My weanling colt now gelding. He was six months old in these. He has about as "extreme" of a head as I would like to see. It curves in below the eyes and has a nice space between the eyes, and the forehead did slightly bulge when he was small, but is growing more flat like his sire's (in Crabby' Chicken's post) and his nostrils are not placed too high.
Here it is when he was just a few days old. Luckily, it is maturing very pleasantly, much like his dam's:
(you can sort of see the shape of her head, she is a yearling in this photo)
MiniHoofBeats, I hope you don't take any offense, but that little appaloosa mare's (the second photo) head is not shaped like an Arabian, and it gives me reason to wonder if she has an underbite...that type of head is a sign of dwarfism. The dish is part of a malformation, and combined with the large dome and high-placed nostrils is worrisome.
I know you don't think I'm right, but if you look at her head shape, it is "U" shaped (when viewed from the side and three-quarters view), and has a bend upward. It makes her look like she's sticking her chin out, and usually these types have underbites. If not, I am wrong, but overall, the head says dwarf, not dish as in the type that would be associated with an Arabian. Then again, I'm not a person to say that my horses look at all like Arabians, I just try to strive for horse-like proportion and pleasant features.
Also, as Lisa pointed out, the red pinto posted earlier has a very blocky dome that is much like mare that had here that produced a dwarf filly (the filly was very minimal, but to me, it is what it is, like a little bit pregnant, a minimal dwarf is still a dwarf).
It is not ONLY the head that plays in, but a few of these horses shown, the head shape alone would take them OUT of the breeding shed. i don't know about the rest of you, but the risk is way too great to risk the birth of a dwarf and the life of my mare.
I know I got very lucky in a few of my first breedings, I would just like to say that we all don't get so lucky and I know noone really wants a dwarf born. If you look at photos of dwarfs and their parents (when people are honest), you will see the signs and realize what is played with when we excuse deformities as other features.
I hope this isn't too off topic or too harsh, I don't mean it to be. Only trying to save some heartache. I know you all love your mares as I did mine, I never would have bred her, I found her a pet only home. I would and will do the same again.
We can sometimes learn from each others' mistakes. I have nothing to gain by saying these things, only hope to head off problems. If that appaloosa mare's bite is on, and her other proportions are good, I would just chalk it up to her having a very strange looking head, but guessing there may be other things going on there. I do believe she is a dwarf.
I mean no disrespect nor harm in saying so, I would just be VERY CAREFUL with you decision to breed her. I know that you will find long-term breeders to encourage you, but I would caution others to have a look at their dwarf production record, too, as in some say they are merely a fact of breeding. I fully believe that most of the dwarfs could have been avoided if people were more discriminating in their breedings. I may be wrong, but I can see it in most of the parents when I can see them.
Liz
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