Sunday, February 18, 2018

The freak show debuts

This arrived in my inbox yesterday, referring to today in Arizona.

I have to admit, I'm excited to see what happens, because David Boggs is the handler. Hm, what to do, judges? The horse is a internationally-confirmed freak, but with Boggs.....

I'm convinced it's corrupt, but a part of me has hope that the judges will say no. My hope is great.



     


I believe he's got a foal face that will grow out, and he'll be fine. Most people disagree with me.

I also think it was an in-womb injury, like Namusca. (Holy crap, did Midwest really market her as "the most exotic" when she is clearly deformed?)

Below are the parents of El Rey Magnum, today's freak:

     

Weird stretch face on the sire, but he's pretty young in the photo. All-star pedigree here.




     

The mare has what I consider a very extreme face. I had to capture this image from her video because none of her photos were profile shots. She's double Ali Jamaal on her mother's side, my childhood favorite: ) Link to her pedigree, more photos here.

9 comments:

TeresaA said...

I have to say that I hate the extremes that selective breeding results in. Same for QH halter

Dom said...

I think they're breeding these horses to be freaks, to the detriment of the breed and the reputation of the breed, but I also find this video (about photoshop and the Arabian horse) very interesting:
https://www.facebook.com/Southarabians/videos/10151596398696355/

lytha said...

Dom, wow, that is so cool! The horse looked great to start with though. It certainly makes you wonder, and I often see photos that say "no photoshopping" - aren't there forensic experts who can detect it? *lol* After all that editing, they leave the grass in the horse's mouth?! I recently joined a conformation fb page, and it makes me realize how much photos can lie about a horse's legs. I've seen terrible legs come out looking perfect, and often my horse's legs look crooked in photos, when I'm pretty sure they're not. I wonder how much editing my photographer does, beyond cropping. I'll send her this video and ask her.

Shirley said...

I hope they don't do to horses what they did to dog breeds. That face looks pretty extreme for me,looks like it got bashed in actually. Not my taste in Arabians at all, even though I am a QH person I do like all the other breeds too.

lytha said...

Shirley, that is what the discussion is about - can they breathe? I agree it looks bashed in. I must admit I like the face of the dam, she has an extremely deep jowl like Beamer.

Sara said...

That poor horse. How does it breathe? Just like I always wonder how those freak halter QHs walk. It is a shame that humans suck so bad. Why not bask in what is natural? I hope they dismiss that horse and put a stop to this

AareneX said...

The photoshop thing is crazy...and not the most extreme I've seen, either! Have you seen the video of photoshopping a human? http://bit.ly/2qYc3UI

I've never been to the Scottsdale show. I guess it might be kind of exciting if friends were competing...but it would have to be performance classes and not "conformation" because FREAK SHOW.

I had to do an image search of "big head standardbred" just to calm my breathing again.

T said...

Poor baby, that just looks wrong. I dislike the extremes even in my Welsh cobs...a lot of what seems to be "in" for the halter classes doesn't seem like it can possibly translate well for soundness and performance in them and so many other breeds. I'm certainly no expert, but I love your Mag, he's beautiful and typey but also looks strong and useful.

irish horse said...

Yuck. No to extremes. (I love the photoshop video. I work in computer graphics for a living I can attest how easy it is to manipulate ANY photo. And how if you're good, it is very hard, even for "experts" to tell. I am against it, for my personal stuff I only ever lighten shadows, up some contrast, other than that I leave photos alone, warts and all!)