Bad Conformation,or what?

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

Hey everyone,I am kindof sad to ask this,but I bought what I thought was a beautiful colt. He isn't in good condition right now,and these pictures are rough angles,but please tell me do you see bad conformation? Bad conditioning or what? Also he has like a small hump on his back where the white ends almost,and the croup begins,what is this? Slipped disc? I love him

: so much,but if he is really badly conformed I won't breed him,and geld him,thanks you guys! Pics of sire and dam included:

here is one of him pulled off the pasture,

then the next is of him as we saw him before buying:

Then is as follows: Dam,and Sire

oh,and he is 3yrs old,and 29.75" tall.

 

[wiccanz]

Well, I'll leave it to others to comment on his conformation, but I would definately be gelding him if he was mine

Forgot to add, he looks a bit tucked up behind, it might pay to get the vet out to check him over, just to make sure. He looks like a real sweety

 

[EquineLover]

Well,I think if you got some better pictures of him, it'd be easier to see his conformation,and give an opinion on it. Although its not a real good picture,based on the first picture,I would geld him. I agree that I would also have his sire gelded. He should make a nice gelding for you though.

Do you plan to show him?

 

[Minimor]

He is in very poor condition--much too thin--and even a nicely conformed horse will look poor when it's very thin. I do see the bump you are talking about; I suspect that is just his conformation, but can't say for sure from a photo. It doesn't look obvious in the second photo, where he's in better condition & the photo is from a different angle. If you can put some weight on him and then get a photo of him standing properly--neither photo here is useful for critiquing.

He will look better when he is carrying the proper weight, but I'm afraid it's not going to make him into stallion material. I would geld him. He will make a wonderful gelding for you & family to enjoy!

Ah, I'd point out the sire doesn't belong to T C Minis, so we can't actually comment on him here!

edited to change 'stallion' to 'sire' for clarity!

 

[nootka]

Well, yeah, he's skinny, and I think that somewhat tends to make flaws look more glaring.

That said, I don't see anything there I would breed into my herd (no offense, I started somewhere too with a way less than perfect stallion(s)...and mares, too.).

There's just too much that is "wrong" about him even if you put meat on his bones.

Sorry!

Liz

 

[MiLo Minis]

His body condition could be a result of living in pain. Horses in chronic pain tend to drop weight and that bump on his back could be causing it.

 

[kaykay]

TC do you own this horse?? You cannot put a horse up for critique unless you actually own it. But i wholeheartedly agree with milo that the first pic is a pic of a horse in pain. Looks like hes all hunched up in pain. I would get someone out to look him over especially since there is no hump in the before picture. Normally a hump would be a roached back but since it wasnt there before this must be an injury.

 

[Sunraye Miniatures]

I am wondering if this horse might have some dwarfy characteristics. I would defintelly geld him. He would make a nice gelding.

Kay, she owns the colt, but is showing examples of both sire and dam to see what we truly got here.

 

[Minimor]

I'd disagree that he's hunched in pain. I think that if he was carrying his proper weight his back would round out & look normal from wither to hip. The bump she refers to is further back than where the back appears to be a bit roached--and again, with his back rounded out I think that bump (where white & dark patches meet) would disappear.

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]The things I see that are not weight related that would scream geld to me are , long back, low set short neck, Steep shoulder and short steep hip, low tail set. None of those are wt related just poor conformation. If you bought him off that second picture, it was taken at a bad angle to evaluate a horse, not straight on but downward that would hide hos lumps and bumps and shorness of neck. Sorry but I dont see stallion material here. If a horse cant compete at the national level, in my opinion, he doesnt need to be a stallion and I know that many flame me for that opinion.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[Jill]

He will look MUCH better when he is at proper weight. However, there are A LOT of very nice, top notch stallions out there. If you don't think he'd beat them in a show ring, you'd enjoy him more as a gelding. You can always breed to outside stallions and just enjoy your guy as a gelding. I have gelded stallions who've won many halter classes and have not ever regretted it.

 

[kaykay]

sorry i was confused earlier about which horse she owns. She doesnt own the sire or dam so I think its really unfair to picture them unless she has the owners permission. Especially since people are commenting on the sire.

Ill say again that this colt needs a veternarian to look him over. Hes way underweight and doesnt look anything like he did in his previous picture so obviously something is wrong. I feel hes injured and not being fed right. How anyone can look at that picture and not see a horse in pain is beyond me??

What is he being fed?

 

[Shari]

Did you take the original picture or was it the one you used to decide to buy him?

As much as I am afraid to bring this up.. but a friend about 6 months ago bought a mini from a few pictures. Needless to say it wasn't much like the pictures she bought her from. Once we had a good going over, found out the photo was doctored to make that mare look much better than she was.

 

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

TC do you own this horse?? You cannot put a horse up for critique unless you actually own it. But i wholeheartedly agree with milo that the first pic is a pic of a horse in pain. Looks like hes all hunched up in pain. I would get someone out to look him over especially since there is no hump in the before picture. Normally a hump would be a roached back but since it wasnt there before this must be an injury.

Yes I do own him.

 

[BallynoeBaby]

I can understand what you are going through as i too have a horse with some problems. My opinion would be to just start slowly with him, get a vet to see him and confirm what the bump is then work it from there. This wee fella is looking a bit poor but i can see that you really love him as a pet and would do what is right for you. Leave gelding himuntil you are 100% sure you aren't in a rush. See what you can make of him. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

:

 

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

sorry i was confused earlier about which horse she owns. She doesnt own the sire or dam so I think its really unfair to picture them unless she has the owners permission. Especially since people are commenting on the sire.

Ill say again that this colt needs a veternarian to look him over. Hes way underweight and doesnt look anything like he did in his previous picture so obviously something is wrong. I feel hes injured and not being fed right. How anyone can look at that picture and not see a horse in pain is beyond me??

What is he being fed?

He has lots of grass,with free hay,and he gets 3 cups of sweetfeed two times a day,a vet did look at him,and say that he didn't see anything wrong,just would take awhile to get him back to normal weight. and said that it didn't seem like a slipped desk to him,I don't want to go against our vet,but still like you say I still think something might be wrong,we even ran a blood profile,and nothing showed up.

and sorry about posting the sire and dam,just thought I would show people what they looked like as well.

Did you take the original picture or was it the one you used to decide to buy him?

As much as I am afraid to bring this up.. but a friend about 6 months ago bought a mini from a few pictures. Needless to say it wasn't much like the pictures she bought her from. Once we had a good going over, found out the photo was doctored to make that mare look much better than she was.

Hey the second picture,wasn't taken by me,it was the picture I saw along with a head shot of him,before I bought,I bet I won't be doing much more internet buying,unless its from one of these forum members!

 

[kaykay]

this is not at all a good feeding program for a young growing horse. This is why his weight had dropped. I am NOT telling you to go against your veternarians advice but a second opinion couldnt hurt. For sure feeding him properly will help a lot. I dont know what kind of hay you are feeding but it cant be a very good quality if he looks like this eating it free choice. I would also get an equine dentist to check his teeth.

Sweet feed is not going to be enough nutrition to get this guys weight up. He needs a good complete feed such as equine jr or another good complete feed.

I know the person who took that picture and they did not doctor it. But as you all know once you sell a horse you have no control over what happens once it leaves. How many times on the forum do we see underweight colts?? Its a huge problem as people just dont feed correctly! And most newer people to horses dont understand that a big bloated belly and ribs showing is malnutrtion.

 

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

this is not at all a good feeding program for a young growing horse. This is why his weight had dropped. I am NOT telling you to go against your veternarians advice but a second opinion couldnt hurt. For sure feeding him properly will help a lot. I dont know what kind of hay you are feeding but it cant be a very good quality if he looks like this eating it free choice. I would also get an equine dentist to check his teeth.

Sweet feed is not going to be enough nutrition to get this guys weight up. He needs a good complete feed such as equine jr or another good complete feed.

I know the person who took that picture and they did not doctor it. But as you all know once you sell a horse you have no control over what happens once it leaves. How many times on the forum do we see underweight colts?? Its a huge problem as people just dont feed correctly! And most newer people to horses dont understand that a big bloated belly and ribs showing is malnutrtion.

Well then what do you suggest feeding him?

: He's picking up weight little by little. Sweetfeed is 12% to,forgot to add that.

Well at least I haven't bred him to anyone! and won't eathier,plan to get his weight up,and then when it cools off get him gelded,I think it will be best,and go stud hunting again,if my other guy wasn't LWO I'd just keep one stallion

Thanks everyone for helping me make my descion! Without ya'll I'd be in such a mess sometimes! :aktion033:

Besides he has a knockout trot,and I bet he'd be a great driving gelding,like someone else had told me(of course AFTER his weight gets back up,and we get a second opion)

 

[kaykay]

tc i pls reread my post. I put right on there that he needs a good complete feed like Purina Equine jr to get his weight back up.

Im not picking on you but I feel its really unfair to hint that pictures are doctored etc when they were not. This horse was not thin when you picked him up.

Before you buy another stallion for breeding (or any horse) really educate yourself on what good conformation is. Know what your breeding goals are etc. Study bloodlines etc and learn about what different bloodlines tend to throw.

But for sure you need to reevaluate how you feed your horses

 

[T.C. Miniature Horse Farm]

I'd also like to add the comment that the people are wonderful,and no I don't think the photo was doctored at all,I think it was more of me being a fairly new person,and not seeing his faults,but as far as Ten L its not thier fault at all :no: guess I just lucked out,I am going to be so much more careful now when finding another stallion, and I hate it for him that he is currently underweight.