Weanling Conformation Clinic

Let's say you attend an auction this fall. Hay shortages are rampant, and winter is coming fast. You would be foolish to get another horse, but, well... You have fifty bucks in your pocket, and horses are going for peanuts. Your hand seems to shoot up from your shoulder automatically. Oh! You have just bid first pick on a group of little grade weanlings. Crap, your family is going to strangle you, right before falling in love with the new adorable fluffball. But which one do you grab from the group? Quick, the auctioneer wants to continue!

 Weanlings are hard, because at first all you see is "CUTE!" Luckily, however, they're a bit easier to judge than two-year-olds. A young weanling may not have "grown into itself" yet, but they are far less awkward than a 2 year old. They haven't yet hit the massive, weird growth spurt that seems to make horses grow one part at a time. Cowboy wisdom says, "Look at a horse at 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, then 3 years... and never in between!" I would push the "3 months" up to 6 months myself, which is about the age of these guys.

So which weanling did you impulse-buy? Were you dazzled by the pretty color and nice set-up of D? Were you thrown off by A's awkwardness?

I chose C.

The first thing I look for in a horse is legs. I do not like the upright angles and long cannons of B. D is also not ideal, with her upright rear pasterns. A is okay, except that his rear legs seemed pretty cow-hocked, though it's hard to judge in this picture. C, however, was easily the best. Nicely sloping short pasterns, strong cannons, and already his legs seem more "under" him than the others.

Next is shoulders. All the shoulders here are acceptable... except B's. It's short and upright. Ouch. That's not something a horse grows out of, by the way.

On to butts. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I like big butts and I cannot lie! B is a bit lacking in depth (think "pinched"). D has a steeply sloping croup that's going to be good for getting her legs under her in reining... but it's not great for much else. A and C have nice round badonk-a-donks that will power them through whatever careers they end up in.

Now topline. This is tricky. Many people will tell you that a young horse with a high hip will grow into it. This is partially true-- they will even out a bit. But it's a mistake to think that a severe slope will magically go away completely. All the weanlings are currently butt-high except for C. (Yes, even D-- her handler has cleverly placed her against the light background of the sky, so it's harder to tell.) C's even topline at such a young age might result in him growing up slightly uphill... but I'd prefer this over downhill. 

If my money was really burning a hole in my pocket, I would also take weanling A. I know, I know, he's an ugly ducking isn't he? He's not necessarily the next best. His rawboned shoulder, funny stance and high hip are not endearing. But he has nice leg angles (aside from possible cow hocks), that shoulder is still nicely laid back, and he may grow out of his downhill build. Plus, D is much more likely to find a good home because of her pretty color, great shoulder and fashionable build, despite those pasterns. What can I say, I'm a sucker. I'm afraid poor B is left at the bottom of the barrel though. With good genes, he may even out slowly into a lanky, proportional Thoroughbred-type (still with a bad shoulder)... but I suspect he's going to end up a chunky monkey on too-long, too-thin legs. Also, is it just me, or is there some puffiness to his rear leg(s) and joints?

To recap, I would choose C, then A or D, and lastly B. How did your selection come out? Post a comment with your conformational observations... especially if they disagree with mine! I love to learn.

UW River Falls II

I did indeed make some mistakes while blogging about UW River Falls and their horse breeding program, for which I apologize. Specifically, I was wrong about Rambo's Smoking Hot being bred twice-- his sire bred two mares. It's still not clear to me whether Rambos himself was bred by UWRF, though you can clearly see here that he was consigned by UWRF. In addition, it's been made clear to me that a large number of horses for sale at the UWRF auction are consigned by others, not bred by UWRF. Again, my apologies.

I also stand by some of my statements.

- UWRF still sucks for breaking two-year-olds. Yes, racehorses are raced at age two, and yes, it does make more financial sense to get horses broke and sold off...but as one other commenter mentioned, that doesn't make it right. Most horses just aren't physically or mentally ready to be broke as babies (literally, since a yearling is about 7 years old in human terms, and a two year old is about 13). There are professional reports here, here and here that say so, and there are many more out there. The New York Times just published a lengthy article here on exactly how awful the racing industry is for horses at many US tracks...so when racing is used as an example of how horses should be used, it's sort of like using sweatshops as an example of how factory workers should be treated.

- UWRF still sucks for auctioning off unadvertised old school horses. 
Poster JayGirl, a student at the school, commented that this is because UWRF doesn't even know which horses the school will dump until right before the sale. I confirmed this by speaking to faculty member Nathan O'Connor, who told me that they were "still figuring out" which lesson horses would be sold about a month from now, but there would be about 7 available. Of these, he said three would have "been around forever" at the school, and were super nice, calm, very well-broke old guys with soundness issues that just couldn't handle being ridden much anymore. I then asked him whether UWRF would ever consider a retirement program for these guys. He said, "We don't ever retire our horses," but instead try to sell them off before they become "totally unrideable." Well hey, maybe even after selling off their $1,000-$3,500 colts, charging $1,000 stud feeds and collecting tuition money, they don't have money to retire or euthanize a couple old schoolies...but then why not an adoption program, with reference and background checking, rather than selling to the highest bidder? Maybe, with "only" several dozen college kids and faculty members, they just don't have the staff?

I would also like to add to my rant:

- UWRF sucks for not requiring helmets. 
 Seriously, of the dozens and dozens of training pictures, I think ONE showed a girl wearing a helmet. Whether or not you personally believe in wearing a helmet, a state-funded school should be protecting itself, and thus taxpayer money, from lawsuits. These college kids are learning to train horses, on young horses that are not trained. That's what we call an accident waiting to happen.

-UWRF's website just sucks.
Part of the problem in researching any of this is that UWRF apparently never deletes anything online. Searching for current information on their horse program is a hair-tearing hunt through old sales lists, broken links, picture slide shows with no other information, and generic descriptions of the school. Okay, that's mostly just annoying rather than irresponsible, but it doesn't help the school's horses get sold.



 UW River Falls isn't evil. I'm even willing to concede that they're not backyard breeders, and I apologize for calling them that. However, they're not responsible horse owners either. Until they are willing to do something for their old school horses, stop riding two year olds, and get a helmet policy, they won't be.

It's Spring! Important Wisconsin Spring Horse Events

It's Spring! Hah hah ha, we wish it looked like that, don't we?

Reality:

No, this isn't Annie-- she was even more muddy than this. My camera battery died, however.

  

This is the time of year when your boots are constantly caked with muck, your clothes are full of shed hair, your horse is full of dirt, and there's not much you can do about it. The good news is, you can finally jump back into the saddle, after a long winter of making excuses about how you just "don't have the time" to go riding in sub-zero weather. Hooray! Annie and I have had two rides already, and she was an angel-- despite not even being lunged beforehand. Let's hope that continues.

Spring Horse-Related Events in WI

• Have you got your spring vaccinations, worming and new Coggins test done?
• Have you bought your 2012 WI trail/park/camping passes? You can order 'em here.
• A listing of WI country, district and state fair dates can be found here.
• March 18th: "Mega" Tack Sale in West Bend, WI. 10- 3. Washington County 4-H. Info here.
• March 24th: Tack Swap & Coggins Day at the Fairgrounds in Portage. Seller's table = $10, Coggins = $18. Free admission. Testing begins at 1pm. Walk-ins welcome.
• March 24th: Open Fun Show at Mandt Equestrian in Oregon, WI. Info here.
• April 14th: Another Open Fun Show at Mandt. Same deal.
• Central WI Horse Sale: April 18th-21st. Held at the Clark County Fairgrounds, Neillsville, WI. Antiques, tack, vehicles, trailers, then horses and ponies on the last day. Probably the largest auction in the state. More info here.
• Midwest Horse Fair: April 20th-22nd. Event schedule here.
• Tim Nolan Arena Horse Auction: May 5th, Marion, WI. Probably the second-largest horse auction in WI. They usually have some tack before the horses. More info here.  
• Partners for Progress Open Benefit Show: May 6th. Starts 8:30am. Details here.
• Open Show Sponsored by Plymouth Trail Riders: May 29th. Plymouth, WI. Details here.
• Oregon Horse Association Open Show: May 28th. Starts 8:30am. Flier here.
• Another Central WI Horse Sale: May 19th. Critters only this time.
• Dodge Co. Saddle Club Open Show: June 3rd. Starts. 8:30am. Just north of Beaver Dam. Info here.
• Midwest Horse Welfare Raffle: This charity raffle started Mar. 2nd, and the winners will be drawn on June 30th at the rescue. Attendees will also be entered for door prizes, just for showing up. If you want to sell tickets to support this great charity, you can even win incentives! More here.