Some of my horses, what do you think?

[Hiddenview]

Here's pics of some of my horses, what do the experts think? I barrel race and trail ride. Hopefully I'll get back into halter a little bit too. Hope the pics come through right....

Derby is a 5 yo Quarter mare:


Cate is an 11 yo Quarter mare, she's unbroke that I know of, was terrified of the fly spray:


Taffy is a 2 yo Quarter filly:


Paris is a yearling Quarter filly, she never seems to stand right for pics:


Raider is a yearling Quarter colt, his head is a lot nice than it looks, the halter is too big for him but he doesn't fit into a weanling size anymore:


All of these pics and more of the horses, including front and rear shots, can be seen on my website:
http://hiddenviewranch.freeservers.com

[lisa]

Hi I think you need to re think your feeding program Your horses show alot of potential but too much belly not enough flesh. 5 day panacure the yearlings and change the feed/ exercise program. I am a halter person I am not advocating you fit them for halter but you asked an opinion
Lisa
big star appaloosas

[Hiddenview]

Everyone is on a rotational de-worming program. I use "Equimax" at least once a year in the rotation. Sorry, I don't believe in that "five day panacur" thing. Tried it once and didn't notice any difference in the horse that I had done it to versus the ones I didn't.

Right now the five that are pictured above are on 20 acres of knee high grass. They're also not doing anything but being horses. I don't grain, for what they're doing exercise wise they get way too hot. They're each fed roughly 20 pounds of alfalfa mix hay in the winter. The guy I get it from sells it as alfalfa/grass mix. Most of the bales are pretty much straight alfalfa, once in a while there's a bale that's just grass. I haven't found any weeds or other things in anything I've fed. They eat everything.

I'm not one to push ANY of my horses for any reason. The yearlings weigh 600+ pounds each, the two year old weighs closer to 900 pounds. Considering their height I say that's pretty close to "normal". I only show small local saddle club shows, even IF I do get back into showing at halter, they'll be shown "normal". I won't put them through that kind of stress by "fitting" them just for the sake of a ribbon.

[lisa]

hey,
I was giving my opinion you asked for suggestions. To imply that horses are stressed or mistreated by fitting on them is a myth. exercise and balanced nutrition is good for anyone horse or human. Excess or extreme is wrong for any beast. I just took a 2 year old out of a pasture and it took alot of worming to get rid of the pot belly. he was so bad the worms came out in sores on his neck. None of my horses are abnormal> We dont fit them just for ribbons.

[Hiddenview]

I know you were giving your opinion, I was just telling you what the horses are on right now as far as feed, de-worming, etc. They're coming due again for de-worming and since the yearlings and two year old missed the Equimax last year (didn't have them yet) I'm going to give them that. It's also possible that they're still adjusting to the change of going from hay to pasture. I keep them in a small pasture during the winter by the house so they do a lot of lounging around. Now they're out moving all the time, several times a day they all tear around the pasture like they've never run before. I have pics of them from before I turned them out and they don't look thin.

To me "fitting" means pumping tons of grain with little or no forage into a horse to make them huge for halter classes. Right now I don't have a round pen of any kind so there really isn't a feasible way for me to exerise the horses, which is why I let them do it on their own at pasture right now.

I also tend to get a little defensive if it sounds like someone is coming down on me about my horses. A couple years ago I bought a stud colt. He was sold to me as being stud quality. To make a long story short, he wasn't stud quality, the "breeder" who sold him to me accused me of making him unsuitable for a stud (even though she told everyone else that she knew he hadn't been stud quality from the beginning). I ended up losing hundreds of dollars in the deal. She refused to honor her contract that she had written up and signed with me, I ended up with a several hundred dollar vet bill for the vet to examine him and tell her there was nothing wrong with the horse, etc. The horse is now owned by some of my friends, this "breeder" sold him to them after she bought him back from me. He's still a stud, friends can't decide if they want to geld him or not. The "breeder" continues to bad mouth me to anyone who will listen, claiming that I don't know how to take care of horses and that she had called the sheriff's department on me for neglect but when they arrived for her to sign the paperwork she refused to sign (supposedly). We've fostered dogs through the Humane Society so they've been to our farm, along with deputies (not animal but neighbor related) and they've all said my animals are fine.

Whew, sorry I got so long winded.

[surprisewind]

Do you use Quest dewormer? If so, you're doing the same thing as the "five day panacur thing." Different chemicals, same idea - to rid the horse of the encysted thrid-stage stongyles. The moxidectin (quest) stores in fatty tissues, which allows it to remain in the system long enough to take care of the encysted ickies. The Panacur (fenbendazole) is given for five days so it remains in the system long enough to do the same.
You may not notice a difference, but there is one...by using the above methods you remove one more stage from the horse's parasite load. And, when used in a proper rotation and with good pasture management, you can decrease the amount of chemicals you pump into your horse over the course of the year.
JMO, based on years of rescue/rehab work and experts in the family.
Also, Equimax is an ivermectin/praziquantel mix, and shows no efficacy in the treatment of above mentioned encysted strongyles.

[surprisewind]

Incidentally, the fatty-tissue storage of the moxidectin is why one doesn't use it in emaciated horses or those under 6-12 months of age (that one is highly debatable and I don't feel like debating it).

Maybe we can get back to conformation critique now

IMO, at first glance and without the other discussions I would tend to agree with Lisa. I'm NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD FIT FOR HALTER - they aren't "halter type" so that would be silly.

[lucky Clover Farm]

my guys are on pasture too-but if they've got a foal at side-or growing-they get grain too-not huge amounts but enough to help them with a little boost. If I knew how to load up images I'd post my yearling QH filly-far from halter but also far from ribby
Can see the potential in the cremello(I think is his colour)-nice hip.
Perhaps once you start working with them and they lose their pasture shape it'll be easier to judge.[/img]
_________________
another day perhaps
View my Online Stable
www.equinenow.com/onlinestable/lucky_CLover_Farm

[JR]

Well, you're probably not going like what I have to say. I didn't even go into too much detail reading the other posts, but those horses are underweight. The younger ones especially. Just because they're knee deep in grass does not mean that the grass has the right nutrients for growing horses, nor will the grass always carry the minerals they need. Also, horses don't eat the knee deep grass, they eat the shorter stuff growing underneath. If you let the other stuff grow up too high, it will kill the short grass your horses need to eat. If you horses are in knee deep grass, your pasture needs cut.

Conformation ..

Derby : Looks like she's standing on a hill causing her shoulder to look straighter than it is and her hocks to be camped out a bit in the back. Neck ties in decent, solid bone, ok pasterns.

Cate : Sickle hocked and looks slightly calf kneed. Looks cow hocked in the back and possibly toeing in up front. Neck ties in nicely and is of good length.

Taffy : nice head and neck, good hip / shoulder angles. Can't tell about the back legs because of how she's standing, looks to toe out in the front and possibly tied in weak at the knee

Paris : too straight in the hip and shoulder. Working on developing a ewe neck. very pretty head.

Raider : Neck is entirely too short and ties in terribly. (could be the angle) He's got a gorgeous hip, but he's a tad post legged behind. Straight shoulder, decent bone and his head does look bad in that shot.


went back and read some about the hay you're giving them. I'll give you my opinion of alfalfa and I know it's not one everyone shares. Alfalfa is cow hay, why ? because it aides in the production of milk. It's not the best thing for non-lactaiting horses. Seriously though, I really think your problem is that your pasture needs mowed if it's literally knee deep.

Good luck with them
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JR

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It's never the horse, it's the rider.
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[TX-WI]

I am going to have to stand with everyone else on this one. Even about the pasture. Tall grass (depending on the variety it is) is aged grass and aged grass will lose its nutritional value especially once it seeds outs. What type of grass is out in your pasture? Might consider sprigging or seeding with a varitey that is better for horses making sure you avoid any fescue.
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gdh

I've started an exercise program.
I do 20 sit-ups each morning.
That may not sound like a lot, but you can only hit that snooze button so many times

[Hiddenview]

I'm not quite sure how my question asking about my horses' conformation led to where it did but it did. I realize that pics are HARD to go by and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but how is a 600+ pound yearling UNDERWEIGHT??? Especially since they're not really all that tall (only about 12.2 hands)? As I stated earlier, they're on a rotational deworming program (and yes, I read what is in each one and rotate the various classes). 90% of the hay that is grown in my area is alfalfa due to the high number of cattle plus that's what horse people in my area WANT so I'm kind of stuck with whatever is being raised. I've struggled over the last few years to find someone to supply me with hay every year that's decent and in sufficient quantity and have finally found someone who not only has the QUANTITY I need every year but is also willing to store it for me and let me get it as I need it (I currently have no place to store large amounts of hay at once). As far as "minerals and vitamins" I supply free choice mineral blocks designed for HORSES on pasture (not the trace mineral blocks). My vet was just out two weeks ago to geld my husband's horse and he saw ALL the horses in person/up close and he said that they looked really good. Also, as for mowing my pasture, virtually impossible, we only have a small push mower to mow around the house, our big rider hasn't run in years and we don't know as it's worth shelling out hundreds of dollars to find out why that we could be putting elsewhere. As I said earlier, everyone is entitled to their own opinion......

I noticed that no one has said anything about my other two year old fillies that I posted here. Even though this will probably come back to haunt me, isn't there anything worth saying about them - good or bad?

[lotsOspots]

You clearly have no intention of listening to anything they have said so I will throw my two cents in the ring. You asked for an opinion, you got an opinion. I promise you a show-ring judge or a buyer would be a lot more harsh. At least they offered advice.
As for serious conformational critique: "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Did you ever stop to think MAYBE just MAYBE no one had anything postive to say? They look like backyard horses, and may be passable as VERY inexpensive 4-H projects.
I would also seriously advise gelding that colt no matter what color he is. Conformational flaws and unsoundness do NOT need to be passed on in a pretty package.
It is clear from your website that you are new at this so TAKE the advice offered by those who have been around longer than you have and stop being so goshdarn pompous.

[JR]

I consider a horse, regardless of age, to be underweight when you can count ribs.

Stands to reason that if everyone is of the same general consensus... your ponies are underweight, that you may want to check into the problem. If you're unwilling or unable to fix the pasture situation, you'll have to suppliment them with more / better hay and / or a balanced grain.
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JR

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It's never the horse, it's the rider.
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[barrelracingurl]

Hi, I barrel race all around Georgia. I am even going to state and this is my first year! Anyway, I think everyone should feed their horses Grain, it's bad for them if they don't because if you just feed them hay and no grain they could colic. My horses get fed those big coffee can Maxwell house thingys twice daily, we mix sweet feed with pellets so they don't get too much molasses so they wont be hyper. Anyway, they don't get any hotter than they should. About every week we go to the arena and canter around the arena once and walk around it twice or until they're cooled down. We barely run the pattern, unless we're at a show. We walk, trot, lope, and canter through. Anyway, if your horses are in shape good enough, they wont get too hot if you feed them grain...
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Silly cowboys, trucks are for girls!!

[barrelracingurl]

My stud is 5yo and you can see SOME of his ribs, but not that bad. It's not from him being underweight, it's from him being so fit. Racehorses ribs are visible. My stud is pretty much all muscle, and I think that's a good thing.
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Silly cowboys, trucks are for girls!!