[doulai]

Hello,
what do you think of the conformation of my horse? He is 4.5 years old gelding, purebred stadardbred.
I think he have a big bone on his chest

I just add another picture for another view of him

[hay burner]

Nice horse is his name Doulai???
he seems a bit pig eyed (small eyes) which makes him look crabby which im sure he is not
Do you notice how his withers go into his neck wonky??? i noticed that but i dont know what the term for it is. She needs a farrier who leaves more heel on her, she coulde get a bad hoof problem without those heels. omg i just realized it was a gelding!! im so stupid... HE has a straight should which may give him a choppy stride. His neck seems a big to short and thin to fit his body He has good legs he is well balanced short backed he is an overall nice horse. Good luck with him.
Im not sure what that lump on his chest but i would get it vet checked

[Moonshine Zeus]

His conformation is not great theres many flaws in it.. but i am sure you love him no matter what!

[doulai]

Is name is Igor. The hoof are a bit un the ground maybe that why you think he need more heel?
Thats true he have small ears, but on the picture they are smaller than usual, he look sleepy. I cannot find the word wonky in my french/english dictionary! hi hi! can you explain me what you mean about his withers? And yes I think his back his short. He have high wither and it's a pain to find a good western saddle.

[madvoice]

I'll start from the legs up.
Igor has really long front pasterns and probably has a longer toe due to this. His hoof angle is consistent with his pastern angle though. He is also behind at the knee and camped under with his forelegs. You should be able to draw a straight line from his shoulder to the ground that passes through the middle of his forelegs. I can't tell too much with his hinds as he is not standing square but it looks like he is a bit sickle hocked. that is where the croup/hocks line up but his lower leg comes forward from this. he has an irregular wither that doesn't tie well in to his neck. He looks to be a bit bull necked (thick and short in the neck). He looks to have a piggy eye but it could be because he's dozing. He has a very flat back and would probably require a breastplate to keep the saddle in place properly. I read that you are having trouble finding a saddle that fits, it may be the case of getting one custom made for him. Yes, it is expensive but it may be the only way to get a properly fitting saddle. He does look like he could use some more muscle tone but his condition score is good.
At the end of the day, he may not win big in the show ring but if he has a suitable temperament and he has the ability to do what you ask, you couldn't ask for anything more.

[doulai]

oh la la. He have a lot's of flaws...I'm sure I pay too much for this horse.
Now he needs training and I hope his faults are not only due to his conformation...The ride at walk is bouncing, he often fall on his forelegs, ...
But he is very very good for driving. That what he was doing before.
But maybe i should look for another horse for driving and riding comfortable. I don't know. I'll keep it for the winter and continue to ride him for now.

[madvoice]

I was wondering what he would be like to ride and yes it does sound right. With his forelegs the way they are, he would have a very bouncy and choppy stride. He would be very good for driving (what Standies are bred for LOL) but with his conformation I wouldn't expect him to ever be a truly comfortable ride.
You can give him some lunging exercises to help build up his muscle tone in his rump. You should be able find yourself a good riding instructor to help you with this.

[Christin_appy]

Is your gelding a Pacer or Trotter? Have you been able to get him to canter?
was he raced?
Most Standardbreds are very easy to work with because of their back grounds
training every day, harnessing, bathing, miles and miles of pulling a cart.
They convert to riding rather quickly.
When in training they are very fit jogging about 5 or more miles a day.
and being raced once a week on top of that.
Un like the TB who gets gallopped 1 mile a day and raced once a month.
If your horse was in race shape at one time, His body may just be adjusting to not so much stress right now. I would give him a chance I'm sure hes worked hard for it. If you are interested in showing look up Standardbred shows. The have everything that a regular open to dressage show has.
good luck
Christina

[CrazyHorse]

Well I'm terrible at critiquing, but he looks like a sweetheart.

[hay burner]

i think he just plain needs more heel. like his feet needs to be higher and more heel will acheive that. Alson wonky hehe half my own word. it means sorta funny looking lol. His withers sort of blend into his neck funny. like look at this pic here and look at your horse and see how his withers go right into his neck forming a large curve.