Critique My Horse

[ponyluva97]

Hi,

I have purchased this horse about a year ago and have entered him in 3 shows, he has done resonably well. He is a 2 year old Miniature horse palomino gelding.

Could you please tell me what i need to improve on for the next show? Please give me your honest opinions

Thanks in advance

i was also wondering if anyone could give me any tips on how to get his face more defined, i tried clipping his muzzle with a 50 but it looked horrible

Thanks again

Pics of him at last show: http://tinypic.com/v...pic=2ch4bpc&s=6

http://tinypic.com/v...pic=28gqs88&s=6

http://tinypic.com/v...pic=244big1&s=6

 

[Jill]

Trying to help by putting your pictures on this thread:

 

[Jill]

What I like about him are his color, length of neck, and his fairly clean (made) legs.

What I see as faults or a hindrance in halter classes are that his neck ties in low (which does not allow him to "arch" it for show), he's butt high, and doesn't have a very "smoothly" put together body.

 

[Taylor Richelle]

I agree with Jill, a bit butt high and he ties in low on the neck. Though he is two he still has a bit of maturing to do still. I do love his color!

 

[Mima Acres]

Hi. I'm not an expert on conformation but but i am trying to learn. I did notice that both pictures where he looks butt high were at an considerable angle giving the illusion that he is more butt high?...so I straightened it out to see what difference it would make.

 

[J Gracey]

I agree with getting his neck up higher to get a better head set. What I have done to help get a better top line, is after I have the horse set up, I run my hand under their belly to get them to tuck, then run my hand down their back and press down slightly above the hips to get them to flatten out.

 

[ruffian]

I think I'd try a different halter on him. IMO he has a little bit of a long face, and a wider noseband may set it off better. Something wider with maroon or dark green rather than the metallic. One other thing to try is to get farther away from him, rather than having your hand right at his nose. Try to work on getting to the end of the lead, and work on getting his head higher rather than so far out. I think it would make a nicer frame for him. Look at where his head is when you are leading him out versus where it is when you are setting him up and you can see how much better that looks. Not so stretched out. He is a pretty boy!

 

[susanne]

I agree that he is a pretty boy. He presents a much nicer image when he is moving than when set-up, so I would work on capturing that impression. He has a more distinct chest than a lot of minis, but his shoulder is a bit steep. He would benefit greatly if you were to have him rock back slightly, moving his forelegs forward just a bit, rather than leaning forward, which is exaggerating his shoulder. He has a fairly deep butt, which is good to see. He does look a little butt-high, but again it's not evident in the moving photo. He appears to be hollowing his back out when set-up, which exaggerates both the butt and the shoulder angle, and makes him look a bit ewe-necked. In addition, he's flattening his poll and reaching up with his head. Work on getting him to stretch his topline from poll to tail and dropping his head just a bit. Many horses develop over-muscling on the underside of their necks, which is not an attractive look. I found with my gelding that longeing him in sliding side reins (not fixed) encouraged him to carry himself properly and develop the topline. Nothing changes conformation, but proper muscling can make a big difference.

 

[mshasta88]

I agree with Jill as well. I'm don't think it matters but I would preffer a shorter face on him and maybe smaller ears but his ears arn't forward in the picture so that could make the shape of his face look totally different.

 

[ponyluva97]

thanks for the tips! i was thinking of getting him a new halter, here is a picture of one i would like to get, do you think it would suit him? (its the one on the very end)

http://tinypic.com/r/j94jl2/6

 

[Wings]

I'm guessing that's him as a bub in your avatar? I'm the new owner of his mum so I recognised her

You've already got a lot of good advice on standing him better. As for clipping you could 50 his muzzle and above his eye but it can be an extreme look on the light coloured bodies so I guess it depends on your own tastes and how often it gets done in your area.

Halter wise I would look more at the Shiloh or Shepard halters, something with a more solid nose as even the one your currently looking at has a lot of pale colouring in it.

He's very much at his awkward age but there are some good fitting tips further up in the thread.

There's a bit of performance breeding behind him, are you going to have him out in the performance ring as well?

 

[ponyluva97]

yes that is him as a baby in my avatar!

Lucky you to own his mum! i really liked her when i went to see casper (the baby). I tried clipping his muzzle with a 50 but it looked odd but i don't know if thats because i didn't do his eyes aswell. I haven't shown him for a while because i have only just been able to buy a float but his last show was the mhaa states. He's next show is at the end of august i think

I have done youth showmanship with him at our first show and he did really well and got reserve champion so i am just training him some extra things so he can go in hunter and trail and the next show.

 

[Wings]

I believe her other bubs are out doing well in the performance ring so that's worth a shot

He also has some good harness horses behind him.

I wouldn't bother with the colour classes, even when my palomino was in full gold coat he could never beat the silvers, neither could my bucky filly and she would get compliments from the judges for being 'a perfect natural buckskin' as they pinned her below the silvers! I've seen your boys baby pics so he certainly has a VERY gold natural coat, clipping palominos is a pain especially near the end of the show season.

With Casper's longer face you can try leaving a fuller/fluffier forelock on him and not heavily greasing it like some showies do. It can give the illusion of a more shaped face.

What are you clipping the rest of his face and body in? The 50 looks really odd if it isn't blended into a 30.

 

[ponyluva97]

thanks for those tips, ill give them a go when i show him next. With the clipping, that may be the problem, i body clip him in a 10 and then his muzzle in a 50 or a 40. It is a pain clippin palominos, casper was getting really golden just before his last show but he looked hairy so i had to clip him

 

[ponyluva97]

just found this halter, do you think it would be too bright on him? http://tinypic.com/r/bhdbau/6

 

[JMS Miniatures]

What I would do is clip his head with a 30, use a 50 on his nose and take it up all the way to the nose band and above his eyes, and blend with a 40. Then I would use a highlighter gel and it should really pop. I think it would help his head.

 

[Wings]

Agree with JMS on the clipping.

The joy of a palomino is they can carry any colour

at least IMHO! That sort of halter would work although I'd remove the throatlatch as he doesn't have the right head for one. Conchos may or may not work for him but you can remove and then add them depending on how you feel about it.

 

[ponyluva97]

thanks for that, with the clipping, do is still clip his body in a 10, then his whole head including ears in a 30 and then just his muzzle up to the halter line and above his eye in a 50, and how do i blend it with a 40? sorry to be a pain, i have never done it before! also if i clipped his head in a 30, will it look odd with his body clipped in a 10?

thanks again!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

You may consider doing a 15 on his body.

Since he's solid this is what I would do with him I would clip him with a 30 head and body, blend with 40 and do the outside of his ears with a 40 and do his muzzle and above his eyes and inside his ears and bridle path with a 50 and sometimes I do this if I remember but for sure at a big show clip around his hoof with a 40 or 50 to get the stranded hairs.

For pintos body clip with a 15 if they have a lot of white on their face then clip their head with a 15 and do everything else with a 30. For my guy at the left I body clip him with a 15, clip his head with a 30 and everything else with a 40.

I have 10 blades but just don't use them very much.

 

[Hayley~Diaz]

Everyone here has basically covered my exact opinions. To give him a slight illusion of a more dished profile, gel his forelock down the centre of his face, rather than pulling back to the side. Also use more black make up around the eyes to brighten up his face and make his eyes look bigger and more expressive.

Even though he is bum high, I would still not stretch him out. He looks overall nicer in the last photo than he does in the first photo. By stretching him out, he looks slightly more immature looking as well. This is remember, my opinion