Conformation - Appaloosa

I've never really thought of a horses conformation before!
After looking on here I'm really interested in what people opinions would be on mine, he is 6 years old, and an appaloosa (14hh), I only really started really working him properly last year. I'm currently schooling him and trying to get rid of his underneck buldge and get the right muscles built as we got into a habit of giraffe neck :( but we're working nicely now :)

April 2012


May 2012


Sept 2012

Also if anyone has any ideas what discipline they think he's be 'good' at, as I've seen people comment what they thought via conformation :)

He is very cute. His build is slightly downhill, but he is nicely balanced overall. He looks pretty sturdy with a decent length of back and good angle to his pasterns. I like his hind end a lot. His biggest fault that I see is he is slightly back at the knee. I would not suggest doing much jumping with him or things that put a lot of impact on his front legs. He could use a bit more muscle throughout.

I bet he would be a great competitive trail horse. I'll take him off your hands for ya!

Thanks for your comment,
Do you mean downhill as in his bum height or they way his back slopes? (he is stood on a slope forgot to mention this! Unfortunately I can't find an image where he is stood straight and flat)

And would the impact on the legs be due to the downhillness or slightly back at the knee?

And yes I agree he needs more muscle, hopefully this summer I can get him into better shape, especially now we are working better than last year

Sorry for all the questions! But it's something i've never really looked into before :)

I wish I could do western with him! I rode western on my other horse but the saddle I have doesn't fit him (too wide and too big) and funds can't afford another one at the minute plus I'm 5ft 6 and although i'm not too heavy for him I have really lanky legs I can imagine with western my legs would be dangling down too much hehe!

You should be able to do just about anything with him that his height permits. He is a well put together little guy, pretty typical conformation of a versatile Appy, very slightly sickle hocked, and honestly he doesn't look a bit downhill to me - his croup lines up almost perfectly with his withers. He has good bone and hooves and a nice thick neck for trail work, and a good muscle composition, although he needs to do a few pushups to build up his power if you want to do any performance work with him. And don't be afraid to do a little endurance work on him if you are so inclined - if he were conditioned well he might surprise you...

FYI, see the conformation tutorial for understanding how to see "donwhill" build in a horse. :)

I agree that he is a smidge downhill. He's a tiny bit upright in the shoulder to my eye, but overall he is really well-balanced and I adore him! That little star on his face is sweet.

Thanks for your comments guys! I'll take a look at the tutorial didn't see it before!

I'm hoping this year with more work I can get him fit and balanced and get his neck/topline back in good shape! (he was poorly 2 months last year and lost muscle) then start deciding what I want to do with him. I'd like to do western again but I live in England and its hard to get tack fitted and there's not many western shows here!

I think his back is just a bit long. I don't see downhill either. He's very attractive and I love his face!

You like trail? If you do and like to get out for hours at a time, I'd definitely be looking at him for endurance trail. Not sure if you have that in England.