

Thanks for all the opinions. We bought it for my daughter who is in the picture. She presently weighs 88 pounds(my daughter). She knows this is like an early birthday present for her. Both the filly and my daughter have birthdays in March. Thats when she will get her first chance to sit on the horse. Such is the life becoming a teenage.


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## Kyani (Apr 30, 2007)

I'd advise you to rethink sitting on this horse until she is AT LEAST 3 years old. I know it is common practice in the US to back much earlier, but it is genrally accepted here that it is harmful to expect a horse to carry a rider under 3yrs or to do any serious riding before it is 4yrs (jumping, if desired, usually comes at 5 yrs if the horse is brought on at a decent pace).
It is not her legs you will be doing the most damage to, but her spine. The vertebrae are some of the last bones in the body to fuse.


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## desperate horsewife (Jun 21, 2007)

Could just be the picture, but she's standing quite a bit under herself in back. Perhaps if she took another step forward it would give her a stronger back end?

Personally, I wouldn't worry about your lightweight daughter sitting on the filly's back. Just sitting once in a while isn't going to do any long term damage. My daughter sits on her two year old. Yes, the growth plates are still developing, but you won't be causing your horse to be broken down by the time it's ten if it's being sat on. :wink:


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## Flying B (Jul 4, 2007)

Don't ride her until she is two, its ok to put the saddle on her just don't get in. A all leather saddle is ok they are better than those little saddle bigger trees mean more weight in a bigger space, and even a big saddle may weigh 30 or 40 pounds is not enough to worry about. Her bridle path is to far back you want to fold her ear back and that is how far her bridle path should. I would build up her neck up some.


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## stefie (May 24, 2007)

Kyani said:


> I'd advise you to rethink sitting on this horse until she is AT LEAST 3 years old. I know it is common practice in the US to back much earlier, but it is genrally accepted here that it is harmful to expect a horse to carry a rider under 3yrs or to do any serious riding before it is 4yrs (jumping, if desired, usually comes at 5 yrs if the horse is brought on at a decent pace).
> It is not her legs you will be doing the most damage to, but her spine. The vertebrae are some of the last bones in the body to fuse.


you can ride ur horse if its 2 yrs old its depends on how ur horse has developed if its all tanky and muscular and u no that it can hold u no probs then y not strat slow training, im not talkin about ful work or hour rides just basic things to get ur horse use to everything.
it all depends on ur horses development in not sayin that she should ride her horse now, not at 16 mth but i can see that this horse is already muscular and tanky and i dont see any harm in puttin a saddle on her with her 3 yr old daughter that weight what 13.

as i said its depends on the horses development.


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## burrissa (Aug 1, 2007)

Both of her parents are registered paints. Someone told me that this filly(Barn name Flicka) was only considered a paint with breeders papers but not a registered paint due to no color. Can some one explain this to me? The lady I'm buying her from showed me papers to register her once I make the second half of the payment. She said it's $65.00 to register and her registered name on the paperwork is Splendid Gypsy Rose. Thanks. Below are Flicka's mom and dad. I tried posting a link for the pedigrees for mom and dad from APHA site but it didn't work. Some names I see in the tree are Doc's Bar, Royal Viking, Painted Jewel

Sire: Splendid Painted King:

Dam: Doc's Lucky Gypsy.


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## Kyani (Apr 30, 2007)

"muscular and tanky" does NOT equal structurally sound. Muscle development may be complete long before bones have finished growing and fused. It is the skeletal structure you are putting at risk more than anything.
It's common misconception that breeds such as this are 'fast-maturing' and able to take weight earlier. Some horses I wouldn't even consider asking to take weight until they were 4. 
This is by far the best site explaining the whole issue:
http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/ranger.html

And that's without going into a discussion on the benefits of allowing a horse to mature mentally.


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## Flying B (Jul 4, 2007)

A lot of the ones with the low backs could just be the way they road if they ride them with there heads up in the air then there backs will do that over time. I not saying to put some big fat guy on a small 2 year old or even a small guy on a small 2 year old, but I think that when that horse turns 2 that little girl can ride her with out worrying about it. I weigh 125 and would ride her when she turns two.


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