I loved pintos, too, which is why when I found a stallion that was homozygous for tobiano - I bought him. Really didn't want a stallion, had only planned on mares and breeding out, but didn't work that way. Now that I'm doing this by myself - I am slowing down as I've found out that an almost full time job with a 2 hour drive doesn't work well with having lots of ponies and caring for them by yourself.... sigh.
I LOVED it when my children (and their friends) were involved! That made picture taking so much easier. Here's a better conformation shot of a pony and incidentally she is also a full sister to the ones above. Sadly, I lost contact with the girl who purchased her and have not been able to locate her... The young lady had plans of training her to ride and having her jump as two of the full sisters do. This filly is 4 1/2 months old in this photo.
This is actually how a hunter pony is presented - with legs offset. Shows pinto markings very well, too. Also, even though offset, two legs are perpendicular on the side viewing, so you can still see the angles. An older pony would be asked to extend the head/neck slightly out/lower. I was happy she stood! Our daughter is holding her and I'm taking pics. This was a 35mm camera using film long before I had my first digital camera. Took 4 rolls of film this day if I remember right - only a handful of decent pics like above. LOVE, LOVE, love digital cameras!
This is a yearling arab/shetland mare.
Hint - this picture is slightly "off". I'm too far to the left. For conformation pics - remember to "center yourself" on the barrel of your horse. With your smaller minis, you want to sit on a bucket or on the ground (watch for ants!) and centered on the barrel of the horse. Here's a pic of a 2011 filly - I'm kneeling on the ground to hold her and my girlfriend is also kneeling... Again the photo is slightly "off" - but we didn't care. Even with a digital camera - we took almost 200 photos of a total of 4 ponies this day!! I LIKE this photo,
, so I use it... You can see her conformation fairly well - she did go on to be shown in 2012 and 2013 - doing very well... You've probably seen the posts I did in the past about her. The 2nd photo is of her as a long yearling at the trainers, but I'd stopped in and she was just pulled out of the stall and set up.
And here she is while being shown, but before going in the ring. If you look close - you can tell she is standing wide behind - which can be a fault, and under herself slightly in front. Based on her other photos, though, you already know that she doesn't stand that way normally. But remember if we see only one photo - this might not be the best one to use. Again, I like this one... Also, you don't know if she's high in the "butt" because she's a baby (2 yrs old) or if she's truly "butt high" (rump higher than withers used to be considered a major conformation fault - doesn't seem to be faulted as much with Shetlands/minis BUT truly butt high can't get under themselves and drive forward with their "motor"), or if it's the way she's partially stretched. If I remember right, both squaring her up or stretching her slightly more would drop her "butt". She was slightly high though - a growth spurt. She evened out later at home and then got butt high again... She's even right now as a 3 1/2 yr old.
Just some hints to get some pics. Trust me, i know how frustrating it can be to get shots. I go thru periods where I can't seem to get any good shots of any of our ponies. While I have a digital camera now - it still takes a moment from focusing camera to getting your shot. There are days when I miss the ears up, proper stance before the head is shaken, the tail is switched or the foot is stomped or they just plain get tired of standing and rear, spook, buck or kick!! There's a reason why pros take LOTS of pics, LOL... I never really understood that until I really started taking pics and getting very particular about the ones I used.
Incidentally, our 9 yr old daughter usually got the best pics when we were using a film camera. It has varied with me.
Edit - If you do the "conformation square" - only one of these ponies is standing mostly square. The other pics would be difficult to drop a "plum line" from point of shoulder or hip and centered thru the hoof as it would be to see if they are correct. I just tried it with that first pic of the little filly and .... not even close. Her left front is back and so is that left rear. Hmmm... not sure I have any TRUE squared up pics now.
:rofl
. OH and the stock horses I used to soooo love (and still do) - they are purposely set up, for some reason, under them selves. Looks terrible - at least to me!! I don't know when that started, but I was in shock when I saw the pictures from a major show, with lots of horses in the ring and they were all set that way. It's now trickled down to open shows and the first two shows our club held this year every QH type horse was set up like that. Two youth exhibitors (over 12) had no idea why their horses were set that way - only that that is "how it's done"... I even asked an adult who does well at both our open shows and at QH/Palomino shows + is a horse vet and she couldn't tell me why or when it started. She doesn't set hers up that way - and she says that sometimes it really counts against her in the ring (????). I really like her one horse (a true all around - jumps and works cattle - does both jobs well both in the ring and while actually "working"!).
