# Thoroughbred Critique



## xlionesss (Jan 30, 2012)

Hey guys, I finally decided to not be lazy and scan the pictures of Red from his PPE. He's a 9 year old 16.3 TB gelding, off the track since 2009 and trained in Eventing. I'm not 100% sure what I will be doing with him, he's my english pleasure horse now, though I am interested in starting Hunters with him. I know some of them are not IDEAL conformation shots, but I figured what the heck, might as well post.
I personally see butt-high and very large withers. Also, another forum member sees tied in at the knee, which I agree with. 

Sorry about the black line, I figured I'd censor my full name out LOL


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## secondchancehorses (Jan 31, 2013)

Cute horse! He has a very cute head and looks healthy and shiny. 

I don't think hes all that bum high or high withered. He appears to be somewhat hollow backed- he could likely benefit from some lunging with side reins or a pessoa type system to build more muscle on his topline. In the bottom photo he looks like he is standing under himself- is that normal for him or just how hes standing in this photo? The top one makes it hard to tell- hes not standing square. I too see the tied in at the knee. 

He needs his heels brought up badly, they are very low. They almost look underrun but need a closer photo... his toes are long and I bet he could do with a better breakover point. I tend to be OCD about feet... if your horses feet are not balanced they cannot be balanced nor can they fulfill their potential whether or not you shoe your horses. His feet are not balanced and they are not supporting his body and tendons properly. 

I like his neck and back- they are neither too long or too short. He also does not have overtly long pasterns.


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## MyBoyFortune (Aug 1, 2013)

Hi, I'm sorry for butting in here, but what exactly does "tied in" mean?

Also, very handsome horse


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## secondchancehorses (Jan 31, 2013)

Tied in at the knee-The cannon should appear to be the same width from just below the knee to just above the pastern. Tied in makes the tendon look like its slanting in toward the knee. The superficial & deep digital tendons and the suspensory ligament can be prevented from moving freely in extreme cases...


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## xlionesss (Jan 30, 2012)

Thank you secondchance! Okay, as for the hooves- that was a few days before I had brought him home and YES his toes were very long. He needed his fronts reset badly, explaining the long toes.
Also, yes, you do see underrun heels. I'm working with my current farrier to improve them. 

He doesn't stand under himself, these weren't legitimate confo pics, just "identification" ones for the vets PPE!
I really appreciate your time to reply. Thanks for the complement about his coat, it's one of the first things I noticed about him when I went to meet him. That and his awesome laid-back personality. For an OTTB and 9 years old, he's just so calm and collected. He was appraised at a much higher price than what I paid for him, but due to him needing a tie-back surgery, they couldn't necessarily ask for *too* much more due to him not being able to compete in higher levels of eventing. 

Either way, I got an awesome gelding at a steal of a price.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

This is a very nice horse. I am not reading other comments first because I want to point out what is good about this horse and then talk about what is not so good. His neck is set correctly on a correct shoulder. He has a correct angel at point of shoulder and he has adequate bone behind as well as plenty of muscle behind. He has nice big roomy hocks and great bone in his hind legs. I do not think he is sickle hocked or camped under naturally (the photo of him facing to the left makes it look that way). The first photo shows the hind leg better and it is correct. His withers look very much like the breed (somewhat high) and carry nicely into a correct length back. 

The faults are his front cannons appear a bit light and he is slightly tied in at the knee. Many Thoroughbreds have a protruding accessory carpal bone behind the knee. This bone often makes a "shelf" behind the knee. The protrusion of this bone does NOT make a horse "tied in at the knee." Tied in at the knee shows noticeable narrowing of the tendons from fetlock joint to knee. This horse has slight narrowing. Not bad at all. 

He is straight in front and from behind. He is fairly level (draw a line from his point of buttock to his root of neck.. that is the line that says level or not). 

This horse really is quite breed representative. He is a gelding but as a stallion he might cross very nicely on foundation Quarterhorse type mares. He is solid and looks to have a kind eye. 

The ONLY thing really going against him is he is very plain colored. He is solid chestnut and so not flashy. 

I think this horse might make a very nice hunter over fences or an over fences equitation horse. The plain color will allow honest judging of him over fences and won't take away from an equitation judge of his rider. 

Nice horse.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

For those of you wondering about Tie Back Surgery here is an interesting article from Cornell U. 

And to the OP, remember to feed and water this horse off the ground. 

Laryngeal Hemiplegia


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## xlionesss (Jan 30, 2012)

Thank you Elana for the very detailed critique. Though he is a plain chestnut, I love that he has no white on him except that very tiny star.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

My thinking on color is this. 

I want the horse to be correct and therefore ABLE to work well. I want him sound and solid regardless of his job. If he has flashy color on top of that, well, AWESOME. If he is correct and well put together and is rather plain? AWESOME.


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## thatkrayz (Apr 3, 2013)

xlionesss, my mare is also all chestnut, aside from a large star. I adore solid chestnuts. Besides, socks and such are a pain to keep clean.  So much more convenient to be one solid color.


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## xlionesss (Jan 30, 2012)

I like his color, he's plain but I wouldn't have him any other way! I love that he's solid! I've always wanted a solid bay, brown, or chestnut.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I just love chestnut horses! Yours is that example of how a TB and a QH can look SOOOO much alike. I was thinking that you could probably do some QHorsey things with him, like cow work. IF he were mine I'd event him...and trail ride him.


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## Horsecents1997 (Jan 20, 2013)

don't know much about conformation , but his is waayyy better than my Tb mix! And I'm envious of his muscle!! Love him!


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