# Progress Report



## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

This is a progression of my 6 yo TB gelding. The first was when I went to see him about 10 weeks ago. The second was when I had had him home for about 3 weeks and the third was yesterday. Sorry about the mud in the final picture, he was standing nicely and I happened to catch the shot.




























I know he has a long way to go with muscle and all that, but I would like to hear opinions.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

He has put on weight.. now he needs to be put to work trotting up hills.. to get his abdominal muslces strong to start getting his entire ring of muscles working.

Now, I will say his hind pasterns are a bit long.. and there are those who will whine that he has a tiny roach in his back.. his neck is lacking on top. Those are all true.. but this is a really nice horse. He has nice big hocks, Long pasterns behind are not a huge issue because the hind legs only carry 40% of the weight (Grand Prix Jumping might hurt them). He has nice front legs.. maybe a tiny bit over at the knee and his shoulder is a bit steep and the point of shoulder a bit low. 

As he gains weight AND is put to work AND gets his ring of muscles working, this horse has a great shot at being very very pretty.. mud and all. 

DO read this.. http://www.equinestudies.org/ring_revisited_2008/ring_of_muscles_2008_pdf.pdfand DO get him working nicely because this horse is worth it IMO. 

I would love to see him ridden 5-6 days a week with lots of long trots up hills with his rider standing in the stirrups (2 point) and giving him rein to lean into the hill. I would love to see him learn to trot caveletti.. working gradually up to 8 poles in a row and then having them elevated 12 inches off the ground. 

Do that and then show him to us in 6 months.. a nice photo.. and I expect there may be some "wow" there.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

I am going to add this photo. Here is a horse learning to engage his ring of muscles. You can do this (eventually) with this horse. He will be a bit stiffer in the back than some but he can do it.

This photo is from this site:
What does 'on the bit' really mean?


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## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

Thank you. I have begun working him in side reins and his work through the winter has been and will continue to be sporadic due to a lack of good footing. In the next couple of months, details to come, he will be moved from my back yard to a barn with a great trainer, an arena and access to hours worth of trails with hills. At that point, his work load will be increased to build him towards a show career, my goal being horse trials and low level eventing. 

With his previous owner, he was ridden on trails, in a tom thumb, head up and hollow. He is learning that it is very nice to just relax and stretch his head and neck forward.


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

Subbing..Ill be back later when I get a chance to actually post what I want to.

Other than that, he really reminds me of ST, and I LOVE her, haha. He seems like a nice horse, he'll look much better with some work.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

Elana, my trainer agrees totally and loves the link about the ring of muscles. She wants me to read it in depth.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

MysterySparrow said:


> Elana, my trainer agrees totally and loves the link about the ring of muscles. She wants me to read it in depth.


I love your trainer for this!
Another horse with a shot at a LOOOOONG life of usefulness. 

This horse may surprise you.


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## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

For fun, I am going to toss out a nice little fact about Mr. Caesar here. I paid only $275 for this guy.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

In this market there are a lot of good horses going for killer prices. He is one of the lucky ones. If you get him working properly, he will be even more lucky. 

I never forget the story of Snowman.


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I just wanted to point one other thing out (still have to make time for my long post, lol). When the horse is working properly with impulsion and working off the hind end like they should, they carry 50+% of the weight on their hind end, not 40%.
If you're planning on just riding trails and small local shows, I wouldn't worry much about his longish hind pasterns, any competative showing or high levels of any discipline could hurt those though.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

Iseul said:


> I just wanted to point one other thing out (still have to make time for my long post, lol). When the horse is working properly with impulsion and working off the hind end like they should, they carry 50+% of the weight on their hind end, not 40%.
> If you're planning on just riding trails and small local shows, I wouldn't worry much about his longish hind pasterns, any competative showing or high levels of any discipline could hurt those though.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I understand your concern, and I have noted the length. However, my own aspirations are not so high as I feel would create a situation to over stress his joints. He has had a nice mellow life up to this point without having been put into a lot of heavy work as well as displaying both good bone and soft tissue.


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

That comment was mostly at Elana's reply stating the 40% thing.
But, I'm glad you're looking out for his best intrests as well.  Good luck with him and whatever you make him your partner in. He looks like a great boy, and if he was for sale around here and I was in the financial position, I would've snatched him right up. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Jore (Dec 4, 2010)

Nothing to add, but he's looking much better! You seem to be doing a great job with him!


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Glad to see he's put on weight,now to get him woring & get some muscle on him. Looks like you got yourself a great deal. Have fun w/him.


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## StarfireSparrow (Jan 19, 2009)

I wish the rain would stop so I could get him back to work. My arena is so soggy and slippery I can't so much as walk him under saddle without worrying if his feet are going to stay under him. Lunging is right out of the question. I hope I can get things worked out to get him moved down to my trainers place so he can start serious work.


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