Greetings to all :D *pic overload!*

Hello I am new here, I found this place after looking around for a better horse forum. The one I was on previously was very verbally abusive. Anywho I would like to share some pictures and videos of my horse.

Here is a little of his story, all sumed up of course. He is a 20 year old, 16hh, Canadian Thoroughbred gelding. His registered name is Soda Prince [you can look up his pedigree if you want], his show name is Nordic Juniper and his barn name is Junior. My friend bought him for $60 dollars from a place up near Canada, the family had left him in a stall and abused him for about a year before she found him. He was 300 pounds underweight, headshy, no hoof wall, standing in over a foot of manure. He had metal stuck under his eye from a feed bin that he had gotten his head stuck in. I met him only a few months after she got him and fell in love. I started riding him and we clicked perfectly. My friend now calls him mine and so do I. Other people ride him sometimes but I am the main person. He is incredibly sweet despite his past.

He was trained to race as a two year old, scratched from his maiden race and trained to be a 3 day eventer. He knows first level dressage, first level parelli, beginning barrels, beginning poles/gaming and has been jumped up to 5 feet. He doesn't act his age at all and the only problem he has is that he is slightly blind, but it doesn't hardly affect him. So anyway here he is!

When she first got him:


Him looking really pretty about 5 months after he was rescued.


Flat work pics: [chronological order]






Ok some jumping pics as well! [chronological order]

First time ever jumping for me.

First week of learning to jump.

Over the winter jumping, still learning.


From our show last weekend.

Some confo pics [also in chronological order]




Coming out of winter, he is a very hard keeper. As you can see in the show pictures he looks WAY better. This is just the most recent confo shot I have of him right now.

Videos [in chronological order]
This video below is a show video of me and two friends, I am the first one out.
This is the most recent video of us.

Any critique is welcome except bashing me for his weight. As you can see it is getting back up. We have only had him for just barely a year. We got him in May and had no idea that he would drop weight like that once the cold weather hit. We do not abuse our horses, he was getting enough food for three horses and eating it all. We kept him blanketed as well and pulled him out of work for two months. He was just put back into work a month ago.

I would love critique on his conformation, the pictures are in chronological order from when we got him until now in each section, also critique on my riding would be great! Please only constructive comments no right out mean ones. I am a self taught rider, I had an emotionally abusive trained for a few years and he pretty much ruined all of my confidence, so I have been getting it back with Junior. Keep in mind the first pictures/videos of the sections are all older, the last pictures/videos are recent.

Thanks so much!

Awwwww, what a cutie pie! Huge huge kudos to what you guys brought him back from, I don't see any issue with his weight, especially being older and already severely starved and neglected, you could very well battle his weight the rest of his life. I think he looks fantastic, a little rough coming out of winter, but it's really hard to tell with a horse you don't know, especially with a likely compromised immune and health system after being treated so badly.

I don't have much of a confo critique, his back end looks really wonky in his coming out of winter picture, yet it doesn't seem the same in his summer pictures, so I'm thinking he may just be standing funny.

As for a riding critique, you look like you're doing well with him! Your heel is quite up in your very first jumping shot, but I have to say I'm impressed with your overall position for never having jumped! He seems like a real sweetheart, and you guys seem to make a good team.

I'm another mostly self taught rider, so I can sympathize with learning as you go and not being happy with people trashing you constantly! It's a simple fact we just can't all afford coaches, or just aren't interested in that route, and you're not hurtling him over huge fences, you're learning with very small modest jumps which is an excellent route.

Hope you guys have an excellent summer together! How did you do at your show?

Thanks for the reply!

He is a sweetheart. I can walk under him, slide off his butt, pretty much do anything :]

At the show we got third in the jumping, second in the three gait english pleasure and didn't place, sadly, in the three gait english equitation.

My heels used to be horrible. That first pic is from just about a year ago. I have worked on them a lot and am proud to say they have gotten better. They come up occasionally but overall they look better :]

Thank you again for the reply and critique!

I have to ditto the Kudos on getting him to look so fabulous again...with young horses it can be 'easy', but with the old guys, not so much...He looks great!

Conformationally he looks pretty decent too...

He is gorgeous and good for you both saving him from the hell that was his life before. You have done amazing work with him and he is doing so well. He looks very good for a 20 year old hard keeper TB. GREAT JOB.

And Miko, I think the reason that his back end looks "wonky" is because he is a little post legged and his croup is a little flat. Other than that, his confo is very good. Beautiful boy and welcome to the forum. :) It is very friendly here.

I read the critique section to try to learn what people mean when they talk about conformation, so I'm afraid I'm no help there. I wanted to say Welcome to the community and it sounds like you're doing a great job working both of you back from less-than-stellar situations!

He's a cutie! From one of the recent videos it seems like he's paddling with his front feet at the trot, and your hands slip into the 'piano' posture alot. Thumbs ontop! :) You've done really well with him.

Which video are you talking about might I ask? If it is the last one I posted then there are two chestnuts in that video, the one that does that paddling with its legs is my friends horse Maddie. I am just curious as to what video and where at in the video you noticed this

Thanks.

He loosk fantastic! So fit and healthy, especially for his age. What a gorgeous boy, im so glad he was rescued./