photo assessments

Yes, 'horsegears' is, go to the Stallions forum then 'Hey Orpen' thread. He's posted there.

The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it.

You need to see horses in the flesh, photos are misleading.

A good photo of a horse will tell you heaps but a crap one (or even with very slight errors of placement) can be misleading.

Look, when its all said and done I believe I can provide some very good information regarding conformation. I believe if you look through my comments, you will find there fairly reliable. If I err and someone points that out, well thats still good. As it is, the existing information regarding racehorse conformation is very text bookish, and often based only on traits that apply to general horses, or what people have read previously in books. As I base all that I state and do on my own research, I believe I can offer some insights that go beyond that.

For example, here is an insight that goes against textbook theory.

Humerus bone length and angle (arm): The humerus extends from the elbow joint, upwards towards the shoulder joint. A longer arm and/or a more upright arm, should result in a longer stride, and greater endurance. But regardless of this, we found the length to be very similar with both stayers and sprinters. Further the angle was surprisingly slightly more upright for the sprinter. Again this indicates stride length and endurence. As this goes against text book theory, how can this work in the sprinters favour? The sprinters shoulder joint is typically open, leading to a slightly shorter shoulder blade. The upright humerus and shorter shoulder blade decreases the top line horizontal measurement from chest to wither. This enables the sprinter to obtain greater length, through the hind, while also maintaining a reasonable height/length ratio. This means whatever a sprinter may lose in speed/strength through its fore, due to its upright arm, will be re-attained in spades, from its stronger hindquarters.

set this guy up years ago , who "alledgedly" could pick a champ from photos....sent him the sires (stallions) photos telling him they were yearlings I had just purchased....the resulting assesments were hysterical....god I wish I still had them to post for you all for a good laugh LOL

Bah humbug

they were former G1 winners and he bagged the crap out of them

antlowes wrote:

So you told him pics of 7yo's+ stallions were actually 2yo yearlings and you were surprised when his assessments were off the mark?

Go figure...

Very balanced point Antlowes.

Afterall, a mature Thoroughbred, when rated as a Yearling will not even have the noted athletic Thoroughbred proportions, let alone conformation for winning Group 1 races.

In fact the bone structure would not match any straight racebred horse, even the racing quarter horses.

The legs would appear way to short, the girth way to deep, big barrel, thick neck, etc etc, similar to stocky pony club type yearlings. Further the length of the shoulder balde would be massive.

Yes nod, its a good story, but bulldust

Worried about what they may say about alex's horse X? Tongue

We Started Nothing.

means jack to me diamondsatdusk, why would I give a rodents about that ?

I also think its a good guide for distance, if you can measure and assess all the small % variations. I may start a thread distance gearing estimations.

I believe conformation, breeding, muscle quality, cardio system, upbringing, soundness, and more, are all important. But I believe the genuine Champions have high qualities across the board. Thus individually, in my opinion they may be used as a guide, but if you can use them in conjunction with each other, you may have a very powerful tool.

Surely that type of change would be noticed by buyers doing final inspections. Hardly any buyer at the top end would take a chance without a final physical inspection, so you are just asking for trouble by showing a photo that doesn't reflect reality???

The problem with Opportunity is that it wears overalls and looks like work.

It is clearly visable that part of the abdomen is shaded out to give the horse a more streamlined deeper girth.

If you e-mail me privately I will give you lot numbers to compare both photo and sirecam.

Once you are aware of the alteration it is quite easy to pick. It is not a massive alteration but one that definately enhances the girth.

I daresay once at the sales Noone remembers the exact look of the horse except it just does not make the grade as the photo sugested.

Last year I was disappointed wih certain drafts that looked exceptional on photos, this year when comparing sirecam against photos of the same yearlings now know why.

They do it all the time for fashion shoots to enhance the models looks.

I also agree reng that you are not going to fool the buyer on final inspections but neverless it does appear that these photos have been touched up.

Interested on your opinions once you have compared the two.

Can you do 1 for mine ?????

Happy Fit Horses Win Races :-)

Happy Fit Horses Win Races :-)