# How do his movements look?



## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

He is pretty cute! I like him alot! I would guess standardbred. Have you checked his lip for a tattoo?


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

corinowalk said:


> He is pretty cute! I like him alot! I would guess standardbred. Have you checked his lip for a tattoo?


No. Honestly never thought of checking for a tat. When I adopted him, he was in with another horse who was rescued with him. The rescue told me the previous owner hadn't taken very good care of Kota at all. His halter was on so tight they had to cut it off! I wish I knew more about him but I am so lucky that he is so young hopefully he won't remember any of the bad stuff before he came home with me. I have spoiled him and loved on him to try to make up for other's wrong doing. 

I will check for the tat next time I am out there.


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## sorelhorse (Feb 16, 2009)

hes got pretty good confo. hes a little unbalanced though. his withers are higher than his butt.


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

sorelhorse said:


> hes got pretty good confo. hes a little unbalanced though. his withers are higher than his butt.



Could it be the angle of his neck giving that appearance? I am not arguing or giving excuses, I just want to know so I can work more on those areas to try and help him be even more fluid than he already is.


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

A good evening bump


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## x Branded Heart x (Jun 17, 2010)

It might just be how he is standing.. But I did notice the slight difference. Other than that he has pretty decent conformation. I can't see anything to really work on! 
He looks like a standardbred to me! Or maybe a saddlebred cross? I have no idea. lol


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

x Branded Heart x said:


> It might just be how he is standing.. But I did notice the slight difference. Other than that he has pretty decent conformation. I can't see anything to really work on!
> He looks like a standardbred to me! Or maybe a saddlebred cross? I have no idea. lol



He is on a small hill right there ( our wash area is slightly sloped so the water can run down and not pool at their feet ) So maybe that is what is giving him that look, still not giving excuses or anything. 

The rescue we got him from called him a QH Cross ( sorry but no QH in that boy! ) and out farrier says he has TB feet! AND the vet guesses Saddlebred or something very close to it.

Are Standardbred's gaited at all? He isn't gaited in the least that I have seen yet but moves beautifully around the pasture with his neck tucked in and his tail held high like an Arab.


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## Ridehorses99 (Dec 23, 2009)

What a shine on him ! He looks to have a very steep shoulder which will make him a little more short-strided.


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

Ridehorses99 said:


> What a shine on him ! He looks to have a very steep shoulder which will make him a little more short-strided.


Yes he is shorter stride than other horse but I thought it was just him being goofy and prancing at first but the more I watched, the more I could see it. 

Still not sure what I am going to do with him. Thought of Dressage but unsure as I am a Western girl at heart ( trained in both as a kid but choose the games over the jumps )


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## maz78 (Jun 15, 2010)

He looks standardbred, and if he is would explain why you were told he was unbroken to ride. He probably was, the standy's very rarely give you trouble when you first hop on their backs as thy do everything when broken to the saddle, they just haven't had the weight. Not all standard breds pace, he could have been a trotter. But some pacers also wont pace unless they have the hobbles on to make them. Have fun with him he looks like a lovely boy1


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

maz78 said:


> He looks standardbred, and if he is would explain why you were told he was unbroken to ride. He probably was, the standy's very rarely give you trouble when you first hop on their backs as thy do everything when broken to the saddle, they just haven't had the weight. Not all standard breds pace, he could have been a trotter. But some pacers also wont pace unless they have the hobbles on to make them. Have fun with him he looks like a lovely boy1


Thanks for the info. It was very helpful. I wonder for the longest time if he let me ride him the first time because he trusted me so much or because he was broken to ride already, either way I loved every second of it! 

Is there anything I can do to see if he is a Standardbred for sure? Any cues or movements that I should watch out for?


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## maz78 (Jun 15, 2010)

I'm sure trust did have a lot to do with it as well. If his not branded than I don't know a way to find out if his standardbred or not. If he's not branded also would mean he was not bred to race or for some reason when he was first born they decided not to. By the looks of the photo he has a pretty staight back, that is a standy trait, also they tend to have fairly straight shoulders. If he was never trained to race, he wont do anything different to any other breed. If he was trained and was a trotter than you may find when you want him to canter he will just trot very fast. If he was a pacer he may drop into pace if he becomes unbalanced. He may also be a standy cross which would explain no brands


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

The lip tattoo is the most common in the states. I believe in canada they freeze brand which he obviously doesnt have. Either way, he sure is a cutie!


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

Thank you! When I first saw him at the rescue in Feb with his shaggy winter coat and long black hair, I thought he was just the sweetest, scared, little guy I had ever seen. He was shaking when I was brushing him, something he still does to this day when nervous. He has never once taken off on me for any reason or reared/bucked. he simply spins around to see whatever is making that noise, then shakes! I feel so bad when he does but it's better than him taking my arm off trying to run away. 

He was 15.1 when I picked him up and 2 months later he had grown to 15.3 and now I would say he is close to 16. There is a picture of my 2 horses walking together and you can see how tall he is next to my 16.2 ISH.


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Isn't it amazing what good nutrition can do for a young horse? We had a 6 year old broodmare come into our rescue a few years back. She was 14.2 when she got there. She was bred at 18 months and ended up with 3 foals by 6. In a little less than a year she was 15.2. Im sure her old breeders would have been very dissapointed because they said the reason they sold her is that she was just 'too small' for their breed. Maybe if they would have left her grow before making her a baby machine. Glad your boys have found a great home! Every horse deserves one!


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

hes gorgeous! i think standardbred 
his paces are so pretty!


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

corinowalk said:


> Isn't it amazing what good nutrition can do for a young horse? We had a 6 year old broodmare come into our rescue a few years back. She was 14.2 when she got there. She was bred at 18 months and ended up with 3 foals by 6. In a little less than a year she was 15.2. Im sure her old breeders would have been very dissapointed because they said the reason they sold her is that she was just 'too small' for their breed. Maybe if they would have left her grow before making her a baby machine. Glad your boys have found a great home! Every horse deserves one!


I HATE when stupid people have horses and have no idea what they are doing! I would never, ever breed a horse so young and then keep doing it! They are lucky they didn't kill her in that stupidity.


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

speedy da fish said:


> hes gorgeous! i think standardbred
> his paces are so pretty!



Thanks!


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## Valentina (Jul 27, 2009)

sorelhorse said:


> hes got pretty good confo. hes a little unbalanced though. his withers are higher than his butt.


In dressage you WANT the withers to be higher than the butt - helps the horse collect better and get his butt underneath themselves. (Also helps in jumping).


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

Valentina said:


> In dressage you WANT the withers to be higher than the butt - helps the horse collect better and get his butt underneath themselves. (Also helps in jumping).


I would like to do dressage with him even if I can't compete in the higher levels because he isn't registered or anything close to it but he is such a joy to watch move in the field I figured he would be PERFECT for an English mount. 

I won't jump as I saw the toll it took on the Irish Sport I just adopted. 

The horse in your avatar is gorgeous, what is it?


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

Horses have to be registered to compete in higher levels of dressage???? I did not know this. Seriously??


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

Cinnys Whinny said:


> Horses have to be registered to compete in higher levels of dressage???? I did not know this. Seriously??


Please don't quote me as I am not 100% sure. I have ridden Western my entire life ( except when being trained as a kid I rode both ) but wanted to get back into riding more English now that I am older and no longer competing in the western games. 

Maybe the horse doesn't have to registered ( would be great if it was true and if Kota proves to be the English horse I imagine him to be )


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## Valentina (Jul 27, 2009)

2cupsofjoe said:


> I would like to do dressage with him even if I can't compete in the higher levels because he isn't registered or anything close to it but he is such a joy to watch move in the field I figured he would be PERFECT for an English mount.
> 
> I won't jump as I saw the toll it took on the Irish Sport I just adopted.
> 
> The horse in your avatar is gorgeous, what is it?


Dressage is for ANY horses - they don't have to be registered. (Dressage actually means training and is for the horse and rider.) 

The avatar picture is the sire of my mare - his name is Wolfgang (he's from the Netherlands).


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## 2cupsofjoe (Jun 29, 2010)

Valentina said:


> Dressage is for ANY horses - they don't have to be registered. (Dressage actually means training and is for the horse and rider.)
> 
> The avatar picture is the sire of my mare - his name is Wolfgang (he's from the Netherlands).


That is very good to know actually, thank you. I figured I would try it out with my ISH first as he is already trained in it and then if I liked it, begin the training of Dakota. I just think it will be funny watching my Dakota prance around even more than he already does!


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