# Kita's Conformation



## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

I went to the thread and read what makes a good conformation shot to make sure I got good pictures. This is as square as this horse will stand. We are still working with the vet to figure out what is wrong with her, so please no comments on her being thin. Anyway, would someone give me a critique on Kita?


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

I forgot to mention she is a 10 year old Thoroughbred mare.


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## Piaffe (Jan 11, 2010)

She looks from these pics like she has a very weak hind end. In the second pic her hind legs look very off to me...and I think she could be a bit over in the knee on the fronts,but her markings may be playing tricks on me  I would love to see pics of her once she is up to a good weight and has some muscle on her...I bet she will be beautiful. Is she an OTTB?


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

She does have a weak back end. We don't know for sure what is wrong with her. I do know she can't lift her hind legs without falling over.  She was OTT quite a few years ago. She only ran twice, and was pulled due to being a bleeder.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

She's VERY posty through her hocks. Her knees and hocks are set kind of high, as well. Her back legs are almost completely straight when seen from the back, which isn't a good thing. A horse's legs are supposed to be a little toed out in back. It has to do with the way the leg is built to allow for correct rotation of the hip. She almost looks bandy-legged or bow legged in the back, to be honest. She does look to be a bit over at the knee, as well. Her front pasterns appear a bit long and upright, while her back pasterns don't look too bad. She's also a bit lighter on bone than I like to see. Her back is nice and short. Her neck ties in a bit low on her chest for my liking, though. I like her head. She looks sweet.

Overall, if you cover up her back end, she actually looks pretty decent. That hind end is scary, though. :shock: Hope you get whatever is going on there figured out.


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## busysmurf (Feb 16, 2012)

I don't know if it's just the angle of the last picture, but her R hip appears to be rotating in. It also looks like the L is lower than the right. In the first pic, she has a very angular croup, that may be from lack of muscling or something else going on. This isn't the best pic, but Odie had the same angular croup, let's just say the chiropractor and I got to know each other very well


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

For a Thoroughbred she has a pretty poor front end. Her shoulder is OK but her point of shoulder is a fairly closed angle and her front legs are set way under her as a result. Her front legs are light on bone (even though she is not a large horse). Her feet look a bit low in the heels in the front so she is "slipper footed." 

Another reason she is putting her front feet under her is, as you state, she seems to be having trouble using her back legs. In the first photo she appears to be standing a bit wide behind but fairly normal. 

In the second photo she appears to hve her hnd feet almost crossing.. like she about to fall down (or catch herself from falling and about 15 seconds). Her right hind leg looks as if there is some nerve damage.. perhaps up in her back.. and the lack of muscle tone and the inappropriate way she holds that leg indicates this to me. 

In the last photo she has her right hind leg is twisted.. but I do not believe it is structural as in the bones not being right.. it looks again more like nerve issues. It is almost like she cannot control or feel that hind leg very well. If that is the case she won't be able to pick up either hind foot well as there is a overall weakness in that right hind. She also probably won't exhibit truly lame. 

This is a horse I would NEVER have in a stall for fear of her becoming cast.. in fact I wonder if that or a trailer accident is not how she got to be in this condition (NOT blaming you.. just wondering). I would have her out on grass with no other horses around.. and I think I would have someone look at her back. I would make sure she had plenty of high quality hay and grass.. moving around naturally cropping short grass (short enough that she MUST move) might do her a world of good. A chiropractor might as well.. but I would do some nerve tests on her hind legs. 

If that back issue... probably right across the hips or infront of the point of croup.. were resolved I think she might be a nice little horse.

Just a quick question. Does she ever knuckle over on a back leg at the fetlock joint when she is walking.. like the foot gets caught in a backward postion and then she rights it? That is one sign of nerve issues or nerveinjury/pinching.


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

She does drag the left rear when walking and when standing she knuckles over on the left rear. Like she is trying to take the weight off that leg. My husband (the man in the pics) laid his arm across her hips and squeezed slightly and about had her fall from I assume pain. He did pick up her back left VERY carefully and she went into "bipod" standing on her front left and right rear only. She picked up her right front to counter balance we are thinking. It was by no means high enough to do any kind of farrier work.

While boarding at a friends while we were out of the country she was kicked thru a fence and got tangled up in it. She was not taken to a vet against our request hence the reason we moved her to another friend in Texas. We are looking at actually getting her to a vet clinic so that more thorough tests might be done.

My husband and I have also discussed chiropractics as an option but want a veterinarian's assesment first.


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## busysmurf (Feb 16, 2012)

armydogs said:


> She does drag the left rear when walking and when standing she knuckles over on the left rear. Like she is trying to take the weight off that leg. My husband (the man in the pics) laid his arm across her hips and squeezed slightly and about had her fall from I assume pain. He did pick up her back left VERY carefully and she went into "bipod" standing on her front left and right rear only. She picked up her right front to counter balance we are thinking. It was by no means high enough to do any kind of farrier work.
> 
> While boarding at a friends while we were out of the country she was kicked thru a fence and got tangled up in it. She was not taken to a vet against our request hence the reason we moved her to another friend in Texas. We are looking at actually getting her to a vet clinic so that more thorough tests might be done.
> 
> My husband and I have also discussed chiropractics as an option but want a veterinarian's assesment first.


Sounds A LOT like my mom's horse. Symptoms are almost the same. Cause was a broken pelvis (before we got him). Chiro helped a little, lots of arthritis meds, and only LIGHT riding.


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