Last night I was informed of a group of standardbred mares going to be processed through a slaughterhouse and couldn't get it off my mind. I knew they had until early tomorrow morning only, and didn't even have time to really go out and look at them.
But I went out and had a look, and a very friendly mare would not stop following me around, wanting attention. She was sweet but not obnoxious, confident and curious despite the stress and frantic pacing of most the other horses. I liked the look of other horses better but I couldn't leave her there with that attitude, honestly.
So, plain brown standardbred with no white, 7 years old, needs her feed done, has lots of bite marks, and lots of conformation flaws but I want to see what i can do with her.
What do you think? I am still learning conformation so would love some comments on her to see if I noticed them
Light on bone and possibly sickle-hocked, but that could also be the way she's standing. Very tied in behind the knee. Decent shoulder. Nice short back and I like her hip and coupling. I like her neck and the way it ties in. She's got a cute head.
She looks ok to me, \i think she has a nice shoulder and if she were standing more square she would look even better.
If she has a good attitude that makes up for a lot of other slight conformation flaws that won't hurt her performance any.
Hard to see her feet well but they look pretty good to me.
I think you made a good choice, many happy rides with her.
I like her! I used to ride a standardbred. She was awesome, except for her horrific trot. But when you got her gaiting, she was so comfy!
She could canter in the front and gait in the back. I called it a canter trot... no idea what the gait really was. I've never seen another horse gait like that. Definitely not a pace. Not the same as the Tennessee walkers... wish I knew what it was.
She was a plain bay too. But she practically glowed if you sprayed her with skin so soft. We use that for gnat control.
She is a sweety I am glad she is here, I hope she settles in as she is a bit nervous in the paddock at the moment.
I think she is a nice type, will have to measure her as she is rather tall and the measurement in the pen was pretty dodgy. Going to speak to my trainer tonight about possibilities for her. And have emailed a few in the standardbred associations to see if I can contact the original owner or breeder.
What specifically worries you about the legs? She seems a bit clunky, if that makes sense. Suppose it depends what we do with her. At most she might be a trail horse, she is really quiet but not broken. Might make a lead horse for family or something. Not planning anything strenuous with her that's for sure.
I don't think her legs are too bad, it's hard to tell without some good pictures with her standing square. She might be a little sickle hocked but even that is hard to actually see.
She does have a standardbred neck and head - but that's ok, she is a standardbred. they are usually very sensible, dependable horses, user friendly.
My first horse was a standardbred and a darn good riding horse. Never spooked or shied (which was good as we lived on the edge of a city and rode on some really busy roads) and would go anywhere and through anything.
Was she broke to harness?
What about driving her? Have your Vet check her out, but she might have just been a slow poke on the track.
Could you square her off so we could get a really good look at her L and R profiles (full body), front and rear and get a good look at her legs?
Been raining all night and this morning was still sprinkling so couldn't get great pics. She looks a bit camped under in these. Tried for a while to get her more square... She was pretty square and then decided she needed a rub ect, and I had to get ready for work so the best photos were just from her eating, rather than tied. Will get some nicer ones this week though.
The white lines are paste on some scratches ect still, the wound on her face is pretty deep.
She's beautiful. I have a little standy mare myself although she's unridable except by lightweight kids these days due to injury. Have you looked her up in the registry at all? I found my girl's background through there. I'm happy to look her up if you let me know the symbols on her brand.
I did look up her brand, weirdly enough she has no progeny listed, no race history listed, and I cannot seem to track down the stud from the name of the breeder listed their either. Will keep digging
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