Critique Lady? :)

This is the horse I'm currently fostering. She's a 10 year old Arabian mare. She's about 13hh, maybe a smidge taller.

She's still working her way back from a lifetime full of starving winters and "ok" summers while living in someone's tiny suburban yard so muscularly she's not at her best yet.
I'm focusing on putting muscle on her right now so she's being worked daily but it's slow going since I don't want her to overdo it.

Also, I'm not sure what's going on with her big ol' belly so maybe ignore that, if possible. I doubt she's pregnant, the rescue didn't think she could be, but she'll be getting checked asap if she hasn't already been checked.


Anyway, structurally, what do you think of her for trail riding? Does she seem like she'll stay sound "forever"...or not?
Structurally, does she appear like she could carry at 5ft8inch 130lb person happily (I know I'd be too tall for her, leg-wise, but weight wise)?

And I understand if it's too hard to critique her in her current condition. I'll just post back in a month when she's bulked up more, if necessary. :)




I know she has "less than" rear end conformation but will it hold her back?

Honestly her back end, though not ideal- is very typey for her breed, and most arabians tend to stay sound very easily- so I wouldnt count it off just quite yet.

What I see is a steep croup, good back legs (maybe a bit camped under though? Hard to tell with just one shot), fair to poor LS joint placement (a bit too far back), long but straight back and a fair shoulder. Not quite perfect but not terrible either. I'm hesitant to say anything else though without her being 100% and without different angles though. She's sure a cutie though and I don't see why you couldn't ride her as long as you condition her slowly and give her another few months to gain her health back.

Goodness that's a big belly though! O_o I sure hope for all of your sakes that she isn't pregnant.

I don't see a long back at all. What I see going on is that she has an upright shoulder along with (you'll really see it when the belly is gone) a weak loin. I know, because Thelma has the same thing.

I also see that her neck is set pretty low and her pasterns are a bit short, though they do match her angles pretty well. I wouldn't worry about her back end too much besides maybe her butt not being as big of a motor as would be ideal.

All in all, she's a cute little mare with good, servicable conformation that shouldn't give you any undue issue.

Although more pictures are always helpful and may shed light on some things that a single photo enhances or misses. :)

All I have to say right now is that in my experience around broodies.....THAT is a preggo belly. I would highly suggest you get her checked by a vet. I have not seen a wormy bell (she doesn't look wormy) or a fat belly that drops low like that. She looks like she is a good length in pregnancy.

Yeah I haven't seen a good Lady picture from the side, that definitely looks like a preggo belly O.O

She really does look pregnant. Did that occur to you , or are we pointing out the obvious? Not meaning to be rude at all.

She is cute, but to be honest, she doesn't have half the conformation that Lacey does. Lacey is very well conformed. Lady, well, not so much.
Her neck is set on low and her croup is short and rather flat with not such a strong hip. But, her front legs are neat, well angled and has good pasterns and short canons in front. So, might be more durable than she looks now, due to be underweight.

Let us know if she checks out preggers.

Thanks!

Most of those things are things I was pretty sure about, nice to have them confirmed!

And hahaha about her having a weak loin, that's Lacey's worst fault as well.
This picture is slightly deceiving in that she does toe out a bit in back (not sure if it's confo or bad trimming at this point) so she does have pretty good hocks. They're more angular than Lacey's are, for sure (Lacey is rather straight behind - not a lot of hock anything on her).
I do notice that she has a very very short stride. She can trot/canter fast but not effectively. I assume that's probably because of her straight shoulder and what she's lacking in the patootie area?


Don't worry Tiny, I don't think that's rude at all. To be honest, I'm a little frustrated that the rescue didn't for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, get that checked before bringing her here. It seems reasonable to perform preg checks on all mare intakes - even just bloodwork, just to make sure. But yeah, no worries. :)
In any case, the rescue still hasn't contacted me back after I asked them about her belly so I'm going to call them tomorrow.
I did ask them about it before I agreed to take her -back when Lady was much thinner and the belly really looked like worms- and from what I remember them saying, reportedly she wasn't exposed to any stallions - per the previous owner. However, I do not believe they actually got her preg checked because I guess the previous owner seemed reputable, aside from starving her horses???
I don't know but she will definitely be getting checked if there's any doubt because that belly.....and I certainly do not have the resources to bring up a baby well. I could do it and everybody would be ok but it wouldn't be the best for anyone.

She did have a baby about a year ago (rescued with her) by a POA stud on the property but not accessible to her...so that is a possibility. And I would think her belly would be much smaller now if that was just leftover "baby weight"?
On the plus side, making the case for her not being preggo, her belly is symmetrical and not lopsided at all - I've heard that often babies will make the tummy lopsided depending on how they're sitting...

Keep us updated...

Subbing as I think this is going to turn interesting. She's very cute!!

Well, I finally got in contact with the rescue this morning and she was never preg checked....so Lil Miss 'gets' to be "violated" and we get to find out.

The plot thickens. Duhduhduuuuuhhhhh.