# Critique my gelding



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

Hey guys! What do you think of my 17yr old Arab cross gelding? What breeds do you think he is? He’s about 14.1hh. I think he’s slightly camped under in the rear and slightly downhill but otherwise he looks alright to me! He was a nice boy and ground tied for me to take pictures. I look forward to hearing from you all 🙂


----------



## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

I would guess crossed with Quarter Horse. Those are the best conformation pics we've seen here on the Forum in a long time! Good job! You'll have lots of folks giving you feedback on this sweet boy.


----------



## BlindHorseEnthusiast4582 (Apr 11, 2016)

I'm out of practice and wasn't experienced to begin with so take what I say with a handful of salt! Lol 

He looks a little straight in the shoulder to me. His neck looks a little thin and his head isn't as proportional as I might like. A little sharp withered and maybe slightly cow hocked. 


But none of that makes him any less handsome for sure. What do you use him for?


----------



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

Boo Walker said:


> I would guess crossed with Quarter Horse. Those are the best conformation pics we've seen here on the Forum in a long time! Good job! You'll have lots of folks giving you feedback on this sweet boy.


Oh wow thank you! I didn’t think they were that great of pictures!


----------



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

BlindHorseEnthusiast4582 said:


> I'm out of practice and wasn't experienced to begin with so take what I say with a handful of salt! Lol
> 
> He looks a little straight in the shoulder to me. His neck looks a little thin and his head isn't as proportional as I might like. A little sharp withered and maybe slightly cow hocked.
> 
> ...


I use him for everything, if I had cows I’d be chasing them with him too. But he jumps, trail rides, does dressage, knows some reining maneuvers, has a great western pleasure jog, etc. I’m trying to teach him flying changes right now but he’s struggling with that lol.

His neck and top line have come a long way since I first brought him home! He was a scrawny little weed at 10 years old! Also his head probably looks wonky due to his parrot mouth! I’ll add some older pictures to show you 🙂


----------



## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

He's a nice horse and I agree that the photos are good too. I also immediately thought he had a lot of Quarter Horse in him. He's a bit steep in the shoulder, but not horribly so; his angles are decent everywhere. He is a bit long-backed with a consequent weak loin, is the main fault I see. Yes he's a bit cow-hocked and in the photo is standing close both behind and fore, but nothing serious. He seems like a solid citizen, not too fancy, just a good boy.


----------



## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Aw, what a sweet soul he is! It's apparent even in his photos that he's a good boy. 


I'd also guess his other half is Quarter Horse. He's nothing fancy, but he's got decent hooves, relatively clean legs for his age, and overall decent balance front to rear. His hindquarters are a little weak compared to his front, but that is extremely common on this cross. Shoulder is straighter than ideal, and his back is a little longer than I'd like. He's downhill, but most QH's are. He is lacking muscling along his topline (croup/back/withers/top of the neck) so it looks like he hasn't really been using himself properly, so working on collection may help there. He looks like an all-around good citizen, and I'm glad he has a good home that appreciates him.


Thank you for posting clear photos so one can see the horse as he actually appears  Good job!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I agree; good photos, rare thing here.


He looks like one of those horses that looks best when moving. not saying he isn't built well, becuase he is, but his long back is causing a bit of a sag to his SI joint, and when engaged, he probably lifts that up and looks better. Also, long necks look best when the horse is under saddle, and working into the bit.


I don't see cowhocked. But I do see the slightly weak loin and upright shoulder. He's got great front legs, solid , big knees and overall just looks like a well built horse that with good, consistent work, will stay sound for many years.


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

He's a nice looking horse but I think you favor going one direction over the other...or the horse does...
One lead is stronger and offered faster than the other...
_His_ right side is "weaker" in muscle development than _his_ left.
I see it in shoulder, butt, gaskin...and I'm not 100% positive but think I see a difference in height of the knee which would correspond with being weaker one side over the other.
When you ride is he much smoother, more fluid and free-moving one direction than the other?
We then tend to work the easier side cause, well...its easier.
I bet if you worked a few extra minutes each ride on the weaker side this horse would have a easier time doing those changes you mentioned...

As for what he crosses with....maybe Quarter, possibly Standardbred.
He has traits of either...
Either way..._he's yours and you love him and he you..._
_That is all that truly matters!! :wink:_
:runninghorse2:...
_jmo..._


----------



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

SilverMaple said:


> Aw, what a sweet soul he is! It's apparent even in his photos that he's a good boy. <img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.horseforum.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" class="inlineimg" />
> 
> 
> I'd also guess his other half is Quarter Horse. He's nothing fancy, but he's got decent hooves, relatively clean legs for his age, and overall decent balance front to rear. His hindquarters are a little weak compared to his front, but that is extremely common on this cross. Shoulder is straighter than ideal, and his back is a little longer than I'd like. He's downhill, but most QH's are. He is lacking muscling along his topline (croup/back/withers/top of the neck) so it looks like he hasn't really been using himself properly, so working on collection may help there. He looks like an all-around good citizen, and I'm glad he has a good home that appreciates him.
> ...


Funnily enough he collects up really well under saddle! But his natural way of going is definitely head way up and hollow backed. His top line has come a long long way since I bought him, but I am fighting an uphill battle as I can’t control how he carries himself when I’m not on him.


----------



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

tinyliny said:


> I agree; good photos, rare thing here.
> 
> 
> He looks like one of those horses that looks best when moving. not saying he isn't built well, becuase he is, but his long back is causing a bit of a sag to his SI joint, and when engaged, he probably lifts that up and looks better. Also, long necks look best when the horse is under saddle, and working into the bit.
> ...


I am lucky he has had minimal soundness issues ever since I finished rehabbing him. Knock on wood! I agree he definitely looks better moving without a doubt! He’s actually got a lovely extended trot and works very well under a rider. I never noticed his long back until everyone started pointing it out. He’s so short and narrow that I’ve always had trouble finding a western saddle to fit him that isn’t a barrel saddle!


----------



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

horselovinguy said:


> He's a nice looking horse but I think you favor going one direction over the other...or the horse does...
> One lead is stronger and offered faster than the other...
> _His_ right side is "weaker" in muscle development than _his_ left.
> I see it in shoulder, butt, gaskin...and I'm not 100% positive but think I see a difference in height of the knee which would correspond with being weaker one side over the other.
> ...


Thanks for the advice!! He actually schools better and is more supple on his right side. His left side has more trouble with suppling and his left lead is historically harder to get. I’ve been schooling him on shoulder fore like you mentioned, going to the right is easy peasy but suppling that left side is harder for him. We spent a lot of time working on it going to the left the other night. I’ll be sure to keep working on that with him. 
He’s also more likely to travel with his haunches in when traveling to the left where he’s able to travel straighter going to the right.


----------

