Gelding A

➞ Though he has some good qualities, this gelding doesn’t have the overall balance of Gelding C. His back is short and appears strong, but his underline is longer than I’d like. I feel strongly that a performance horse should be deep through the heartgirth and horses with long underlines usually are shallow through the heartgirth, as this gelding is. That limits his heart-lung capacity.

He has an average head that’s a bit convex in profile. His throatlatch is thick, but his neck is of adequate length. Though it ties into his chest deeper than ideal, it doesn’t mean he won’t be able to perform. His shoulder is steeper than the firstplace gelding’s, and though he has an adequately long hip, he could use more muscle definition throughout his shoulders and his hind end.

He has good, flat knees, and his front pasterns are angled to match the angle of his shoulders. His hocks show too much angulation, which may lead to unsoundness as he’s worked over time.