First of all I'm concerned that Amja is postlegged and coon-footed behind but I need better pics to say for sure. (Or maybe not?)
Somehow I was able to find nearly the same view of both Wiszi the mare, and Baasha. Cool huh? It's not quite fair because I'm angled above Amja, looking down on him, whereas the othe two I'm kneeling for the photos.
So I started drawing lines and then suddenly saw something else interesting. Check out the red lines. Look how Baasha's goes pefectly straight up and down. Wiszi's cannon bone is angled way back, because she's camped out behind. (And what is up with her crooked resting hind leg - see how it's resting sideways like she's leaning?)
Then look at Amja's red line - it's angled forward! This is not a camera angle issue, this is how they stand.
I'm no expert at this, I just found it interesting.
Also, this horse shopping business makes me see how great Baasha's legs are. However, can you tell where his arthritis is, from his legs? I talk about it a lot, I know, but you can see the weakness here.
I find the difference between a club foot and coon foot interesting. Where hoof and pastern angle to not align, but for completely different reasons.
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These are interesting, but since they aren't all taken from the exact same angle, or even looking squarely at each one, I don't think the pics do any of the horses justice. But I do think it gives you a good start for an analytical approach to your next visit with Amja!
That said, there have been some very fugly horses who have been very successful at endurance. Crooked legs and a good mind are better than the opposite, IMO. :)
These are interesting, but since they aren't all taken from the exact same angle, or even looking squarely at each one, I don't think the pics do any of the horses justice. But I do think it gives you a good start for an analytical approach to your next visit with Amja!
That said, there have been some very fugly horses who have been very successful at endurance. Crooked legs and a good mind are better than the opposite, IMO. :)
I'm not really sure how to comment here, but I wonder if it would be better if they all 3 were stood up on all 4, not shifting their weight?
Hard to tell when not all 4 legs are evenly weighted, but still interesting. Maybe check next time you go look at Amja and get a straight even pic to check it out.
The fact that they are all resting a hind leg tells me something about the behavior of the weighted hind leg.
Of course a straight side shot, all legs "equally" weighted would be great too for comparison but I've seen in my horse search that some horses look just fine standing up posed, and then when they start to walk and weight the legs differently, the pasterns flex very alarmingly.
The trot, in stop-motion photos is great too.
This is why I found it interesting that I actually had shots of three horses doing the same thing, while not being asked to pose or stand a certain way - they were all relaxing naturally.
I want to be optimistic.
I hate to be patient.
Amja feet look long toe low heel to me.especially on the front, but that could give his backs the low pastern look too. His angles will be much better if he got some good natural trims.
Dont just look at the pastern angle, but where the hoof angle is too, at the time. Trimming makes a lot of difference.Shape of feet tell a lot.
I looked again at the pics from yesterday. In one he looks like his pasterns behind are really low, and the other he looks great?
You can take a bad picture of any horse, just as you can of any human...even if they are beautiful and perfect in every important way.
I don't think these 3 photos of three equally attractive horses are telling of anything conformationally speaking. We all can be photographed in an awkward position.
But I do think that Amja is too long in the toe.
~Lisa
I know how hard it is to be patient!
Amja's front feet seem quite long, and that might also impact the angle.
I think it's hard to tell about legs from stills unless the horses are stood up squarely on flat ground and the camera angle is square on from all four sides. With that I can use the angle of the cannon bone to determine natural placement. I can also use the angle of the hoof and pastern to read.
What I do without that is look through everything I can see. Check ground for level and see what kind of positions I have from the views available. It's not as reliable but the compilation of all the angles suggest to me he is a little coon footed. I agree his toes are a little long and that could change the appearance. I would not want to buy a horse depending on a guess of what he looks like with his feet properly done.
With that being said you spoke of the relatives you have seen. With enough of those to add to my knowledge base sometimes I can get a better picture of what I should be looking at. The more common the gene base the more likely the individuals resemble each other.
It occurs to me the three shots could be very similar because your behavior is similar. Each horse is probably responding to pressure from you. Each is looking towards you and resting weight on the one leg looking like they're trying to figure out what is expected of them, poised to do whatever that might be. It is a relaxed but attentive stance waiting for some cue requiring movement according to the way I read body language. Just food for thought.
Agree - toe looks long & very hard to compare until they're stood up on a flat surface & the photos are taken straight on. How the feet grow are a big indicator of overall foot health & how the horse uses themselves.
I hope you get to see him again this weekend. I got an ad in my email to an Arabian horse auction and I was looking at the ads (cause who doesn't want to look at photos and videos of horses) and saw that they show video of just their legs and hooves when moving, and I immediately thought about this post. Anyway, maybe you want to take a look just for fun and your viewing pleasure - http://addisliveonlineauctions.com/
Hope your weekend is going well.
Kay
Oh, this horse has a nice trot! http://addisliveonlineauctions.com/en/lots/133746 (I don't know much about conformation, so I'm just basing my opinion on what appeals to me). There are some crosses in here too. Would you entertain a cross?
This boy looks nimble and proud (and doesn't he have a great name ? - http://addisliveonlineauctions.com/en/lots/133746 (Amazing what I can deduce from a thirty second video :)) I picked this one out for you because I have a thing for flaxen mane. I thought this mare had a nice "reaching" trout - http://addisliveonlineauctions.com/en/lots/133774
Yeah I noticed in the other post that his feet are done really crappy. Once you get the shoes off and his hooves trimmed like that should be that should improve the angles . . . but you never know until the hooves are trimmed. Do they do trials over there? Maybe you could take him for a month and have his shoes pulled and his toes trimmed and see what your farrier thinks of the angles? I would love to see a shot of him standing square when you see him again!
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