Body Length = 12.2
Shoulder Slope = 55.95 D
Shoulder Angle = 89.14 D
Scapula Length = 4.84 = 40% BL
Humorous Length = 3.25 = 67% of SL
Forearm Length = 2.75 = 85% of HL
Cannon Length = 2.22 = 81% of FL
Pastern Length = .98 = 44% CL
Back Length = 5.53 = 45% BL
Ribcage Length = 5.66 = 100% of back
Hip Length = 3.92 = 32% of BL
Femur Length = 3.57 less than HL
Pelvic Length = 4.15 more than HL
Neck Length = 6.59 = 54% of BL
I took the time to do this in hopes that you’ll be able to better understand why the general consensus is that Cochise needs to be gelded.
He does have a fairly square body shape to him, which is a good thing, his shoulder slope is 55 degrees which is steep, his shoulder angle is 89.12 degrees which is a closed angle (90 degrees is “acceptable” 100 is better). He does have a long scapula - 40% of his body length, his humorous is too long, being 67% of the scapula. Now, I have said in other places that a long humorous is desireable, because it can give a horse longer strides, but the maximum we really want is about 60%. Overall, his steep shoulder and closed angle are helped by the length of his scapula, but the excess length of his humorous is going to make him a little “camped under” - even though is leg may appear verticle.
His forearm length is 85% of his humorous which is great, but his cannon length is too long at 81% of his forearm length. The longer the cannon is, the weaker it is. His Pastern length is OK.
What really becomes a major fault with this horse is his leg straightness, you can see, quite clearly that even though his foreleg is pretty straight, the plumb line doesn’t touch either the dot in the center of the knee or the one at the fetlock. This is going to put more strain on his legs than we’d like, and it’s certainly a trait I wouldn’t want to risk passing on to offspring. It may never bother him in his lifetime, depending on what you plan to do with him, or it may show up as he ages in the form of arthritis. Remember that horses carry most of their weight on their front legs.
He has a nice back length, and he has a short loin, but he loses points for having a shallow loin girth. In a breeding stallion we want to make sure that any weaknesses they have won’t be likely to be passed on and turn into “critical weaknesses”. A lack of loin girth is going to reduce the strength of his loin, which in turn reduces the strength of his back. Again, something that may never affect him much in his lifetime, but, not something you want to pass on as paired with a longer loin or a less desirable LS placement and you’d end up with a foal with a weak back - since most Paints are used for riding, a strong back is essential to long term soundness.
His hip is a little shy of being adequate - his femur is too short and his pelvis too long. This is all going to take away from his “motor”. While it’s not going to cause him any horrendous issues, it’s less than ideal - a lot of Paints have MUCH nicer hindquarters. If you follow the plumb line down his hind leg, you can see he’s camped out too - or rather, he has too much angulation to his hind limb. It might help HIM because it will help hide any gait challenges caused by the lack of hip length, but should he pass on his hip, but not his angulation you’d have a foal which may be much less than ideal.
His neck is a little on the long side, I don’t mind it’s shape though. He needs some proper muscle put on it, but it ties in alright.
Overall this horse would make a really cute gelding. He does have some “serious” faults, but, if you all you want is a nice pleasure horse, or a horse who you don‘t expect “big“ things from, he’ll be your man. He just isn’t worth reproducing, IMHO, simply because Paints are fairly common, and many are better put together than this one is, so there really is no reason to use this particular individual in a breeding program - just too much risk.
