how is he looking

[vikkig]

this is a picture of mac when i first got him in about september

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj11/vikkg/beforemac.jpg

and these are recent pictures of him

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj11/vikkg/DSC01501.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj11/vikkg/DSC01523.jpg

what do you guys think of him now?

[Rips]

How old is he? I just ask because his back looks like that of an aged sway-backed horse - if he isn't old then wow :eek: he had a terrible fitting saddle before you got him! I don't think his conformation is bad enough to warrant that type of atrophy.

Looks like theres been a slight improvement in the muscle wastage in his back.
He looks like he's lost a small bit of weight possibly, pictures aren't really good enough to tell, could stand to lose a bit more though :)

[vikkig]

he will be 14 in june, he had not been rode in a while when i bought him as he tried to jump a barb wire fence and caught his back legs and also one yard he was on could not catch him and left him out for 7 weeks.

he has also been out of work the last 5 weeks due to no rider :(

[vikkig]

bump

[pedilia]

Is he the horse that is for sale in your sig? If so why are you selling him?

[vikkig]

Is he the horse that is for sale in your sig? If so why are you selling him?

he is not the one for sale, the one for sale is another horse that was sold and then the owner couldnt manage through no fault of his own and he came back to us.

the one in the pic is my horse mac, i will have to post a pic of harry, the one in the signature for everyone to see is such a nice horse bless him

[Pink's lady]

Thoughts exactly the same as Rips- bloody hell, look at his back:eek:

He looks like he's spend years and years with a poorly fitted saddle and a very heavy rider:( Some horses do have backs looking like naturally though. We have a new horse on our yard with a back looking like that - the saddle fit is appaling:(

Looks like the muscling on his back is a bit better. The pictures aren't great for telling condition but he looks like he's actually an healthier weight in the first picture. IN the lastest picture he looks like he could do with loosing a bit of weight.

[vikkig]

Thoughts exactly the same as Rips- bloody hell, look at his back:eek: .

i nearlly didnt buy him because of his back i totally dismissed him and then he played on my mind for 3 weeks and i had to buy him.

IN the lastest picture he looks like he could do with loosing a bit of weight.

:eek::eek: i am now worried that he is too fat now, will have to take some pictures from chest and bum tomorrow to see what he looks like.

[Pink's lady]

If that's all muscle, then he's not a bad weight. But if he's been off work for 5weeks it's unlikely to be muscle so it's all going to be fat:o

He's got a bit of a belly and a big backside. Crest is hard to tell in the last piccie. He's definitnly not 'OMG, look at that fat horse', but he's certainly doesn't look slim:o It's harder to judge sometimes with the finer horses as they cheat and hide fat in places that make you think it's muscle. So you have to decide how much muscle he is actually carrying (not a lot i'd guess with time off) and how much is sneaky fat.

[eml]

Sorry but he just looks a bit overweight and under muscled/worked to me.

Disagreeing however with PL and RIPS many good horse are sway backed for reasons totally unconnected with saddle. I had one for years, great dressage horse, fantastic hack, most comfortable horse I have ever ridden but wither about 15.2hh, back about 14hh. main cause was I suspect carrying a big foal just before I bought her.

Difficult to saddle yes, caused by saddle no.

Not going OT but without knowing a horse background judgements are hard to make from photographs. I have bought three cobs all of whom had good shoulder muscle but weak backends, the reason was different in each case although the pictures would look the same!

[Rips]

many good horse are sway backed for reasons totally unconnected with saddle.
True, such as older horses or like you say mares who have carried big foals, where weakening of the ligaments and lordosis of the spine has occured - it looks different altogether, its harder to fit a saddle to it so muscle wastage is common, but you can have a reasonably well muscled sway-back otherwise.
Have you seen horses with sway-backs that have little or no muscle atrophy?

As far as I'm concerned there looks like there is localised atrophy there and its not as a result of his conformation, which includes the alignment of his spine and musculature, ie; his spine is not dipped beyond what is normal for a horse his age. Look at the last pic, especially at his loins, he has weak loins but there is no abnormal curvature at the lumbar area, though the top two pics taken at bad angles make it appear that there is ( yes it is hard to make judgements from photos...)