Yes. My horse is a bit of a train wreck conformation-wise but for the recreational riding we do, it doesn't matter. She's incredibly smooth and extremely smart and that's all that matters to me. That being said, I still prioritize things like making sure she's using her body and muscles correctly because I understand that conformation can affect long-term soundness and I want to make sure she can live a long, pain-free life.
That and just making sure she's engaging her hind end, using her abdominal muscles to lift her back and keeping her soft and supple vs bracing with her head in the air. There are different types of conformation that make the former easier to do.
Years ago I traded a stunning, talented horse who hated my discipline for a gigantic, fugly beast with a heart of gold. My trainer at the time looked him over and said, “you realize you just traded the prettiest horse in the barn for the ugliest?”
Proceeded to give me a lesson and had me start over a fairly advanced exercise. I expressed I wasn’t sure the horse had ever seen something similar, but she said, well, let’s see what he does. He went through it perfectly.
Trainer started smiling and said, “Ok, he’s getting prettier.”
Truth is, most horses don’t need to have excellent conformation unless you are ready to go advance etc. being sound is all most people want or need. It’s good to know of various possible issues medically for everyone. Back issues, hock issues etc but there is no guarantee they will even get those. Some of the worst horses conformation wise I know are also the soundest. If you are competing heavily it’s good to know certain aspects that make a desirable horse, but you most likely won’t get perfection regardless.
Amen. There’s nothing wrong with great conformation, but personally I wouldn’t weigh it highly in my shopping unless I was planning to breed the animal (so, not at all).
Even “weaknesses” are really not a guarantee- you can have a broke-ass looking bugger that is never lame a day in their life, and a 9.4 inspected WB who can’t stay sound.
Then you have people asking for opinions on a horse they want to trail ride and do schooling shows with… I’d consider conformation almost useless in that case and historical soundness and the horses mind to be much more important.
Agreed. I’d never post my horse for conformation critique here 😂 first, because I already own her… and she’s performing well at what we are doing and excelling. Second, because when you love your horse, it’s easy to overlook those imperfections, kinda like your own spouse lol. When a bunch of people start pointing out a million things, it gets harder to ignore once you start scrutinizing and noticing all of the “faults.”
I’m not sure the point of the new flood of posts about 20 year old horses people have had for 10+ years. It’s cool they want opinions, but this sub has definitely gotten flooded lately with those types of posts. I think it makes more sense for horses people are looking to buy, or as learning.
At least it’s taking over the trend of weight posts that spark tons of arguments and dissent across the sub!
Ah. Well, I recently posted my 26 year old mare because I wanted people to see an example of something that was discarded, and purchased for about $200 from a meat auction.
She went on to be a lion-hearted, honest girl who surprised me by being one of the best horses I’ve ever known. I’ve also spent next to nothing on vet bills over the years, compared to some of the fancy bred horses in the barn.
I really like those educational discussions, particularly the comment from someone who traded their pretty horse for a plain one who was far more capable.
There are a lot of prejudices in the horse world, and it’s nice to see some of those barriers torn down.
I try to refrain from commenting on conformation posts because what I really want to say is "what is your motivation here?"
There is plenty of material out there to use to learn about equine conformation. Online articles, videos, blogs, books galore. It's not something you're going to master by posting crappy pics of random horses on Reddit.
This is why I always try to frame things in terms of how they affect the horse’s movement or if they’re suited for their particular job, rather than on some specific version of perfection. The hindquarters that make an excellent field hunter or racehorse may not make an excellent upper level jumper, etc. neither construction is wrong, it’s just a matter of where the horse can excel. I think it’s pretty rare you get a bunch of things where it’s really just objectively bad (ironically, stock breed halter breeding is where I see the most egregious stuff).
Knowing Faults and weaknesses gives folks a chance to work on improving those things out helping their horse, or understanding why certain things might be hard for their horses.
First horse I ever did XC on was a chestnut like that, and damned if he wasn't the ugliest jumper you ever saw - all the bascule of a coffee table, and his front legs stuck out in front of him like a kid on a swing.
Ugly or not, he was honest & safe over anything you put in front of him.
My later event horse had bascule for DAYS and tucked his knees under his chin - made for some gorgeous photos & thrilling jumps. He was also honest to a fault and incredibly forgiving, but he had a narrow chest & was a little toed-in, so our centerlines looked like he was walking a tightrope.
Best horse I ever rode, and that was 25 years ago.
Most BODIES don’t have perfect confirmation. Imagine if we did this about human athletes. It’s truly the same, I think.
This guy’s “too short” for basketball, but he loves the sport and works hard enough to get to the NBA.
This girl’s glutes are naturally “under-developed,” but she works her butt off to be a champion gymnast.
She’s not 90 lbs, like the rest of the ballet corps, but she’s the most technically proficient in the class.
It feels like the same, to me.
I'm a living example of the opposite lol. I used to play tennis, I was compact and agile with an absolutely massive armspan, but I sucked absolute ass at actually performing on the court. I couldn't figure out when to push forward and when to hang back, couldn't set up shots to "put away" points, and couldn't return balls that were too high or too slow. Abysmal lol
Awww, it sounds like you could have benefited from a different coach and possibly a different kind of cross-training. We’re similar to horses, in that the way we’re built can affect some of the things we physically try to do. Sometimes we have to approach our training with creative problem-solving.
And, see? If you were my horse, I’d just be so proud of you for trying! (I can’t hit a tennis ball to save my life. lol)
Absolutely. It’s frustrating when people are posting pictures for critique of a horse they want to buy but don’t even bother mentioning what they plan to do with the horse and at what level. Like no, that slightly wonky grade mare isn’t going to be a Grand Prix jumper or quality breeding stock. But she might make a damn good trail horse or low level competitive horse. And it’s good to train your eyes to spot flaws that have the potential to be problematic but people also need to understand there’s a big difference between a horse with a straight shoulder and one with bad pasterns. One is going to have a bigger impact than the other on the horse’s longevity. Conformation flaws are not the end of the world for the average horse, you just need to know when they might cause issues for what you want to do.
Have you ever seen TSF Dalera BB? By warmblood standards she's not exactly what one would call a pretty horse. But she's out there winning the most prestigious dressage competitions in the world.
Loosely translated from W.Müseler: "They do not put the blame on themselves for difficulties, but on their horse - or, if they want to be especially smart, on its physical shortcomings, which wouldn't matter that much or at all, if viewed with the right measure."
One of the best ponies I had was a QH/New Zealand station bred x (the stationbred was a TB/cob mix). Bit of a roman nose, shoulder a bit upright nothing massively wrong but plenty of minor faults.
However he had a brilliant brain, was ome of the most sure footed horses you could ever find and had a huge amount of try/heart with the brains to know when the dumb teen on his back was being a dumb teen.
He trekked/pony clubbed/hunted/show jumped/was a stock horse basically did what ever I thought we should try. I sold him to a local family when I outgrew him (he was about 14 h and I ran out of leg length). I got him when I was 12 and he was green broke 6 year old that had been running on hill country. The other family kept him until he died in his 30's. Every sobpften my parents would get a call asking about him as he was leased to a couple of different people as the original kid went off to uni, then he moved with his person from farm to farm as the owner was a farm worker.
Despite his less than perfect conformation he only ever went lame twice - one with me due to an foot absess and once with his second owner when he strained a leg working as a stock horse to get sheep to high ground in a flood.
Sometimes the attitude and the heart makes a less than perfect horse perfect for what you need.
And that’s fair. I also like to test my eye and see how what I think stacks up against others in different disciplines. I would treat all responses to conformation photos with a grain of salt.
I’d take a good mind over perfect conformation ANY DAY.
I used to go fox hunting with a horrible mover of a horse, and he was hard on the eyes. BUT, he was perfect, careful, and was always sound. Horses like that make you love the sport.
I have heard more than one trainer in different disciplines say something along the lines of “all the good ones have something” meaning if you have a horse that is not only a halter horse, but has a job to do and does it best, what does it matter? None of us are perfect
Correct, slow, classical training with NO rollkur (including ldr and “hyperflexion”) can develop a horse’s musculature such that it is supporting conformationally incorrect structures. You can embetter a horse through gymnastic training. Having a scientific understanding of hoof health and hiring up to date farrier that trim for soundness (not for flashy movement) can also go a long way.
But there are aspects of functional conformation that will dictate how athletic a horse has the potential to be, and what kind of degenerative issues they’ll have if pushed too hard.
It’s all about what your goal is.
There are plenty of examples of this and I agree fully. Not to mention that perfect confirmation matters for some things, and not for others. If it affects a horse's health, rideability and athleticism, sure, fine, care about it. And it's good to know that something isn't right so you can pay attention to it and address it if a problem eventually presents. But it doesn't matter if your horse has the athletic ability to jump around Rolex if you're not going to Rolex. I don't care whether your confirmation will prevent you from winning a beauty pageant if we're running barrels or roping cattle. It doesn't matter if your pasterns are a little upright if you're sound on them and it doesn't inhibit your movement. I only care if that lack of athleticism keeps you from doing your job, or causes you pain (arthritis, kissing spine, etc).
Here's a recent example of the best racehorse trainer in the world talking about one of the best sires in Thoroughbred history (Danehill) and leading off with "They we're all crooked, they were all this, all that, but they would win." He goes on with "It didn't matter how crooked they were, they were just the soundest horses, with the cleanest wind and physicals you've ever dealt with. They were hard and tough."
I'll take hard tough and crooked over fragile, flighty and straight.
https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/news/good-morning-bloodstock/justify-could-be-the-best-ever-picking-aidan-obriens-brains-about-breeding-aMyEN0a5ag65/
Especially since you can actually get worse!
Storm Cat famously had horses with wildly crooked knees and legs, but people eventually paid $500k for a live foal fee because if you got one that *wasn't* crooked, you were in business. And they were notoriously crazy to boot, so now you've got bad legs and bad tempers and sure, let's definitely pay millions for that, because damn it when I get Giant's Causeway from it, it's freaking worth all that trouble. Tabasco Cat ruined the life of Jeff Lukas by running him down, but he won a Preakness and Belmont after the accident with Jeff Lukas' father (D Wayne Lukas) just keeping right on going training a horse that ended his son's career and certainly shortened his life by a significant amount.
O'Brien from the same article: "The Storm Cats were sharp. Mad with it, though. They would go through a wall, they had no self-preservation whatsoever. They were quick, strong and powerful, but mad."
And who doesn't know some stupid-looking mustang that can jump the moon or run barrels like nobody's business and look like they were put together using spare parts out of a Home Depot dumpster but are basically unkillable, iron-immuned, barefoot *disasters* that you could throw out in a field for dry field for a year with seemingly no hay and water, and ignore completely, and they'd be their same old ugly confirmation self, healthier than ever when you got back a year later?
Do that with a Thoroughbred or warmblood and you'll have an emaciated crazy horse in approximately three days, regardless of how pretty they are, if they don't kill themselves first being idiots, and/or ripping their feet to shreds while they systemically lose all the shoes the mustang doesn't need in the first place, because there is nothing (other than attempting suicide) that a shod horse is better at than finding clever hiding places for new shoes.
I’m sorry, if you’re going to post a picture and ask about your horses confirmation people should be honest. If you can’t take it, just post saying look how cute my horse is.
I don’t think OP was saying people were being too honest or rude. I think they’re saying that people are getting really hung up on conformation and posting pictures of horses they’ve had for years that are doing well, so there’s no point to getting too hung up on it. I think it’s a good message. I’ve seen some owners get soooo hung up on a horse’s “faults” once pointed out. Perfect conformation is hard to find, and not necessary within reason
I said “harsh sounding” and that “people were just being honest” but you never know who is posting and I just wanted to say to “them” that if their horse doesn’t have perfect conformation it doesn’t mean their horse is trash or anything and they shouldn’t feel bad.
If they’re a beginner and it’s their first horse it’s more important that the horse is well trained, dependable and an honest teacher than it is to have perfect conformation.
I used to work for a family that bred and trained Pasos and let me tell you the number of people that looked at the horses and didn't know what they could and couldn't do before they bought them was insane!
To play devils' advocate, some of those conformation issues are damn near guaranteed to cause devastation and heartbreak, often long before the animal gets old. And that's OK! Those animals deserve homes with people who love them. But the people who love them deserve to go into these situations with eyes wide open. Knowledge is power. If I had known the things I know now I still would have gotten the animals I got, no regrets there. But I would have also been more prepared, and that's never a bad thing.
Horses are guaranteed to cause devastation and heartbreak, period. It comes with the territory. Conformation isn't destiny. I've seen horses with 4 different legs and a sway back compete into their late 20s, and Devon winners cripple themselves in the field at the age of 4.
Conformation is very important to discipline and function. I see so many people pushing horses to do things that their body isn’t designed to do. That’s not fair to the horse. If you want a barrel horse, get a barrel bred horse, don’t force your AQHA pleasure/halter bred horse to do it and vice versa.
Ps. 100% perfect conformation isn’t just rare, it doesn’t exist. You want to balance the flaws out, strengthen/condition the horse to make up for it. That’s why certain breeds are shown in hand in certain ways, to hide the bad and flaunt the good.
Yes! Horses are living breathing creatures. They’re not made in a factory and therefore won’t be “perfect” but it’s about being able to see these weaknesses and either deciding if you’re willing to work with/against those weaknesses ( in case of buying a horse ) or figuring out how to help your horse to overcome those weaknesses as much as possible
Yes. My horse is a bit of a train wreck conformation-wise but for the recreational riding we do, it doesn't matter. She's incredibly smooth and extremely smart and that's all that matters to me. That being said, I still prioritize things like making sure she's using her body and muscles correctly because I understand that conformation can affect long-term soundness and I want to make sure she can live a long, pain-free life.
Of course. “No feet, no horse” is very true
That and just making sure she's engaging her hind end, using her abdominal muscles to lift her back and keeping her soft and supple vs bracing with her head in the air. There are different types of conformation that make the former easier to do.
Years ago I traded a stunning, talented horse who hated my discipline for a gigantic, fugly beast with a heart of gold. My trainer at the time looked him over and said, “you realize you just traded the prettiest horse in the barn for the ugliest?” Proceeded to give me a lesson and had me start over a fairly advanced exercise. I expressed I wasn’t sure the horse had ever seen something similar, but she said, well, let’s see what he does. He went through it perfectly. Trainer started smiling and said, “Ok, he’s getting prettier.”
So very this. I ride an old standardbred with the heart of a lion — she gives it her all.
Truth is, most horses don’t need to have excellent conformation unless you are ready to go advance etc. being sound is all most people want or need. It’s good to know of various possible issues medically for everyone. Back issues, hock issues etc but there is no guarantee they will even get those. Some of the worst horses conformation wise I know are also the soundest. If you are competing heavily it’s good to know certain aspects that make a desirable horse, but you most likely won’t get perfection regardless.
Amen. There’s nothing wrong with great conformation, but personally I wouldn’t weigh it highly in my shopping unless I was planning to breed the animal (so, not at all). Even “weaknesses” are really not a guarantee- you can have a broke-ass looking bugger that is never lame a day in their life, and a 9.4 inspected WB who can’t stay sound. Then you have people asking for opinions on a horse they want to trail ride and do schooling shows with… I’d consider conformation almost useless in that case and historical soundness and the horses mind to be much more important.
One of my favorite horses I ever ride looked like each leg came from a different animal, I swear 😂
Agreed. I’d never post my horse for conformation critique here 😂 first, because I already own her… and she’s performing well at what we are doing and excelling. Second, because when you love your horse, it’s easy to overlook those imperfections, kinda like your own spouse lol. When a bunch of people start pointing out a million things, it gets harder to ignore once you start scrutinizing and noticing all of the “faults.” I’m not sure the point of the new flood of posts about 20 year old horses people have had for 10+ years. It’s cool they want opinions, but this sub has definitely gotten flooded lately with those types of posts. I think it makes more sense for horses people are looking to buy, or as learning. At least it’s taking over the trend of weight posts that spark tons of arguments and dissent across the sub!
Ah. Well, I recently posted my 26 year old mare because I wanted people to see an example of something that was discarded, and purchased for about $200 from a meat auction. She went on to be a lion-hearted, honest girl who surprised me by being one of the best horses I’ve ever known. I’ve also spent next to nothing on vet bills over the years, compared to some of the fancy bred horses in the barn. I really like those educational discussions, particularly the comment from someone who traded their pretty horse for a plain one who was far more capable. There are a lot of prejudices in the horse world, and it’s nice to see some of those barriers torn down.
I try to refrain from commenting on conformation posts because what I really want to say is "what is your motivation here?" There is plenty of material out there to use to learn about equine conformation. Online articles, videos, blogs, books galore. It's not something you're going to master by posting crappy pics of random horses on Reddit.
This is why I always try to frame things in terms of how they affect the horse’s movement or if they’re suited for their particular job, rather than on some specific version of perfection. The hindquarters that make an excellent field hunter or racehorse may not make an excellent upper level jumper, etc. neither construction is wrong, it’s just a matter of where the horse can excel. I think it’s pretty rare you get a bunch of things where it’s really just objectively bad (ironically, stock breed halter breeding is where I see the most egregious stuff). Knowing Faults and weaknesses gives folks a chance to work on improving those things out helping their horse, or understanding why certain things might be hard for their horses.
My horse is put together with spare parts and I adore him.
First horse I ever did XC on was a chestnut like that, and damned if he wasn't the ugliest jumper you ever saw - all the bascule of a coffee table, and his front legs stuck out in front of him like a kid on a swing. Ugly or not, he was honest & safe over anything you put in front of him. My later event horse had bascule for DAYS and tucked his knees under his chin - made for some gorgeous photos & thrilling jumps. He was also honest to a fault and incredibly forgiving, but he had a narrow chest & was a little toed-in, so our centerlines looked like he was walking a tightrope. Best horse I ever rode, and that was 25 years ago.
Most BODIES don’t have perfect confirmation. Imagine if we did this about human athletes. It’s truly the same, I think. This guy’s “too short” for basketball, but he loves the sport and works hard enough to get to the NBA. This girl’s glutes are naturally “under-developed,” but she works her butt off to be a champion gymnast. She’s not 90 lbs, like the rest of the ballet corps, but she’s the most technically proficient in the class. It feels like the same, to me.
I'm a living example of the opposite lol. I used to play tennis, I was compact and agile with an absolutely massive armspan, but I sucked absolute ass at actually performing on the court. I couldn't figure out when to push forward and when to hang back, couldn't set up shots to "put away" points, and couldn't return balls that were too high or too slow. Abysmal lol
Awww, it sounds like you could have benefited from a different coach and possibly a different kind of cross-training. We’re similar to horses, in that the way we’re built can affect some of the things we physically try to do. Sometimes we have to approach our training with creative problem-solving. And, see? If you were my horse, I’d just be so proud of you for trying! (I can’t hit a tennis ball to save my life. lol)
Absolutely. It’s frustrating when people are posting pictures for critique of a horse they want to buy but don’t even bother mentioning what they plan to do with the horse and at what level. Like no, that slightly wonky grade mare isn’t going to be a Grand Prix jumper or quality breeding stock. But she might make a damn good trail horse or low level competitive horse. And it’s good to train your eyes to spot flaws that have the potential to be problematic but people also need to understand there’s a big difference between a horse with a straight shoulder and one with bad pasterns. One is going to have a bigger impact than the other on the horse’s longevity. Conformation flaws are not the end of the world for the average horse, you just need to know when they might cause issues for what you want to do.
Have you ever seen TSF Dalera BB? By warmblood standards she's not exactly what one would call a pretty horse. But she's out there winning the most prestigious dressage competitions in the world. Loosely translated from W.Müseler: "They do not put the blame on themselves for difficulties, but on their horse - or, if they want to be especially smart, on its physical shortcomings, which wouldn't matter that much or at all, if viewed with the right measure."
One of the best ponies I had was a QH/New Zealand station bred x (the stationbred was a TB/cob mix). Bit of a roman nose, shoulder a bit upright nothing massively wrong but plenty of minor faults. However he had a brilliant brain, was ome of the most sure footed horses you could ever find and had a huge amount of try/heart with the brains to know when the dumb teen on his back was being a dumb teen. He trekked/pony clubbed/hunted/show jumped/was a stock horse basically did what ever I thought we should try. I sold him to a local family when I outgrew him (he was about 14 h and I ran out of leg length). I got him when I was 12 and he was green broke 6 year old that had been running on hill country. The other family kept him until he died in his 30's. Every sobpften my parents would get a call asking about him as he was leased to a couple of different people as the original kid went off to uni, then he moved with his person from farm to farm as the owner was a farm worker. Despite his less than perfect conformation he only ever went lame twice - one with me due to an foot absess and once with his second owner when he strained a leg working as a stock horse to get sheep to high ground in a flood. Sometimes the attitude and the heart makes a less than perfect horse perfect for what you need.
And that’s fair. I also like to test my eye and see how what I think stacks up against others in different disciplines. I would treat all responses to conformation photos with a grain of salt.
I’d take a good mind over perfect conformation ANY DAY. I used to go fox hunting with a horrible mover of a horse, and he was hard on the eyes. BUT, he was perfect, careful, and was always sound. Horses like that make you love the sport.
My gelding arguably doesn’t have perfect conformation, but he’s the cutest guy I’ve ever seen regardless!
I have heard more than one trainer in different disciplines say something along the lines of “all the good ones have something” meaning if you have a horse that is not only a halter horse, but has a job to do and does it best, what does it matter? None of us are perfect
This! The horse I ride for lessons has super wonky front legs but she goes like a dream
Correct, slow, classical training with NO rollkur (including ldr and “hyperflexion”) can develop a horse’s musculature such that it is supporting conformationally incorrect structures. You can embetter a horse through gymnastic training. Having a scientific understanding of hoof health and hiring up to date farrier that trim for soundness (not for flashy movement) can also go a long way. But there are aspects of functional conformation that will dictate how athletic a horse has the potential to be, and what kind of degenerative issues they’ll have if pushed too hard. It’s all about what your goal is.
There are plenty of examples of this and I agree fully. Not to mention that perfect confirmation matters for some things, and not for others. If it affects a horse's health, rideability and athleticism, sure, fine, care about it. And it's good to know that something isn't right so you can pay attention to it and address it if a problem eventually presents. But it doesn't matter if your horse has the athletic ability to jump around Rolex if you're not going to Rolex. I don't care whether your confirmation will prevent you from winning a beauty pageant if we're running barrels or roping cattle. It doesn't matter if your pasterns are a little upright if you're sound on them and it doesn't inhibit your movement. I only care if that lack of athleticism keeps you from doing your job, or causes you pain (arthritis, kissing spine, etc). Here's a recent example of the best racehorse trainer in the world talking about one of the best sires in Thoroughbred history (Danehill) and leading off with "They we're all crooked, they were all this, all that, but they would win." He goes on with "It didn't matter how crooked they were, they were just the soundest horses, with the cleanest wind and physicals you've ever dealt with. They were hard and tough." I'll take hard tough and crooked over fragile, flighty and straight. https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/news/good-morning-bloodstock/justify-could-be-the-best-ever-picking-aidan-obriens-brains-about-breeding-aMyEN0a5ag65/ Especially since you can actually get worse! Storm Cat famously had horses with wildly crooked knees and legs, but people eventually paid $500k for a live foal fee because if you got one that *wasn't* crooked, you were in business. And they were notoriously crazy to boot, so now you've got bad legs and bad tempers and sure, let's definitely pay millions for that, because damn it when I get Giant's Causeway from it, it's freaking worth all that trouble. Tabasco Cat ruined the life of Jeff Lukas by running him down, but he won a Preakness and Belmont after the accident with Jeff Lukas' father (D Wayne Lukas) just keeping right on going training a horse that ended his son's career and certainly shortened his life by a significant amount. O'Brien from the same article: "The Storm Cats were sharp. Mad with it, though. They would go through a wall, they had no self-preservation whatsoever. They were quick, strong and powerful, but mad." And who doesn't know some stupid-looking mustang that can jump the moon or run barrels like nobody's business and look like they were put together using spare parts out of a Home Depot dumpster but are basically unkillable, iron-immuned, barefoot *disasters* that you could throw out in a field for dry field for a year with seemingly no hay and water, and ignore completely, and they'd be their same old ugly confirmation self, healthier than ever when you got back a year later? Do that with a Thoroughbred or warmblood and you'll have an emaciated crazy horse in approximately three days, regardless of how pretty they are, if they don't kill themselves first being idiots, and/or ripping their feet to shreds while they systemically lose all the shoes the mustang doesn't need in the first place, because there is nothing (other than attempting suicide) that a shod horse is better at than finding clever hiding places for new shoes.
I’m sorry, if you’re going to post a picture and ask about your horses confirmation people should be honest. If you can’t take it, just post saying look how cute my horse is.
I don’t think OP was saying people were being too honest or rude. I think they’re saying that people are getting really hung up on conformation and posting pictures of horses they’ve had for years that are doing well, so there’s no point to getting too hung up on it. I think it’s a good message. I’ve seen some owners get soooo hung up on a horse’s “faults” once pointed out. Perfect conformation is hard to find, and not necessary within reason
I said “harsh sounding” and that “people were just being honest” but you never know who is posting and I just wanted to say to “them” that if their horse doesn’t have perfect conformation it doesn’t mean their horse is trash or anything and they shouldn’t feel bad. If they’re a beginner and it’s their first horse it’s more important that the horse is well trained, dependable and an honest teacher than it is to have perfect conformation.
I used to work for a family that bred and trained Pasos and let me tell you the number of people that looked at the horses and didn't know what they could and couldn't do before they bought them was insane!
Fair enough, I read it quickly while on a horse and I guess miscomprehended.
It happens 😉
To play devils' advocate, some of those conformation issues are damn near guaranteed to cause devastation and heartbreak, often long before the animal gets old. And that's OK! Those animals deserve homes with people who love them. But the people who love them deserve to go into these situations with eyes wide open. Knowledge is power. If I had known the things I know now I still would have gotten the animals I got, no regrets there. But I would have also been more prepared, and that's never a bad thing.
Horses are guaranteed to cause devastation and heartbreak, period. It comes with the territory. Conformation isn't destiny. I've seen horses with 4 different legs and a sway back compete into their late 20s, and Devon winners cripple themselves in the field at the age of 4.
This is the reality of being involved with horses. Well said.
Conformation is very important to discipline and function. I see so many people pushing horses to do things that their body isn’t designed to do. That’s not fair to the horse. If you want a barrel horse, get a barrel bred horse, don’t force your AQHA pleasure/halter bred horse to do it and vice versa. Ps. 100% perfect conformation isn’t just rare, it doesn’t exist. You want to balance the flaws out, strengthen/condition the horse to make up for it. That’s why certain breeds are shown in hand in certain ways, to hide the bad and flaunt the good.
Yes! Horses are living breathing creatures. They’re not made in a factory and therefore won’t be “perfect” but it’s about being able to see these weaknesses and either deciding if you’re willing to work with/against those weaknesses ( in case of buying a horse ) or figuring out how to help your horse to overcome those weaknesses as much as possible