I have followed this thread with interest, as I always do when truly serious discussions occur here.
Some observations--I was amazed at some of the perceptions of what constitutes a 'dish'--in LONG years with horses, and a compelling interest in quite a variety of breeds, I never heard of any definition other than that a 'dished faced' horse has a concavity of profile! Nor is the 'dish' in any way 'connected' to the configuration of the horse's forehead--two different things, absolutely! I believe there is are 'proper' and improper', locations for the 'dish' to occur; I have seen photos posted here of both! (For instance--I do NOT care for the 'dish' to be between or very nearly between the eyes, believe that to be 'improper', at the very least from a standpoint of appearance, and would conceed that *perhaps* this could be an indicator of a genetic tendency toward dwarfism??-though I know of no proof that this is the case! I have seen photos here of heads that I consider 'strange', and of at least one horse with a pretty head, but other visible conformational features that I would consider fairly serious flaws. That said,and frankly admitting that there is likely NO ONE here who can be more seriously critical in evalution of aspects of conformation than I, I also believe that we should try to be cautious about stating presumptions that may go 'beyond' the limitations of a single photo that shows basically only a single aspect of a horse.
I have seen Shah Jehan, a number of times-his owner was an acquaintance from the 'early' Estes Park show days! I always found his head, 'in person', to be rather ODD looking, and can verify that he indeed did NOT possess a "teacup" muzzle. He was, in fact, one of the first I have seen that had the odd characteristics of ears sort of 'set back' behind a 'prominent' forehead, a bit more on the side than the 'top' of his head---I know--it is hard to describe, but "I knows it when I sees it"--and I must say, I have seen more of this kind of thing since, and still. Perhaps it IS 'being bred for'--but NOT by me!! I do know that Shah Jehan was 'thought to be' and described as being--'Araby' in looks, but again, NOT by me! I would also like to see more photos of "Ameigo"( apologies, but I always thought he had that name just because someone didn't know how to spell "Amigo"!)--with all due respect to his current owner(and I know there is a 'back story' for him, and that Bess was his 'saviour',as it were--bless her for so doing!)I always thought he was also a bit 'extreme' in appearance--at least, in that widely-seen photo of him--and have always wished to see 'more' of him to be able to know how accurate my impressions were...)
I certainly believe that a 'dish' doth NOT an 'Arabian' look make--even when it IS a properly postitioned 'dish'! That said, I do like the look of a properly-positioned/proportioned 'dish'--(In more recent times, even many QH lines have come to show 'dished' heads-and such are also not uncommon in other breeds, such as Welsh ponies...)-- in the face of a horse that ALSO has other correct components! For me, ideally, those include: well-set, proportionate, shapely ears(but I don't require that the tips point at each other...!), a broad flat forehead, large widely-set, liquid eyes with a kind expression, a slight dish located a moderate and PROPORTIONATE distance BELOW the eyes, and without a convex profile from the 'dish' on down, big, open,wide-set nostrils,a short mouth, bite in line, lips in line AND 'tight', well-defined('chiseled, if you will) bone structure, and a reasonably developed jowl, so that the head has somewhat of a triangular shape.(I could go into even greater detail, but won't-takes too much time and space!!) Some things I DON'T like are: 'cigarette heads"(seen frequently in minis), lingering tooth bumps(often unavoidable in minis, at least for a few years--but really shouldn't persist throughout their life,given proper and timely dental care, IMO...), a profile that sort of 'drops off' at the muzzle(again, fairly common in minis, in my observation-and one which can be somewhat "countered' by good open well-placed nostrils), "pig' eyes, and oddly-placed and/or 'coarse'(shapeless, in effect), or too large, or too small, ears. I also do NOT like to see a forehead bulge in adult miniatures--period: I have seen horses I thought quite nice otherwise who had heads that would forever disqualify them from MY consideration, because of this very feature.
I'd like to comment on other aspects of this thread-like the Std. of Perfection--but this is long enough, so that'll have to wait for another time!
Margo
