Stallion walking videos on thoroughbredtimes.com
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CA Michael
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sunday_silence
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The rosters aren't up-to-date, but equinevision.com has videos for some of the Three Chimneys stallions. I'd really like to see one for Smarty Jones, as I've heard he has a bit of a gimp. I've seen him in person, but just standing. I thought he was pretty close to perfectly correct, but his right fore looks like it's stuck on at an odd angle. It isn't aligned with his shoulder.
Of course Dynaformer....what's not to love???
I really like Yes It's True. He's extremely well put together, very correct, and has a nice walk. I also like Medallist a lot although he needs to grow up and fill out still.
Sky Mesa looks like the young horse he is. He is over at the knee with short little legs.
Rahy, although I would breed to him any day for a runner, has a long back and long legs, he looks unbalanced but has a nice ground covering stride and walks fairly straight.
Smarty Jones is SOOOO unimpressive in person. He's small and just not that attractive. Think Quarter Horse without the stockiness. $100K??? No thanks.
War Chant is very fine boned and passes that along to his babies that I've seen. He has tiny feet also. He just looks fragile.
Point Given is a big horse all over and is nicely balanced. From the knee down he is a bit crooked and he does toe-in a bit.
Albert The Great is actually a very nice looking horse. He has a great hind end, beautiful shoulder and his neck is set nicely. He's pretty straight up front, although I guess if you wanted to pick him apart he does toe out more than average in back. But hey, the back has to follow the front, right??
I didn't see Flower Alley, not sure if he was there yet.
I'm sure I'm forgetting someone but can't think of it right now.......
I really like Yes It's True. He's extremely well put together, very correct, and has a nice walk. I also like Medallist a lot although he needs to grow up and fill out still.
Sky Mesa looks like the young horse he is. He is over at the knee with short little legs.
Rahy, although I would breed to him any day for a runner, has a long back and long legs, he looks unbalanced but has a nice ground covering stride and walks fairly straight.
Smarty Jones is SOOOO unimpressive in person. He's small and just not that attractive. Think Quarter Horse without the stockiness. $100K??? No thanks.
War Chant is very fine boned and passes that along to his babies that I've seen. He has tiny feet also. He just looks fragile.
Point Given is a big horse all over and is nicely balanced. From the knee down he is a bit crooked and he does toe-in a bit.
Albert The Great is actually a very nice looking horse. He has a great hind end, beautiful shoulder and his neck is set nicely. He's pretty straight up front, although I guess if you wanted to pick him apart he does toe out more than average in back. But hey, the back has to follow the front, right??
I didn't see Flower Alley, not sure if he was there yet.
I'm sure I'm forgetting someone but can't think of it right now.......
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sunday_silence
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Good Reward. He's pretty nice looking. Nothing major stuck out to me, conformation-wise. You have to love the family and the fact that he won G1s on dirt and turf. He stayed in training past his prime, but he was a good horse at one time. His full brother has done well at stud with meager mare opportunities. I don't like Pure Prize's looks at all, although his foals don't seem to be inheriting his crookedness. I'd give Good Reward a shot if I had a mare that fit with him.
I was lucky enough to see Smarty Jones being turned out in his paddock and he put on a little show at a full gallop before settling down. He may not be the greatest-looking horse at halter (good balance, but not the horse you'd pick out for a blue ribbon in the bunch) and I didn't really get a chance to see him walk, but on the run he moves like flowing water. The $100K question (literally!) is whether he can pass on that sort of balance and efficiency in motion.
Dynaformer was probably the most impressive of the lot to me -- not a pretty boy (in the true tradition of the Hail to Reason line) but a horse whose appearance and demeanor screamed "STALLION" even without checking for the equipment. He was huge but balanced and with the bone to support his mass, though not drafty-looking. I only saw him in his paddock and while he deigned to look me over (at a safe distance for me -- I'd been warned!), he wasn't inclined to move about.
Be nice if Three Chimneys would put up some walking vids, but I guess they figure business is brisk enough without them.
Dynaformer was probably the most impressive of the lot to me -- not a pretty boy (in the true tradition of the Hail to Reason line) but a horse whose appearance and demeanor screamed "STALLION" even without checking for the equipment. He was huge but balanced and with the bone to support his mass, though not drafty-looking. I only saw him in his paddock and while he deigned to look me over (at a safe distance for me -- I'd been warned!), he wasn't inclined to move about.
Be nice if Three Chimneys would put up some walking vids, but I guess they figure business is brisk enough without them.
"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher...You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse." C. S. Lewis
I don't know why people are hooked on a stallion's looks.
Northern Dancer looked like a fat, dumpy pony.
This isn't a beauty contest!!!
El Gran Senor was set under in the front....
As long as the stallion is relatively correct and stayed sound..who cares!
Of course, I breed to race but if I bred for sales than I *might* understand people's fascination with looks.
Northern Dancer looked like a fat, dumpy pony.
This isn't a beauty contest!!!
El Gran Senor was set under in the front....
As long as the stallion is relatively correct and stayed sound..who cares!
Of course, I breed to race but if I bred for sales than I *might* understand people's fascination with looks.
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CA Michael
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That's it, pokeyman. A lot depends on your goals. For myself, I breed to race, but want to keep the sales option available too. In either case, I would not consciously breed to pretzel-legged horse, OR to a "correct" horse that regularly produced crooked foals (some of these ultra perfect legged stallions have had surgical procedures which miraculously made them correct). I take a certain pride in breeding sound horses, whether they race for me or not.
Convictions without Courage are worthless
CA Michael wrote:That's it, pokeyman. A lot depends on your goals. For myself, I breed to race, but want to keep the sales option available too. In either case, I would not consciously breed to pretzel-legged horse, OR to a "correct" horse that regularly produced crooked foals (some of these ultra perfect legged stallions have had surgical procedures which miraculously made them correct). I take a certain pride in breeding sound horses, whether they race for me or not.
I agree but sometimes crooked stallions are sound. Have you ever seen the front legs on Say Florida Sandy!!
I think that the proof is in the pudding! If the stallion was sound and your mare was sound and they don't share the same faults who cares if the stallion is small, ewe necked, or "not impressive" looking as posters mentioned.
Pokeyman,
I agree with you on looks....a stud that can sire a runner should be given some slack as far as looks go. I was just answering the post about Three Chimneys horses in person. Those were my opinions of what they looked like in person. As I said in an earlier post, Victory Gallop has a horrendous walk, but I would breed a compatible mare to him any day, I think he's WAY underated. I wouldn't necessarily breed to sell with him, but breed to race, you bet!
Let's be realistic.....EVERY horse has conformational flaws. Some I am willing to overlook completely, some I try to balance out be breeding a mare to counter the flaw, some flaws I won't touch. If THE PERFECT horse is out there, I sure haven't seen him yet. To be totally honest, about the most correct horse I have seen is a bottom level claimer by Diligence, out of a no name mare!!! He's ridiculously correct and extremely well balanced. He was a dud on the track. So that just goes to show ya' that conformation does not a runner make!!
I agree with you on looks....a stud that can sire a runner should be given some slack as far as looks go. I was just answering the post about Three Chimneys horses in person. Those were my opinions of what they looked like in person. As I said in an earlier post, Victory Gallop has a horrendous walk, but I would breed a compatible mare to him any day, I think he's WAY underated. I wouldn't necessarily breed to sell with him, but breed to race, you bet!
Let's be realistic.....EVERY horse has conformational flaws. Some I am willing to overlook completely, some I try to balance out be breeding a mare to counter the flaw, some flaws I won't touch. If THE PERFECT horse is out there, I sure haven't seen him yet. To be totally honest, about the most correct horse I have seen is a bottom level claimer by Diligence, out of a no name mare!!! He's ridiculously correct and extremely well balanced. He was a dud on the track. So that just goes to show ya' that conformation does not a runner make!!
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CA Michael
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Pokeyman,
Don't you know that the TVG analysts are all experts in conformation AND pedigrees? With the definite exception of Frank Lyons and Simon Bray, they should all stop offering breeding and conformation opinions because the more they do so, the more ignorant they look.
Don't you know that the TVG analysts are all experts in conformation AND pedigrees? With the definite exception of Frank Lyons and Simon Bray, they should all stop offering breeding and conformation opinions because the more they do so, the more ignorant they look.
Convictions without Courage are worthless
I'm not involved in the breeding game myself (at least not yet -- hope, hope!) but my own opinion, for what it's worth, is that good balance and general athleticism are traits that overcome a lot of conformational sins. A horse that uses himself well travels more efficiently and puts less stress on his underpinnings than one that is only average in that department. John Henry and Easy Goer were both classic examples of horses whose fluid way of going helped keep them sound far longer than a basic look at their conformation would have suggested -- of course, it also helped that both were in the hands of first-rate trainers and were owned by people generally not inclined to interfere with those trainers.
I have to admit that one trait I do NOT like seeing has nothing to do with leg conformation -- it's being heavy-topped. Michael described both the conformation and its effects beautifully in discussing In Excess and his progeny. I've honestly felt that one reason the In Reality line has a pretty fair reputation for soundness despite being known for throwing rather upright pasterns and knees that are often flat or slightly back is that most horses from that line don't tend to be heavy-bodied compared to their legs, so they don't pound on those faulty legs as hard as horses from some other lines that tend to be heavier up top.
I have to admit that one trait I do NOT like seeing has nothing to do with leg conformation -- it's being heavy-topped. Michael described both the conformation and its effects beautifully in discussing In Excess and his progeny. I've honestly felt that one reason the In Reality line has a pretty fair reputation for soundness despite being known for throwing rather upright pasterns and knees that are often flat or slightly back is that most horses from that line don't tend to be heavy-bodied compared to their legs, so they don't pound on those faulty legs as hard as horses from some other lines that tend to be heavier up top.
"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher...You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse." C. S. Lewis
mahubah,
You are hinting about an entry to breeding........very interesting. I would think your reputation as a pedigree analyst would have money folks looking at any progeny you put together. Seems natural for you enter this segment of the business.
If you dont mind sharing, what kind of plans are going through your mind?
Thanks
You are hinting about an entry to breeding........very interesting. I would think your reputation as a pedigree analyst would have money folks looking at any progeny you put together. Seems natural for you enter this segment of the business.
If you dont mind sharing, what kind of plans are going through your mind?
Thanks
OK despite my earlier statement that looks aren't everything, I have to say that I have gone back and looked at Smarty Jones' conformation pic on Three Chimneys website and he seems to have blossomed since I saw him. I previously said that he was very unimpressive in person, and I may have spoken too quickly, as when I saw him he hadn't been off the track very long and it is quite possible he was in that yucky let-down stage that some studs seem to mysteriously go through.
That being said, only time will tell if his progeny live up to all the hype!
go through.
That being said, only time will tell if his progeny live up to all the hype!