Movement Critique

So here is some picture/video of Diesel in the roundpen today. Ignore the fact that he wants nothing to do with me and is far more interested in his dinner than anything I'm asking of him:









Sorry they're huge.
His feet and chiro are tomorrow.

Critique anything you see. Gracias.

He looks like he has a long back. His feet are a little small for his body. He seems a little over at the knee but I can't be sure.

Thank you!
Any comment on how he moves and uses himself? Any good ideas of what he may be best suited for?

Also..how does his weight look?

Well you say movement critique so I'm going to assume that you mean for dressage.
First thing I notice is that he seems to prefer the trot. This is not a sign of a horse who is an athletic in the right way for dressage as these horses will strongly prefer the canter. The second thing I notice is that although he is trotting very forward, he does not even track up. An athletic dressage horse when trotting will over track. The final thing that I noticed is that in the canter, if we watch the outside front, and the print it leaves, the outside hind should reach in front of this print, but this horse does not do this.
Otherwise his movement is clean and he appears sound, he just wasn't made with dressage in mind. Good luck with him! He looks like a pleasure to ride.

He looks like he would move alot better with training. Can you get any more vids have you jumped him?
He might do well in the beginner equitation and beginner hunter.
But what is his personality like?

He looks like a fairly athletic mover but he isn't the smoothest looking move. Definitely has a western performance look to him. That was a nice enough little roll back at the end of the second video whether it was planned or not. Have you ever tried him out on cows? What's he bred for?

Oh and his weight looks fine to me.

He looks a little out of shape and a little round but not terribly so.

Well, I can't give a very good movement critique, as I am terrible at video/picture critiques, but I will say that I love him. :]

He has a long back like Daisy, and he reminds me of her a lot, only masculine and big. Ha ha.

As far as his best uses - western performance... but I think you know that, lol.

He seems to have a bit of a winter belly on him, but I'm sure that'll come off easily. He's a very pretty boy, SD.

Does movement only matter in dressage? Horses who prefer the trot doesn't mean they aren't athletic. There are a ton of different variables on why a horse hesitates the canter. This particular one, I just see he has not found the correct balance to be able to beautifully carry himself.
I see this horse's balance on his front end which disables his hind end from coming up and underneath himself. I think he's fairly well put together, and I don't see anything huge that would disable this horse from learning a correct balance to be able to do lower-level dressage movements.
No, he may not float like a 'dressage' horse can, but he can def. learn to carry himself better.
Some horses are born with the ability to track up naturally, others can easily be taught. Just because this horse does not track up and use himself like he could, doesn't mean he lacks the ability all together. He can learn.
He looks like a nice all-round kind of guy that if his balance were to be helped he could do many different things.

Thanks everyone!

Here is his breeding: Poco Tri Jet Quarter Horse

I have only ever free jumped him over little poles. He has been my polo, barrels, endurance horse. Yes we've worked some cows and he loves it...he's bred cows and speed as far as I can tell.

I agree that he lacks balance and tends to carry himself on his forehand. He's actually extremely smooth to ride...except for he has a strung out canter lately which I am trying to work on.

What are some things I can work on to get him more balanced and tracking up?
Right now I'm working on doing transistions, circles, and trying to get him going at a consistant speed. Any other tips would be good.

I plan on taking him to some dressage schooling shows just for the experience...His heart is in western.