Re: Looking For a Good Horse

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-09-09 11:08:09 EDT, SandyDSA@aol.com writes:

<< Pretty may be as pretty does, but an unattractive horse
 to ME is most often an ugly horse because he or she is out of balance in some
 way, which to me is not a good indicator of quality and ability. I like to
see
 a balance and a symmetry - >>

Absolutely.  Other than heads, it is the balance and symmetry that makes a
horse beautiful, no matter what his type.  And without that balance, he has a
hard time being an athlete.  Nothing used to make me more mad than going to
the show places--as soon as I would mention that I was an endurance rider,
they would light up and take me out behind the barn to look at the ugly ones.
Sorry, but those were all culls in my book, too.  Unfortunately, many of the
entry level horses in our sport are the culls from the show barns, which is
where we get the cheap horses on the circuit.  Once in awhile someone gets a
diamond in the rough, but for every one of those, I see 30 or 40 that have
back problems, metabolic problems, you name it.  I have seen a 10 to 20-fold
increase in back problems since I started vetting rides 17 years ago, and I
attribute it to the "look" in the Arab halter ring today--the head jacked up
in the air, hollowing out the long, weak loin.  This conformation has been
bred so diligently that it is difficult to find horses of popular halter lines
that are capable of carrying a rider over distance.  Tragic, as these horses
go through a lot of pain trying to please their people.  The uninitiated buy
these horses, thinking they are getting a good deal, and then mortgage the
farm buying saddles and pads and paying for visits from the vet and the
chiropractor.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)