# Critique Cash



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Oh, added note, we did mouth him as he looks the way he does, but his age is correct.


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## akihba (Jul 8, 2013)

I'm no expert (just started reading conformation books) but from what I've learned so far, he seems alright all-around, as Mustangs are built to be hardy. 

Could use a wider barrel. I can't see the curves of his ribs from in front or behind him. His neck seems a bit short at the bottom as compared to the top, and it looks like it connects below the point of the shoulder. 

I think his quarters have a nice slope to them... and that's as far as I got in the book so I can't comment on the legs and hooves yet  Although I can't really tell from the photos, but is there something going on with his back right hoof? Looks almost like a club foot. 

Cute horse! 

I would love for someone more experienced than me to give their thoughts as well, and see if my recent learnings have been applied well or if I'm completely off the mark haha.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Thank you for responding!

He has a lot of hair. lol. I didn’t know
if it would hide too much. 

Actually the hooves are nicely built, but there is something I am not sure I like in the left hind leg itself. It seems to be straightening out as I have done a better job on his trimming, but there is something about it I am not sure of.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Oh, I was confused what you mean by the barrel! I see what you are saying. I didn’t know you should!


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

He is filling out beautifully! I really like his general look, I can see where he's the perfect all around ranch horse - sturdy, good feet, good brain (not related to his confo, but still).
And I think @akihba covered most of it pretty well


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## akihba (Jul 8, 2013)

Knave said:


> Oh, I was confused what you mean by the barrel! I see what you are saying. I didn’t know you should!


Wider barrel allows for the lungs to expand better since there's more room for them. A horse with a narrow barrel will not have as much endurance and stamina.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Thank you @JoBlueQuarter. He does seem sturdy at least. 
@akihba I had no idea! That is really good to know. I also agree his neck is short, but I don’t know what that results in either.


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## akihba (Jul 8, 2013)

Knave said:


> Thank you @JoBlueQuarter. He does seem sturdy at least.
> 
> @akihba I had no idea! That is really good to know. I also agree his neck is short, but I don’t know what that results in either.


If I recall correctly, the horse won't be as good at flexing, and might have a harder time maintaining its balance, especially when it needs to turn or stop quickly. A good sized neck in a horse lends to its ability to balance and collect itself.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

That is interesting @akihba! I can say he flexes well, and he seems good enough for his education level at collecting (it is a work in progress you know lol), but I’m not sure about his balance at this point.


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## akihba (Jul 8, 2013)

Knave said:


> That is interesting @akihba! I can say he flexes well, and he seems good enough for his education level at collecting (it is a work in progress you know lol), but I’m not sure about his balance at this point.


He probably CAN do it, just won't be a Star Dressage Pony or whatever, haha. He sounds like a good horse, and specific conformation faults don't always dock the horse's performance for whatever you need him to do. It's just that compared against a horse with a longer neck, he would probably not do as well in certain disciplines.


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

He has a typical stocky Mustang build and looks sound and solid to give you years of fun! The thing that sticks out for me is his "roundness" and slightly cresty neck. Also typical but need to be monitored closely. Mustangs tend to be air ferns and require little besides forage. Often people feed them the same as a domestic horse and end up with overweight Cushings-type horses on their hands. Take some pounds off him and gosh you've got a really nice keeper!!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@Boo Walker I agree that he seems overweight. It makes me laugh because he spent a year outside, and I don’t know how he got so fat. Actually he’s lost some weight since I brought him home, and he had to work a lot of the fall work. I think he will probably get fat easily.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I like him very much.
In no particular order....what I see...

Nice thick bones and build, he is no dainty flower to sit on a shelf.
He has angles where he should and straight where he should.
He is wide and that may hide some of that "barrel" being referenced.
If when you get astride your leg rests along and touching his barrel...then he is more than good for lung capacity.
You can also build up stamina and lung capacity keeping in mind you are not changing his bone structure. 
He is also a deep heartgirth which is also lung capacity and heart capacity 
He looks to me like there is a draft influence in his breeding...mustang or not, some 'stangs did indeed have draft mixed in their bloodline.
I like his back appearance, wide stance forehand, his sacroiliac joint wish was slightly forward of where it is.
Nice set of his hind legs and that all his angles match that shoulder angle seen..hocks not to high nor to low, good shape and size to them.
His white hind looks puffy, could be hair could be post-injury but he is full weight bearing to it it seems.
His legs are set on the four corners of his body as they are supposed to be to support his mass.
He has nicely spaced & sized shaped eyes, placed well on his head, good size proportion ears, flat forehead and a face/head that will allow for easy air passage when working hard.
A shorter neck with good tie-in gives him balancing strength against cows when dragging them....if you do that kind of work with him.
I like his feet being substantial sized to support his bulk.

He is built with power in his stance...
Bet he is fun to ride, more agile than you think and quick on his feet....time shall tell.
He looks like a good reliable mount to ride...one who can stay the course of a day, or a weeks worth of hard work once he learns all those tricks of the trade.
Bottom line is he's a nice looking horse, mud and all doesn't hide him or that...
Enjoy....you picked a good one.
:runninghorse2:...
_jmo..._


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

When I buy a horse I always evaluate them from the ground up and look for anything that is wrong even in the slightest. One this let's me knock down the price when haggling and two it keeps me from buying really pretty horses that might have a major defect that I overlook because they are so pretty. No horse is perfect and all have faults, I don't see any faults in that horse that would keep me from buying him knowing he is a mustang. If he was AQH then his neck proportions and the arc of the topline of his neck would make me think twice. However I grew up on BLM mustangs because my grandfather was a cheap old man and would often get them for almost nothing and then turn them into trail horses for a dude ranch, which meant we kids rode a lot of mustangs getting them rides before they were sold off. Many of the mustangs I knew had more curvature to the top of their neck than anything I would expect from other breeds that aren't drafts or Fjords etc. it never seemed to affect them for what my grandfather used them for. 

Some of this could be the angles the pictures are taken from and how he is standing but if I take a tape to him on screen here are the minor faults I see:
Too much curvature to the upper neck
Throat latch to the length of the head doesn't appear to be a 1:2 balance 
His neck ties low
He is ever so slightly downhill
Right rear leg slightly bow legged or maybe he just stands close
Slightly toes out in front
Slightly camped out in the view from his left side
Depth of heart maybe a little small and as he loses weight that unequal proportion might grow.

If I listed all his good points I would be typing a huge post so I stuck with possible faults only. I didn't see anything that would keep me from buying him if I was looking for a mustang.


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## Vixenkit5 (Aug 18, 2014)

Looks to me he may have some Slight issues in his conformation. His right rear end seems thicker to me and left leg (rear) seems to be supporting. I’d have chiropractor out for an assessment. Pretty Baby!! LOVE Mustangs!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Thank you @horselovinguy and @AndyTheCornbread.

Yes @horselovinguy he is particularly wide. He definitely shows a lot of draft, and I haven’t noticed any problem with his ability to work long and hard. He looks like he should be slow and lazy, but you are perfectly right in that he is surprising agile. He also will hopefully do a lot of dragging calves to the fire, if I can get him over his current fear of ropes. Lol. 

Maybe that is what I see in the white leg too that bothered me. Maybe it is an old injury, because he had a couple scars that are just peeling off and he has been perfectly sound.
@AndyTheCornbread I was with your grandfather on this one! I needed something started to finish my fall work on and I figured I could pick up something from the prison cheaper than anywhere else, because I didn’t have much to spend. He cost me more than I figured, but I didn’t have time to start something completely. 

I too think the curvature is just a drafty thing. Another horse from the same area sold that was an 8, and he had that same look only a lot heavier, so I don’t think he is meant to be as thin as we are used to seeing. 


It doesn’t seem like anyone is throwing out a major red flag at least as far as long term soundness!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@Vixenkit5 thank you!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

My grandfather's personal riding horse was a seal brown mustang named "Teddy" after Theodore Roosevelt who ranched in the Badlands area my grandfather got the horse from. I think most of his mustangs came out of the ND Badlands but that was back when the BLM would give them to you for almost nothing pretty much if you went and helped round them up. Way back when my great grandfather was doing it they would just go round up mustangs in the Badlands and they were free but I think by the time my grandfather was doing it when I was alive the BLM had started to manage them by then so you had to pay something for them, it wasn't much but I remember my grandfather grumbling about it not being a matter of a free round up anymore. He was so cheap that if you poisoned him he would probably have tried to get the return deposit on the bottle before keeling over, so it doesn't surprise me that he grumbled about what little he had to pay for them when he originally got them for free. He would probably have an aneurysm if he saw what they cost now days.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

akihba said:


> Wider barrel allows for the lungs to expand better since there's more room for them. A horse with a narrow barrel will not have as much endurance and stamina.


This is true, but I don't think Cash has a particularly narrow barrel. Indeed, he has a nice wide chest for a gelding not quite three years old, and the distance between the horse's shoulders is a better indicator of heart-lung room than what you can see from the side. This is also why some breeders of performance and racehorses don't geld their colts early - because chest width is a secondary sexual characteristic in male horses as it is in humans, and testosterone-mediated, i.e. if the horse doesn't have uncut testosterone levels while developing, he won't get as wide in the chest as his genetic potential would permit him to be.

As a specialist endurance horse, it wouldn't be his heart-lung room holding him back; more likely his solid build would mean a bit much weight to drag around at speed. But you're not doing fast-paced long-distance rides with this horse; the work you do is more moderate, more like wild horses move anyway, so he should be A1 for that. Also, his strength and weight is a real asset for your roping. He won't have much trouble stopping a cow. 

Cash hasn't finished growing yet and should still broaden out for at least another year. His hind legs will likely straighten more as he grows, and as things tighten up. He may not completely lose being slightly wider at the hocks than fetlocks, but it's not a huge deviation, and I've seen horses race with that minor issue and not hold them back. I've seen this more with fast-growing horses that are tall early, than other horses.

I think you've got an excellent horse on your hands, and that he should be well suited physically to the job you have for him. :blueunicorn:


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

My grandpa used to do a lot of running horses too @AndyTheCornbread. Really the price isn’t horrible on unbroke ones, $125, but getting the paperwork done and approved is crazy!

I was surprised at the prices of the prison horses. It was an auction, and of course Cash was one of the better horses. There were four horses that were pretty nice, and it was nice because the prisoners didn’t know little tricks to hide issues or anything like that, but they aren’t the quality of training that we are used to seeing either of 30 day horses.

Anyways, it seems it was a good move though, because they still went cheaper than bred horses of course, and Cash is proving himself to be a good buy thus far. I really like him, but I get attached to everything, so it’s not saying all that much.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@SueC I almost missed your post for some reason!! I imagine you are very good at confirmation, and so I am glad to see your opinion.  Yes, he probably wouldn’t make an endurance horse, but I think you are right that he will be good for my work. If he gets over his rope issues he should be able to stop most anything! Lol


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Not to say that he couldn't make a competitive endurance horse - have you seen Fluffy, one of @phantomhorse13's endurance mounts? She's Arab-Percheron cross, and wow. It'd be great to get Phantom's opinion of your horse too, she lives and breathes athletic performance. It's just that in general, the lighter horses (with broad chests) tend to have an advantage there over heavier horses.

How are his rope issues coming along?


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@SueC he is doing better. Today I was able to coil up my rope and tie it back on without him paying attention. So, that’s an improvement. Lol

I should have roped the dummy on him today, but it was threatening storm and not that warm. I wish I could actually get a real ride on him before pushing too much about the rope anyways! We will start branding small bunches soon. Husband makes a better branding horse than I do, and although putting him on Bones backfires real fast, I don’t think it will be an issue with Cash. Because of that I think I will have him rope a couple calves the first two or three brandings we have on Cash.

Honestly I don’t know how it will go. I did pull the kids on a sled on him the one time I could, and he actually seemed to calm a lot with weight on the end of the rope. 

Everyone thinks Zeus should be introduced to branding this spring too, so I might pull a couple calves to the fire on him while husband is riding Cash. Then I’ll probably just use Bones for most of the time.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I hope you have a good work season, @Knave, and that all your young horses will progress nicely. :hug:

Actually raining where we are, after the driest summer in years - rain sucked down from the tropics, which is unusual, but we're not going to quibble about rain whatever its origin - it's refreshing the pasture perennials nicely already...


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Thank you @SueC! I think it will end up being a good year!  My little girl will take over Zeus, but I just want to get those first work days started for her. She’s not particularly happy about the help, but I think she also understands that it is help, if that makes sense.

I’m happy to hear you are getting rain.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I also quite like him. He has some maturing to do but he's a nice solid "using" horse (not that he looks young but I suspect he'll balance out even more then he is. Nothing fancy, he looks a little course (also- FLUFF! lol) but solid, dependable, balanced, good looking, all the important things!! I don't see him being an upper level jumper (for ex) but I bet he will go all day and you'll have a blast doing it, also suspect he will be much more athletic then he looks at first glance. Really nice mustang!!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Thank you very much @Yogiwick! Definite coarse and fluffy! Lol. I do think he is more athletic and sensitive than he appears for sure. He looks big and slow to me, but although the big is true he acts much different than he appears.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

My horse looks like a blimp in his winter woolies, but he's definitely athletic! ;-)



With his late mother, who somehow gave birth to this big lubber! :rofl: A horse built like a barrel shouldn't be able to move that fast or for as long as he does it, but he does it anyway.  Had the most stamina out of all the horses that came out of my parents' place, as a young horse in harness racing training - did lap after lap after lap of the deep-sand training track like a Roman chariot horse - "Another lap? Sure thing! Let's go a bit faster while we're at it!" :racing:

Lucky for me he sucked at pacing, and there weren't any trotting races here at the time. Every inch as good a riding horse as my endurance Arabian mare was.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

He is a big guy @SueC! It is funny how those things turn out isn’t it? Bones seriously has a level of ambition I haven’t seen before, and he never tires. He is this little narrow delicate looking think that seems like he wouldn’t be strong at all.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I guess Bones is like that saying, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!"  Chip was like that too - not very tall, built similarly to Bones, but the most successful racer my family ever had! With a huge personality, all manner of quirks, and an unbelievable joie de vivre! :happydance:


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Knave said:


> Thank you very much @Yogiwick! Definite coarse and fluffy! Lol. I do think he is more athletic and sensitive than he appears for sure. He looks big and slow to me, but although the big is true he acts much different than he appears.


It's interesting because while I see course/fluffy (hard to tell how much is what! lol) I definitely do get the sense that he is NOT clunky and is surefooted and agile. I think he is hiding a LOT of potential and think he will be very versatile to boot!

Looking back at the pictures it almost looks like his hocks turn OUT (turning in slightly is normal), it could be the way he's standing but other then that I really don't see a single thing "wrong".

Reminds me a lot of a mare I know 3/4 TB 1/4 Perch. BIG mare but as athletic as any TB just nice and solid to boot.


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## akihba (Jul 8, 2013)

it's interesting hearing what others have to say! I'm definitely still learning. 
@SueC, if I may pick your brain, how do you tell that he's wide rather than having a narrow barrel? Is it the distance between the shoulders from the front view? 

I need to read some more on chest width, clearly


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@Yogiwick it is almost like the hocks are just very straight in real life. It does seem odd in some way. Maybe I am just used to them being in and the legs pushing out under that. He does look bowlegged on the right in that picture when I look at it, but in real life it seems more in the other leg, so it does come across differently for some reason. Maybe he was standing odd.

I hope you are right! I haven’t seen him without long hair yet. I bought him in October.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Knave said:


> @Yogiwick it is almost like the hocks are just very straight in real life. It does seem odd in some way. Maybe I am just used to them being in and the legs pushing out under that. He does look bowlegged on the right in that picture when I look at it, but in real life it seems more in the other leg, so it does come across differently for some reason. Maybe he was standing odd.
> 
> I hope you are right! I haven’t seen him without long hair yet. I bought him in October.


In that case you're required to post pictures in a few more months! Then again in a few more years lol. You definitely have a good eye I think!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I have not read all the responses, so forgive me if I duplicate something.


It's hard to believe this is a 16hh horse. He has the compact look of a smaller horse. This is not a bad thing. I love a compact horse. His neck appears short, but I think that is more because his head is large
(more space to pack in the brains, right?)


the hind legs, veiwed from the rear, seem to lack the normal amount of 'cowhocked-ness' that most horses have. what, Cowhocked is normal???!!! Ok, so what am I saying?? not exactly . . . 

well, normally the hocks are a bit closer together so that when viewed from the rear there should be a slightly 'V' line from the outside point of hip to the hock, then, straight down (from hock to ground). This is because normally the hind leg is slightly angled outwards, (hocks in, toes out) so that when it steps forward, it can pass along the belly. The belly would be in the way, if the leg only moved directly forward, so having the leg angled slightly outward, in an almost 'cowhocked' manner, allows the leg to step forward, along the belly. What's important is that from the hock downward, it be STRAIGHT and parallel, as is the case of Cash.


When the hocks are angled so the point outward, instead of inward, the horse will often have a 'twist' to its step. It will step forward, weight that hind leg, and then the whole leg sort of 'twists' (the hoof will twist /grind along the ground), then the horse lifts that leg and the whole process repeats.


watch this horse from the rear to see if it's hocks have this sort of twisting motion. they will sort of 'rock' to the outside, and the hoof will twist on the ground. This type of motion is not rare, but it can wear down shoes faster, and can lead to hock troubles.,


Does this horse move that way? I have no idea. I am only speculating that it MIGHT, by looking at it's hind leg angles.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

akihba said:


> it's interesting hearing what others have to say! I'm definitely still learning.
> 
> @SueC, if I may pick your brain, how do you tell that he's wide rather than having a narrow barrel? Is it the distance between the shoulders from the front view?


Yes, that's right!  You can't tell the horse's _width_ if you're looking at its side - you can only tell about the _depth_ (and length) of the thorax (ribcage) there, and although that plays a part too, the heart is actually quite far forward in a horse's thorax.

General heart/lung position, old anatomy diagram:










This one shows the heart position more precisely:










So if the shoulders are close together, there's not as much space for the heart and lungs. This is especially an issue for geldings, for aforementioned reasons - they grow to their genetic potential in chest width with intact testicles during growth - not gelded. By the way, female mammals also make testosterone, indeed at greater blood levels than the female hormones. It's just people think of it as a "male" hormone, but it's important for bone growth and density, muscle mass and development, libido, brain function etc in both sexes.

That's why early-gelded geldings are generally narrower in the chest on average than mares, and why stallions have on average the widest chests of all.

DNA codes for genetic potential, but whether this is reached, for any characteristic, depends on a lot of factors, including nutrition, exercise and interference with hormone levels during growth to adult size in particular.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@tinyliny that is definitely something I will look at! Thank you! I will tell you after I look, because I honestly haven’t paid enough attention I think to notice. His hooves have worn equally once I fixed the trim. His white foot had a bad trim, but he was difficult with the foot to start out with, so I kind of understand why it was bad.

@SueC that is good information! It is always nice to see a diagram of the hidden parts to understand the outside better.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@tinyliny this kind of shows his size a bit better. Bones is 14.3 I think. I am 5’7” and my daughter is 5’8” I believe.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

That's a big horse. Once you get him good with ropes he should be able to pull just about anything from the horn. I used to have video of one of the guys at the Salmon sale towing a car from the horn, and some where around here I used to have a picture that got made into a meme of a neighbor dragging out an elk by tying it off to the horn. That horse looks like he could do similar if given the chance.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Found it. This guy is a friend of a friend. A real goof ball and just an all around nice guy. We made a meme out of this picture of him to tease him several years ago. I think it was his neighbor, my buddy's wife, that took the picture originally.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I like the picture @AndyTheCornbread!! Husband pulled a deer to the truck once. It wasn’t too far, and it was so big he couldn’t get it loaded! Lol

I do think he should be able to pull. I wish I’d have gotten more time to work on it. Little Bones thinks he can pull anything, and I think it’s because I used him to pull everything! Lol. Need to pull the golf cart out of the yard? Get Bones. Have to move the cedar post pile? Get Bones. He really believes he is as strong as any draft. Lol. Then he is actually half horrible to brand on because he hates the smoke.

I was hoping to give Cash that kind of confidence. I guess that there is a lot of time yet.  Just not before branding season.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Your friend’s horse is a big dude too!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

@Knave a deer too big to load into the truck is good problem to have! 

Have you tried to see if it is the smell that bothers your horse with the branding vs the smoke in his eyes? Next branding(_if you haven't tried this already_) try putting Vick's vapor rub around (_not in_) his nostrils when you brand and see if that helps. Some horses really hate the smell of the smoke from the iron fire and the smoke from the burning hair drives them nuts. If that is all the horse doesn't like, using the vapor rub trick will kill the smell for them and sometimes that is all it takes to get them to be OK with the smoke. You can use that trick to get a stud past an in heat mare sometimes too, you just have to make sure the horse's skin isn't overly sensitive to it so try it before hand to make sure there are no issues so that the first time you try it isn't branding day.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

That is an awesome idea @AndyTheCornbread! I never thought about the smell. I will give it a try. It makes sense too, as the horse isn’t particularly scared of things normally.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I like him a lot @Knave! There a few minor issues which other people have pointed out but I think that's mostly the draft influence (cresty, shorter neck and heart girth). One thing not mentioned is that in these pictures he looks to have a long back but it very well could be an optical illusion due to picture angle or winter hair. Now he doesn't really have a long, stretched out torso but it looks as if his topline is longer than his bottom line. I was always taught that this was what you called a long back. He's so powerfully built that I don't think it will make a bit of difference in any of his abilities and like I said earlier it could be just the pictures. I'd welcome him to my herd any day!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

That's what scientists and coroners and police use when they have to be near a decomposing body; Vicks Vaporub, under the nostrils. Just writing that has me cringing imagining that smell.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@JCnGrace I didn’t know that! I thought, ‘but he’s short backed,’ and had no idea that was how you define it! Thank you for posting. 
@tinyliny I imagine it would help. Yes, I’m sure that is a terrible smell. I don’t smell things well, but doing a friends chores he has those bugs for taxidermy, and there were all these dead heads in a warm room being decomposed by the bugs... I started to gag. Husband yelled at me to get out. I walked out thinking for sure I wouldn’t throw up, but yes, I did throw up. Lol


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Id def welcome him into my herd! I like how "strong" he looks and his overall build! A bit too tall for me but really just mainly more of a preference as before I bought Rodeo, I didnt want anything shorter than 15.3-16hh. Look forward to seeing more of him on here!!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@csimkunas6 thank you.  I am not sure I mind how tall he is, but then in winter with all my heavy clothes on some days I have been like, “wow you are massive. Come on leg.” Lol.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

@Knave....hahaha! Been story of my life since we moved and since Ive actually been riding! I cant remember that last time I struggled this much to get on my horse!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@csimkunas6 I always have to laugh at myself. My littlest daughter rode Pete for about six or seven years before we retired him last summer. He is a tall horse, and measures in at 16.2. 

A few years I threw her on, and I complained then about how tall he was. Then she started getting on herself. Totally determined she would actually pick her foot up to where it looked backwards and stuff the tiniest bit of it into the stirrup. Climbing and grunting and half of the time falling she would clamber up onto that horse. 

We would all stop to watch. Lol. We are usually an anxious bunch, in a huge hurry to get where we need to go always, but everyone would stop and wait for her to climb up into this tall horse.

Then, when we would use him for something and whine about how tall he was her eyes would get big and she would scold us! Lol


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

@ Knave....that is awesome! Funny how determined young girls are arent they? Mine was the same way with her gelding! She'd get so mad if we tried helping her with her horse, we finally just let her do it her way and she was much happier...she has yet to be able to climb on herself though, maybe this year!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Wow didn’t you get the memo that kids horses are not supposed to be that pretty?! 

Ya, she was older when she finally managed. Maybe eight?


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Knave said:


> Wow didn’t you get the memo that kids horses are not supposed to be that pretty?!
> 
> Ya, she was older when she finally managed. Maybe eight?


Thanks! He was good in the arena for her, I never let her by herself outside of it, granted she was only 3 at the time....that snot is the one that refused to go into the trailer. Ended up leaving him in WV, he's a 14yr olds barrel horse now.

My daughter has a few years then, LOL....she'll turn 5 in August although Im sure she's going to try all summer on my horse


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

Lol. I’m sure she’ll have it figured out to climb a fence this year.  I don’t think it takes them too long to get that one accomplished if they can con a horse over.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Wow, your Mustang is gorgeous and he reminds me of my dear old Mustang John. John was the best horse I ever owned. He died of colic when he was in his early 20's and I still miss him. He was short, only 14.3, but built like a tank and had a draft influence too. He was a truly honest, beginner safe, wise horse. He would take care of anyone. I would take another one like him in a heart beat. I never knew Mustangs could be so awesome until I bought John. :Angel:
John was originally from Wyoming. I bought him already trained and about 12 years old, so I can take no credit for his awesomeness. He was just a perfect trail horse for me. The gentleman that owned him before me used him as a heel horse and for hunting and packing.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@trailhorserider he is very pretty! I would never guess him as a mustang. 

I have seen a few nice ones like that too. They used to be quite normal around gymkhanas as kids horses when I was young, although you don’t see them much anymore. I think they are more looked down on now.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

@Knave, I really like the looks of your boy. I too can't believe he's 16hh. He looks so stocky and solid - I figured he'd be a smaller horse. He looks like a really good-using horse - love horses that look like that! 
@trailhorserider, your mustang is also gorgeous. Your old guy reminds me very much of how my Canadian mare is built. 

i just really love horses that look so solidly, well-put together. They won't blow over in a strong breeze


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

@cbar thank you! Yes, I hope not much moves him one day.


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