Look at my new boy!!!!!

[The Simple Life Farm]

I would like to publicly give a heart felt thank you to Gwen Simmons of Honey Bea Meadows for such a wonderful birthday gift. She lovingly gave me a gift so dear to my heart.... Honey Bea Meadows Mega Buck. I have admired this boy since day one, he literally floats when he trots. I have never seen a horse with such movement, I am still in awe.

So with that.... I would really appreciate a very honest critique of him. I PROMISE there will not be any hurt feelings. I am a big girl, I can handle it!!! I really want to know what your expert eyes like and dislike about him. Please don't hold back, good or bad. I know I will be entering him in liberty, he is a natural for that. But I also want to know how you think he would be able to compete in halter. I showed him at Glen Rose in October in his first show, and he placed 2nd & 4th in ammy, and two 3rd places in open halter.

His dam has Brewers Orion and Vant Huttenest background!!!

So, please critique away......... This truly will be a learning experience for me.

 

[Leeana]

Hi There, i am no expert but he is cute and CONGRATS!

The first thing that pops out to me is that he is very sickle hocked in the back and poss toes out. He has a very cute head and ears, nice large dark eyes and tiny ears

. He makes a nice "square" when you draw a box around his body, great length of back and length of leg. He looks to have a nice long neck. His topline is 'okay'.

He is so fuzzy i really cant tell where his neck ties in or how his shoulder slopes. He may have a week hip under that fuzz, but he looks so cute

. Congrats agian, its just so hard to see through the hair and get down to the details.

Enjoy him

 

[Taya]

I cant be of any help in the critique as im not experienced enough but I just wanted to say he looks so cute just like a teddy bear he has such a sweet face. Congrats on getting him

 

[Jill]

Kelly --

I like him!

He's got a beautiful head, a nice neck and tie in, and I like his body. I also like the length of his legs. His hind legs may be a little sickle hocked or cowhocked, but I think with conditioning those things may look much better. He's so young now and I've seen some very nice halter horses go through a stage of looking cow hocked.

From his pictures, he is one that would have caught MY eye, for whatever that may or may not be worth

Jill

 

[Basketmiss]

I love him! he is so cute! Cant say on confirmation I'm new to Minis...

 

[Margaret]

I would definatly show this boy in halter.

Even unclipped he looks great to me. Nice long straight legs, great hooves, bananced body, good neck, and nice head. Is he a stallion? and how old -just curious.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

Thank you everyone.....

He is still a stallion, will be turning 1 in March.

But, please give more thoughts on him....... I really want your honest, unbiased opinions, please.

Thanks for taking your time for this.

Kelly

 

[MyBarakah]

Congrate's on your new boy~! I would be very proud! I am a sucker for a bay! I think he would make a EXCELLENT show gelding! He deffinately has "eye appeal"! I would say he's very balanced and very nice as gelding material! Very decent over all!!

 

[minimama]

I thin khe is a very handsome boy. My two quick critiques would be that he is rather hock-ey in the hind legs and his ears are a bit too large for my taste in a show horse. But he has a nice neck and I do like his head.

I think if you can teach him to stand so he is square you could show him halter.

 

[maestoso]

I like him too. I like his front end, head and neck. I too think there is something going on in the back. I wouldn't say sickle hocked right off because that is hard to see if the horse isn't standing square from a side shot, and your pics don't offer that. He could be sickle hocked, but I was thinking it looks more cowhocked, which as someone before said, many younger horses go through a "cowhocked looking" phase.

 

[wcr]

The first thing I noticed was his rear legs. Yes, he is a little cowhocked but babies frequently go through this stage at his age. Teaching him to stand for halter will help to make him look straighter. The old halter trick is to set them up and pull out the leg giving them a straight look.

On the other hand, that very thing we are pointing out is probably what gives him the movement that you like. Performance horses usually have a little "cowhocked" look about them that makes them balance and move nicer.

Unless you bought him to go to the world in halter, which he wouldn't get you there, I think you got exactly what you wanted. He is very cute, yes you can show him halter, and you probably got the driving horse you wanted. Who cares about our opinion as long as he is what you want.

 

[MiLo Minis]

First and foremost I am going to say that none of these photos, aside from the shot from behind, are great for judging conformation as none of them are taken directly from the side with him standing square and his neck straight out. I am also going to disagree with several other posters and say he is neither cowhocked nor sickle hocked. He is standing base narrow on the back end and, if that is the way he normally stands, that is a fault but he is young and, with some muscling and growth between his back legs, is one he will most likely grow out of. Lines drawn from his buttocks straight down through his hocks and fetlocks are straight indicating no sign of cowhock but they will intersect below his body which means he is base narrow. Looking at his hocks from the side there is no excessive angulation or sickle hock, if anything they are fairly open. He is standing a bit under himself in the side shot that shows his back legs fairly well but I don't think that is the way he normally stands as he appears to be slightly turning as his chest is towards the camera. When a horse turns tightly like that he naturally rocks back on his haunches.

He appears fairly well balanced, with decent angles and quite pleasant overall but it is, like I said, difficult to judge well with these photos. Looks very sweet though and I love a bay!

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

A huge thank you to everyone for taking the time to critique Cash. As Kathi and Lori stated, I didn't take the photos with him standing square, as I normally will do when I show. It was very cold :Cold-Scared that day, and we both were feeling a little frisky!! I can see what you are pointing out about his back legs from the photos. Believe me, we will be working on that!!!!!

I still welcome anymore opinions, good or bad. I am learning alot from this. I have never asked anyone to pick apart one of my horses. It is educational for me to see what others think. Thank you again

Kelly

 

[Danielle_E.]

First and foremost I am going to say that none of these photos, aside from the shot from behind, are great for judging conformation as none of them are taken directly from the side with him standing square and his neck straight out. I am also going to disagree with several other posters and say he is neither cowhocked nor sickle hocked. He is standing base narrow on the back end and, if that is the way he normally stands, that is a fault but he is young and, with some muscling and growth between his back legs, is one he will most likely grow out of. Lines drawn from his buttocks straight down through his hocks and fetlocks are straight indicating no sign of cowhock but they will intersect below his body which means he is base narrow. Looking at his hocks from the side there is no excessive angulation or sickle hock, if anything they are fairly open. He is standing a bit under himself in the side shot that shows his back legs fairly well but I don't think that is the way he normally stands as he appears to be slightly turning as his chest is towards the camera. When a horse turns tightly like that he naturally rocks back on his haunches.

He appears fairly well balanced, with decent angles and quite pleasant overall but it is, like I said, difficult to judge well with these photos. Looks very sweet though and I love a bay!

I am also going to disagree with most of the posters here and agree this is a nice boy and even with the "fuzzies" its apparent that he will be a looker. I believe you are going to be VERY pleased when you clip that boy in the spring

. The last photo you posted I absolutely love. He was a very sweet and beautiful face, his boy is well proportioned and I see absolutely NOTHING glaring major wrong with this boy. Take him out and show him halter and train him to drive. I believe you are going to do quite well and will have loads of fun. Keep us posted. Would LOVE to see the pics of him clipped later on.