Opinions on breed/color

At the beginning of March we rescued a 3 1/2 year old gelding. I am just curious as to what people think his breed may be and what his color is considered. The coggins paperwork had him listed as a saddlebred, but I see Arabian as he has the smaller head and does flagpole his tail when running. I am horrible when it comes to recognizing breeds though. My farrier seemed to think he may be a mccurdy plantation horse, but he is not gaited from what I have been able to see, but we just started working with him. He has been abused, so we are slowly working him to trust us and doing ground/round pen work with him. I have no idea what his color would be considered, my best guess would be gray, but I could be entirely wrong. Any opinions are greatly desired.

Funny you say he isnt gaited-- the very first picture, he does look gaited to me, lol.

He's got that saddlebred/gaited head-- not every gaited horse has a long head. :) our TWH mare has a smaller head, but its proportional to her body-- like your horse.

I would love to see a video of him walking then "trotting"

I don't see any Arab in there, and if there is, it's only a little bit. I was going to say he looks gaited to me too in that first picture, MFT or TWH. BUT, not all saddlebreds are gaited either, so I would be inclined to stick with what the paperwork said, saddlebred seems like it could be likely.

As for his color, grey.

To me, he looks gray, & that first picture shows that there may be some kind of gait, but it may take awhile to see it. So nice to see he isn't skinny.

I will try and get my son to take a video when either my husband or I are working with him to see if you think he is gaited or not. It is so hard for me to tell cause at times I think I see a gait then at other times I don't. It has been to long since I have been around a gaited horse. @cacowgirl, yes, I am glad he isn't skinny either, but in a way, I would rather he be skinny then beat because he has so many scar on his neck and face from ropes and whips. The vet says it looks like he was green broke by what she calls a Push Pull Cowboy. Push em and pull em till they do what you want..

Saddlebreds are not gaited. They have the natural ability to learn, but a truly natural gaited saddlebred is rare. Essentially, if they won't be competitive as a five gaited horse, they are usually not taught.

As for the OPs horse. That is not a full saddlebred, definitely. He doesn't even look part saddlebred to me. I am not sure what I would peg him as right now, but ASB would never have crossed my mind. Maybe a TB/ walker cross?
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Maybe he is a McCurdy Plantation Horse like her farrier suggested. He doesn't look Saddlebred, Arabian, or TWH... But he looks gaited...

Looks kinda Standardbredish to me. :/