How Are We Growing?

[Tremor]

I have a little filly that I would love critiqued. I am aware of the rules that we are not allowed to critique horses that we do not own; so I would like to make it clear that I am the owner and breeder of this filly.

Ale (pronounced Allie.....it made sense when I named her. JCP Grand Finale. Don't judge.

) was our last planned foal.

Sire (Dagnillos Crown Jewels): (NOTE: Ignore the person in the sexy outfit.....

)

Dam (BL Hooten Hollows Bow Tie):

Okay, full siblings:

2006 Silver Smokey Black Filly:

http://a4.sphotos.ak...8_7380306_n.jpg

2007 Silver Black Colt:

http://a3.sphotos.ak...0_2321973_n.jpg

2008 Palomino Gelding:

http://a4.sphotos.ak...422422093_n.jpg

2010 Silver Smokey Black Gelding:

http://a6.sphotos.ak...484339725_n.jpg

Information About Ale:

DOB: April 30, 2011

Color: Palomino

Gender: Filly

Registration: AMHR (Will be registered in spring after clipping)

Personal Plans for Future: I would like to train her how to drive in the future; just for fun. I would be interested in possibly breeding her in about a trillion years (literally). The only way that I'd be breeding her is if the dwarf testing does come out. Both her parents are dwarf carriers (Dam for Type 3 and sire for Type 1, 2, and 3), but I do not think that it would be irresponsible to breed ONLY if I were to breed her to a stallion that could fix her faults and was a non-carrier. That's the only way. If not, I would love to some day buy a bred mare.

I have worked with Ale on halter and I showed her this past July as a 2-3 month old. She did fantastic for me and got a blue. The judge and I went through her class as quickly as we could so not to stress her out and she was then immediately sent back to her stall with her dam; who was standing outside of the ring. Ale was actually supposed to go into the final round but we sent her back to the dismay of the show staff (who were quite rude about it). Instead Ale took a nap in her stall while her full brother won Reserve Grand Champion Halter Pony.

Ale is a fantastic little filly, but very immature in her mindset. (As expected for a baby) Which has prompted me to let her grow as a pasture puff for the next few years so that I can focus on her dam, who is much more mature! lol.

I am doing this because I am not a fan of promoting youngsters. I would rather let them grow for a few years, show, and THEN throw them back into the pasture. Not show and then throw them into the pasture. I really don't care if you guys do that, but I am a VERY relaxed person when it comes to showing. I see no reason to cause stress and create a pile of un-needed vet bills as a result. JMVHO.

Anywho, I had mentioned that I would love to train Ale for cart, I would also love to do showmanship and some of the Halter Obstacle type classes. Neither are really geared toward conformation, but Ale is lacking in her back, neck, and hindquarters.

I've been working with Ale on halter since she was about 2-3 days old. I had a halter on her immediatly and on a lead rope at a couple days old with me just following her. Not the other way around. I tried to make it as stress free as possible. We started working on setting up at about 2 weeks and I was also using voice commands as well as hand signals. You can see that in multiple pictures. You can also see in some pictures the use of chalk (circle drawn) that I used for her to know her boundaries. I had used this with her dam before hand and had found it to be successful. Hence why I used it with her.

The use of clippers were started at about 2 weeks. I started them slowly with her just loose with her dam. I would use them on her dam (loose) and then run them over Ale who was loose as well. I was able to clip her soon after. We had also worked on bathing, which was pretty successful.

Conformation Pictures:

3 Weeks:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=b2f4675255

5 Weeks:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=2194e7893a

2 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=a9362ed28e

2 Months (10 weeks):

http://www.facebook....=1&l=cfc91751cd

3 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=0b182c224c

4 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=5e08a3e82d

5 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=734373621f

6 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=985455505c

9 Months:

http://www.facebook....=1&l=774b36855d

Yep, lots of pictures!

I am sorry for the 9 month pictures. I did not realize that she was stretched in the back....I'll have to take some new ones soon.

I am very excited to clip her in the spring. From the looks of her 3 month pictures she's going to resemble exactly what I want, which is the same build as her sire. I am VERY much in love with how she looks in her 3 month pictures as well as her 5 months. She's a thicker girl but she has a very refined beautiful head.

The faults that I see:

Cowhocked

Longer pasterns in front?

Long Back

Short Neck

Thick Neck

Camped Out in Hind (I see this the most in the 3 month pictures, but I personally believe that this is because I have her over stretched in the hind.

Pros:

Refined Head

Perfect Bite

Chest (I personally like her chest. I don't know a lot about the conformation of the chest, but I do like how it is not narrow. You see that a lot with youngsters and her's isn't. Its quite wider that one that I would expect on a foal.)

Anywho, critique. I love harsh and blunt responses. No reason to sugar coat anything. Nobody learns with sugar coating.

 

[Lizzie]

She is certainly better than her dam Tremor and I agree with much you have said. My personal thought, is that in all pics, she is built down-hill. She inherited that from her dam, who is very down-hill. She also looks slightly pot-bellied. I know she has the possibility of carrying the dwarf gene and so knowing that, I wouldn't breed her if she were mine. Maybe one day, there will be a test for it. I doubt it though, since there are so many types of dwarfism. I think you will be able to have fun with this girl and not worry about breeding her in the future. There are so many super nice horses around right now, I'd start again from scratch with a new mare, if you wish to breed.

How is Bow doing with her jumping?

Lizzie

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Its so hard to critique them when they are fuzzy. She is cute. I like the way her sire is built personally. The one thing I can tell is her legs are not the straightest in the world. She toes out on all four and is cowhocked. I wouldn't necessarily say she is camped out. Her front legs do bother me a lil bit I don't know if its my imagination or what but in some pics her pasterns looks weak to me. Then in other pics she looks like she's over the knee. Maybe someone can come on that knows more may possibly see what I'm talking about. I wish she was more straight as it can affect her down the road, she may straighten when she gets older and with corrective trimming may help.

 

[ruffian]

I agree - I don't see this as a future broodmare. I'm not sure I see a driving horse either. She would be OK for obstacle or showmanship classes.

I don't see that showing horses - IF they have the right mindset -- is stressful for ALL horses. I do have one mare that I never take to shows because she hates it. My other horses love to show, and will jump right on the trailer.

I find it refreshing that you see what you have in front of you, and are not "barn blind". That is VERY cool and hard to find.

You will be successful in the horse business - you have the right "mindset" YOURSELF!

:yeah

 

[Riverrose28]

Oh thank you for the sexie clothes, I'm 63 and still wear my 4-H tee shirts, from being a 4-H Mom and now a 4-H Grandmom, 4-H tee shirts are the greatest. I agree that your little girl, although cute and precious is not halter quality, that is on the breed circuit, that doesn't mean you couldn't show her at the 4-H shows and win. At the breed show level I think you could do very well in showmanship, obstacle and even jumping. Your training is quite impressive, you show alot of understanding, patience, and positive reinforcment. I wish you lived closer to me, so you could help me with mine, I would love it. I so admire your character, and keep up the good work.

 

[alongman]

You will be successful in the horse business - you have the right "mindset" YOURSELF!

:yeah

I will agree with the others, espeically on the point that you are one VERY intelligent horse woman (and we all can be caught wearing less than sexy attire in the barn

). It is hard to judge based on pictures as you don't see the horse truly for what it is... great pictures were taken of less than perfect horses and some REALLY nice horses have less than great pictures. With that said, you have done a great job of evaluating your horse - she does have some imperfections which you mentioned, but being critical and knowing (and admiting) these faults will help you decide a successful career for your filly, even if showing or breeding is not in her future.

 

[AnnaC]

Well I like her! She's very cute and you are doing a fabulous job with her upbringing and training.

Yes she has some faults, but who amongst us owns the perfect horse? Living in the UK I cannot really say what she would show as, regarding the classes available in the US, but I think you should just continue as you are doing - educating her and loving her, and when she is more mature I'm sure she will show you exactly what she is capable of!

I always look closely at a foal at 3 weeks and 3 months to get a possible idea of the mature horse and looking at the pictures of Ale at those ages, I see potential!

What happened to her 2010 full brother - I like him too?

Good luck - looking forward to more pictures in the Spring.

 

[Tremor]

Thanks for the help guys!

I just want to point out that I wasn't set on breeding her. It would be awesome to be able to continue on what we've achieved so far, which I personally believe that we've produced one heck of a filly and I would love to produce even more feminine horses that still have that bulk to them. I'm a fan of the Arabian style, but I would love to be able to put more bulk to them. I have been searching for stallions recently, not for Ale, but just in case I were to ever need them. You know? I love researching stallions and bloodlines and I would love to be able to produce a nice little show horse out of it. Of course, that may require a new mare bred to an outside stallion. I may have to save up some dough and research some of your guys' farms! I have a few favorite farms out there!

I really do appreciate the critiques!

JMS, you're not imagining things. There is *something* with those front legs. I think it her pasterns myself, but I'm not quite sure myself.

I'm quite sure what a good class for her would be to be honest. I like to show for fun, and I'm not really in it to win. So, I'm not sure if it would matter if she is up to par to win. You know what I'm saying?

I would LOVE to break her to drive in 2-3 years when she's grown up and matured mentally. I don't we'd do anything competively because of her hocks which are a MESS!

I'm short on time right now so I'll comment more when I have time.

Thanks!

P.S. I am so excited for spring! I want to see what type of girl i have underneath all of that fluff!