Possible Buy

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking about buying this big fellow for school in September and I want to know what everyone thinks about him. He's a 4 and a half year old Quarter Horse gelding and he's in the 15 hh range right now and should mature to well over 16 hh I was told. I'm taking the Western Ranch & Cow Horse program here in Alberta and he would be working with cattle. What do you guys think of him? The first two pictures are him - the last two are his full brother. The owner says that they are very alike.

A few more pictures of him .. I know they are in no way conformation shots haha, sorry!

If he is 4 and 1/2 now he probably will not exceed 16 hands if he is not there already.
As far as conformation goes, he is fairly solidly built.
Shoulder angle, in my opinion, is just a tad on the upright side
Good depth through the chest
If the 2 good conformation shots are not him, I cannot say anything about his legs or back, though
I like his hindquarters
His hind right leg appearing cowhocked as well and his feet need some attention.

The owner says that at his current height, he's almost 16hh. And yeah, he does have a pretty high bum haha

I think he's cute. I don't think he has much more growing to do, so I wouldn't expect it. He may bulk out though. Can't really tell much conformation-wise, but I think he could manage chasing down some cows :)

Here's some more pictures of him that the owner took for me today! I asked him to take a picture of his feet too so hopefully I get those later on. Apparently he likes cats! I also love his hangy lip - what does that mean? That he's relaxed?

Didn't notice this, but he does appear to be cowhocked but that's just how he's standing - he couldn't get him perfectly square. He did take another picture where he is not doing that but I can't get it to upload!

As for the feet, his front feet definitely need attention - the owner said that his farrier is coming out next week.

He's a big boy. He seems a tad tied in at the knee but it could be the picture. How does he move?

I can't tell you anything about how well he'd be able to chase a cow, but overall, I like him a lot. He's big and sturdy, that's for sure- nothing glaringly wrong. I love how he's put together, everything is balanced and proportionate... pasterns and canons are nice and short, and the angle looks okay. His back legs look good to me, although I can't really see them... nice big motor, with a huge hip and good length of back, a decent shoulder and a decent neck set. Like I said, I really do like him.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't cow horses usually a bit shorter than this? Will his height effect his performance/ ability to get down and move?

I'm not too sure but I've seen plenty of working cow horses here that are quite tall, definitely in the 16 hh to high 15 hh range .. I'm not too sure though