You be the Judge with David Ross

Who would you pick as a show prospect?

David Ross has bred Champions in a variety of breeds, including Riding Ponies, Arabians, Welsh, Australian Stock Horses, Thoroughbreds and Shetlands. David is in high demand as a judge and has officiated across Australia and overseas.

See below how David has placed these three thoroughbreds as show prospects.
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When commencing the evaluation of any class I always ask myself, what will the horse’s intended use be? In this case the form to function of these three Thoroughbreds is their suitability in terms of conformation for a future in showing. I also like to try and look at the positive attributes and overall balance and symmetry prior to assessing the negative aspects.

1st - 16.1hh, 3yo, gelding.

My first placed horse, is the 3yo,16.1hh gelding, he, in my opinion is a far better-balanced animal than the other two. He has a nice short back, is well proportioned and has a nicely muscled hindquarter. I like his depth of heart and girth. He appears to have nice straight limbs and correct pastern angles. Unfortunately, he has a plainish head (almost a slight roman nose) and lacks both length and turn of front which are both desirable traits I like to see in a show horse. Although he is a reasonably well conformed horse and the clear winner of this class, he does not possess the necessary star quality or presence to make a top show animal.

2nd - 14.3hh, 3yo, gelding.

My second placed horse in this difficult class was the small bay, gelding. The positive aspects of this horse would have to be his pleasant head (although he does show some white in the eye), good clean gullet and his length of rein and good shoulder angulation. I do not like his loins, sloping croup or tail set. However, the worst and most worrying issue with this horse is the structure of his front and hind limbs. He appears forward on his knees and stands extremely wide behind. I am also concerned that he is too low on leg and lacks scope. He does appear to have a good depth of chest and adequate muscling in the forearm and gaskin areas. His near side hind leg also appears to have suffered some trauma or damage at some stage as significant swelling is evident on the inside of his hock. I would also like to check his bite to see that it was even as his top lip appears slightly forward in this photo, however saying this my motto as a Judge is; ”what you do to one you do to all and never touch what you cannot see.”

3rd - 16.1hh, 4yo, gelding, in work

My third placed horse in this evaluation class is the chestnut gelding. His most endearing feature is that he displays good scope and although his cannons are a tad long, he possibly has the best limbs of the three. Unfortunately, he does not really display many other qualities I like to see in a show horse. If we were to divide this horse into three parts, it would soon become evident that he is not a very well-balanced animal. He is far too long in the back and extremely weak and short in the hindquarters. His neck is poorly set onto his shoulders and lacks length. He displays a nice kind eye, but his head is rather plain and long when measured from eye to nose. His feet appear to be well maintained and are currently a good shape and have good pastern/hoof angulation (ideally at 45 degrees). I think this horse would be difficult to condition for the show ring, given that despite being in work, he has such poor muscling over his loins and hindquarters. Finally, I am not happy with his hind leg placement as they appear in this photograph. He appears to be sickle-hocked or camped under and this no doubt would certainly influence his ability to track up fully in all gaits.

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