Critique my Fella

Tell me what you think. If you see a fault, I would love to know how it would affect his action too! I am curious how conformation affects performance!

Fella, just turned 5 yr old Appy, not used for anything specific yet.

Nice pony! If he were mine I would like to see more muscle mass to him and I'm not really a fan of the way his necks ties into his chest. Can't figure out why..but someting doesn't seem right.

If you are just pleasure riding him then he will do just fine!

He does seem a little downhill. I do like the way he seems to carry himself...like where he places his feet. I love his Varnish Snowcap coloring!

What types of pics are needed to judge conformation?

Okay, so I know downhill means butt above shoulders, but can it caused by lack of muscling? Or will he always be downhill?

And he does have little muscling in his neck, his previous owner did little with him, I have seen him out on some muscle in the past couple of months, but not much yet. Would that be affecting the way his neck looks?

I do think that muscle will make him look 100% better. He is rather thin for a 5yr old Appy.

You cannot fix that fact that he is downhill. And really it does not affect his performance. Some of the worlds best show horses are built downhill. The only problem I find with a horse being downhill is that they are little rougher to ride, my riding mare is a bit downhill!

You can't fix that fact that his neck doesn't tie in right but building up some muscle mass will definitely disguise that fact.

Thank you for your replies. He was actually thinner when I first purchased him. We are slowly putting some weight on him and I have talked with my expert friend/ riding instructor about upping our work out, so we will start getting some muscle on him too! I spent this afternoon walking around the barn and critiquing horses, based on what I have learned off this website...SOOOO helpful!