Half Welsh, half ....Arabian?

I know that cameras can make delicate Arabians look powerful, but I didn't know it can work both ways. I honestly thought the horse I was to see today was an Arabian type, from her videos and photos.

It turns out she has an Arabian head, but that's it. She has the body and legs of a draft horse. Seriously I did not know that was possible, for a half Arabian to come out like that.




She's a sweet horse, a good girl, and riding her in the ring was simple - she never looked at anything twice, but looked at everything equally. Perfectly alert and happy, but not worried. They will have no trouble selling her. Her face was gorgeous and her eyes looked like she had black eye liner on, beautiful! Her neck was very long and finely shaped and set, and her hooves looked good, just huge. Her legs were tree trunks and not the willowy type trees.

The lady said not a word to me after we introduced ourselves, that was strange. She got the horse, groomed the horse, saddled, did the hooves when I asked, and said nothing. I had to ask a few questions to get her to say anything.

"Yes, she's papered half Welsh half Arabian." (!!!)

"No, we don't know why she was sold to us for resale, we don't ask, because sellers just tell you what you want to hear." (Like she did with me? "She's perfect for you!") Still, it would be nice if they had asked, and then given a potential buyer the option of believing the answer or not. Like when I bought Mara, I was distinctly uncertain of why they were actually selling her.

"No, we don't know how long she's been under saddle, or if she's been a broodmare."

Lots of mystery isn't a real problem for me, if the horse goes well. And she did.

She resisted my contact with her mouth and I realized I was doing too much with my hands, which wasn't much at all, just bending and such, and I gave her releases every time she reached down and forward. The lady said, "She likes you to do NOTHING with your hands." Interestingly, I'd noticed that on the sale video, the lady just set her hands on the withers and rode the entire arena like that.

The first step the horse took, I gasped, what a hulking thing she is - she shakes the earth with each hoof even at a walk. I said, "She's a semi truck!" The lady said, "Yes in comparison with Arabians."

I could tell the mare was bewildered by me because all she knows is how to go forward. No backing, moving her shoulders over, no moving her hips when I asked, no leg yielding, but she interpreted my signals correctly and with some effort managed a half step in each direction, forehand and hind end. So she's willing and understands pressure, but has never been asked anything like that before.

They say they're not motivated to sell her because she's a great babysitter for young horses on the trail, they just put her in front and she does her job. I can see that. She has a great work ethic. I'd love to see her as a carriage horse, because of her back.

She's definitely got a start on a sway back, it being very long and atrophied, and something new to me, some sort of saddle imprint on her back. Her spine sticks up and her back and belly sag below it all the way to her hips.

Now that I think about it, she's not the only horse that tricked me by photos this way. I also went to see a bay Quarab named Taco and when I saw him, what a shock, he was massive. Not tall but just huge. I said "I'm sorry but your horse is just too huge for me." They were surprised because he's short compared to most German horses. Somehow the camera lied. (I blogged about it back when..)

And try as I might, I couldn't get the camera to adequately show you all how drafty this horse is, or Welshy, unless you can recognize it better than I.

In the trot video you can hear her breathing hard, she worked up quite a sweat in there, but never had to be motivated to go forward, she's naturally a very forward horse. In fact when I asked why she is not suitable for beginners, she said it's because the horse does not stand still when you mount, she wants to be moving all the time. I said, "That takes 5 minutes to fix, *if* it's important to you to fix." She said that they get some pretty clueless buyers. Then I had fun talking about my first selling experiences, and she acted as if she completely understood.

I rubbed the mare's neck and chest afterwards and she was clothed with a cooler even though it's a warm day. I kept saying how good she smells, a healthy horse smell. I won't wash my hands anytime soon. (When I got home I asked J, "Do I smell like horse?" He said, "I noticed it as soon as you walked in here." Yah, good.)

I think the seller knows I'm not interested because of my comments, "Oh, she's so different from what I expected!" I'll tell her tomorrow that this horse is not my type, and ask if she has any Arab types for sale in the future because the dealer was a pleasure to meet. She did everything as I would have - she curried that horse's entire body vigorously, then did a little more than I would, combing her mane and tail. She was very careful in her warm up to let the horse just wander loose reined before she asked for anything. I asked, and she admitted she's a "Pferdewirt" - a certified horse professional, whatever that means.




Maybe you can see the Welsh features here?



Sweet girl wanted to sniff me as I took photos.



This photo shows the "saddle impression" I saw on her back - the sunlight is actually caught in it and you see it here as a horizontal white line on her back.



In this photo you can also see the saddle impression at the far right edge of the image. It could also be a ligament issue due to being a broodmare, I have no idea.



Mighty legs of steel and heavy round hooves.



Here again the light is catching in that dip in her back.



The spine protrudes - was she a broodmare?



You can see the spine along her entire back, but please note the thickness of her left arm. That's a powerful horse!



Not an apple butt, but something other than what I expected.



Under saddle you don't notice quite how long she is, but you can't help fall in love with that face.



Hands on her withers the entire time, this is not how I rode her.



Sweet eyes.



If I was looking to buy a pretty face....



She very agreeably cantered a long time after trotting around for a long time too. What a work ethic.

S told me that I judge horses too harshly by photos. I admit, I'm only able to discern certain things from photos. Certain things cannot be hidden. But apparently I'm no expert at judging a horse by video and photographs. Maybe I will be by the time I find a horse.