Conformation critique of my filly?

[DFCottage]

Good afternoon all,
Here is a pic of my filly (who is now a 2 y.o., but is a yearling in this picture.. it was the best one I had and the camera is busted so I can't get one at the moment). We are heading to a big AA hunter show on Saturday for the breeding classes, and I just wanted to get people's opinions on her. Don't worry about hurting my feelings.. just say what you see!

She is out of a Hanov. stallion and a TB mare. Branded RPSI with a silver premium at 4 weeks of age

Thanks so much!

 

[Kanchii]

She's really pretty, I'd love to see a current picture. Maybe someone will take one of you guys at the show and send it to you!

She's a little long for my taste, but has a lovely smooth topline and nice looking legs. She definitely got good traits from both breeds.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Her head seems big (or neck a little longish?), but maybe that's because it's a yearling photo...
My first impression was that she's gorgeous! Best of luck!

 

[DFCottage]

I'll definitely get some good ones at the show.. luckily a few friends are coming that are excellent with cameras! She's still a bit long for my tastes, (luckily her head is finally balancing out with her body!) so I'm hoping she'll balance out. Both her sire and dam are fairly short backed, but this line also develops very slowly, so a few more years and we should have a better idea.. haha

 

[chickbea]

I think she is absolutely gorgeous, but then I'm a sucker for thoroughbreds and I'm used to seeing the lankiness.
Very nice shoulder...

 

[ncgnance]

I think she's lovely, good conformation. Her head and neck look a bit long, but I believe it's the pose that makes her look like that. She has a very alert look. Pretty....

 

[ninjapoodles]

I love your filly. Love her. It's HARD to judge a yearling--they're just growing in fits and starts, and never the same in front as in back, it seems!

I love her rear, and her nice, long, strong hip, and clean legs. She could maybe have the littlest bit more shoulder layback to make her angles match, but have you ever seen a horse (or dog, for that matter) that COULDN'T use a better layback of shoulder? It's an elusive thing, and this filly's is darn good. I might like to see her neck tie in a little higher at the withers, but geez, she's a baby in this pic. She could have practically rearranged herself overnight after this pic was taken!

I would love to see her moving. Honest to gosh, this is my kind of horse. I've only bred Arabians, but I rode dressage and hunter, so this was the type of conformation I worked toward.

I wouldn't worry about her length of back at this point--it looks fine to me. She might be a little loose-coupled, but that could be an optical illusion because she's high behind at this growth stage. Plus, take it from an Arab person (our horses are actually a whole vertebrae shorter in the back than all others), a short back can make a less comfortable ride--especially when combined with short pasterns, something you see too often in my breed.

Did I mention I love your horse?

Here's the best I've ever done, breeding-wise:

He has a weanling daughter that's quite a looker, but I don't think she'll top her daddy.

Belinda

 

[kinnip]

I suspect the position of the camera isn't ideal, but she looks nice to me. I like her shoulders just fine. Her back does look a bit short, but ninjapoodles is right about yearlings. I'm guessing she looks nothing like that now. She looks like she'd make a nice dressage horse.

 

[spook]

Wow, the yearling photo shows that her color is wonderful, deep and healthy (I dunno much about nothing, but my friend that owns horses talks to me about things like this). I'll tell ya, that is a pretty horse. Looks great at that age.
And the stallion, holy cow, he is handsome and he knows it!

PLEASE please keep us posted, I would love to hear all about your experience and what others comment on her at the gathering! Just lovely.

 

[DFCottage]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! She has definitely changed since this pic was taken, I certainly hope for the better.. hahaa I'll see if I can get one tonight, but I secretly want to wait until the show to get some really decent ones to show you. She's pushing 15.2 right now, and still has lovely gaps in her knees! So to help build up some muscle for the ring I took her out for some nice walks and trotted up some hills, rather than making her trot trot trot around around around in the ring/round pen. I think it's definitely made her more bold! Don't want any joint issues with this one, so just taking it slowly...