Bad Broodmare Conformation

I don't think I've met anyone, anywhere in this horse world right now who believes that the horse market is doing well. Everyone seems to know that there are too many horses, too few buyers, and not enough cash or jobs in general out there. And yet some people still continue to blindly promote bad breeding. Here are a few broodmares that should never have been bred:

This poor creature is from Iowa, and is currently on the Madison, WI area Craigslist for $3,500. I swear to God, her rear legs seem to be shriveling up in pain. Those pasterns are so upright, I think they could actually be retractable-- they might just sort of slot up into her cannons like the legs on one of those pop-up canopy tents. And they match her ugly upright shoulder. But, uh, nice muscling I guess? Is that HYPP or a lot of workouts? I'm betting HYPP, because she has Impressive in her line twice. Nice of the sellers not to mention whether they've tested her, eh? Her compatriots on the ad aren't great either...

If you detached this mare's limbs and covered them with gravy, you'd have the world's biggest turkey legs. What's with all that meat on those thin legs?! It's like some horses are purposefully bred for the slaughter industry-- they go lame fast and then there's a LOT of meat there. I know this is sort of fashionable in the QH world right now, and not everyone will agree with me when I saw this is pretty terrible. But let me give you one last illustration of the problem. I've taken this photo and then cut out much of the "middle" legs, then put the "meat" directly on top of the lower legs. I did NOT change the proportions in any way. This shows you just how much weight is being put on such tiny surfaces, especially in front, where a horse carries most of its weight:

That's what we call a recipe for lameness. This otherwise pretty lady is from Iowa and is now (thankfully) too old to get in foal, but her owners in Neenah, WI, and her previous owners in Iowa apparently got a good number of foals out of her.

Our last stop on this tour of despair is Mosinee, WI, where a young lady named Kasandra is currently breeding and training. She looks to be roughly fifteen, but don't worry, she's already got herself TWO stallions to breed her mares to! One of them is a very crappy-looking cremello, and the other is an average-looking paint. Surprise surprise. But we're focusing on mares here...

This is Blanco, one of Kasandra's "best ridding horses." Yup, she's being ridden... at two and a half years old. She's not bred... yet.

...and finally, this is Ruby, Kasandra's first horse. Ruby has got a steep croup, weak hip, non-existent loin, tied-in-at-the-knee legs, and God knows what else. Of course Kasandra has bred her at least twice. On Ruby is Kasandra herself, with her infant daughter. Notice how no one is holding the reins? And neither mom or kid has a helmet? And this mare is totally unrestrained, in what looks to be a backyard? This mare isn't the only thing that shouldn't be breeding...

Ow Ow Ow Ow OW my brain is BLEEDING...