What do you guys think of these colts? Pics on page 3,6,7,8 & 12

[danischi24]

I was thinking of buying this colt. He's a QH by a dead son of Smart Chic Olena & I'm not sure how the dam is bred but you can see her for yourself. He is now just over a year & a half old & that's the catch for me, I hate waiting & I've already waited 3 years to buy another horse but nice ones at good prices are in short supply here. These are photos from foalhood til now. He is still at foot with his mother at the moment. I'm just looking for a smart looking horse to ride out & I have international competition experience. PS. I live overseas.

 

[Chickygirl55]

I think hes a good looking colt, a bit on the skinny side though.

 

[danischi24]

Yeah but that's so easy to fix & I actually prefer that young horses don't carry too much weight on them while they are still growing a lot. I've seen many obese yearlings & I'm sure it can't be good for them. I don't like them ribby but there's nothing wrong with lean, IMO.
I've never had a quarter horse before though. I hope he won't be too much of a slouch for me. What age can you back them & do outrides? My Thoroughbreds are backed at 18months & go straight into race work. My Warmbloods are backed at 3 & a half & worked quietly for a year but then again, they are competition horses. What age do you wait on quarter horses?

 

[annanicole18]

well most people start them at two so that they are ready for the big three year old competitions here in the states.

 

[luvchicks8]

Beautiful horse, I would as mention put alittle weight on but that is an easy fix

 

[danischi24]

He wont be competed, just ridden out. Does that mean I should start him earlier or later? I would like to start him as early as possible without doing any damage to him. Having a horse & not riding it is awful.

 

[LadyinRed]

Quarter horses can be ridden at two lightly but most people wait till three to really start training and some people even wait till four if they will be doing harder work with them.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

For whatever it is worth, I ride lightly at 3 (depending on the x-rays), show them cows by the time they are 4, but do not seriously compete in cutting until they are late 4-yr-olds or 5. It does depend on the bloodline. I currently have Zip lines and they do seem to mature later (mentally) than the Poco Bueno lines I was riding years ago.

And while it is okay to keep youngsters a bit lean, they do need their nutrients to develop into all they can. Too often "lean" means undernourished and THAT cannot be fixed with a little grub.

JMO


Rusty

 

[()relics]

Based on his pedigree I would take a chance on him. If after a year or so he doesn't meet your expectations you should be able to get some/all of your money back by selling him as a started colt....JMO...I like to start horses at 18 months but some aren't developed enough, physically or mentally, to really start woking them until they are 3-4...again jmo...but I am not in any hurry to finish them....rather have them finish when they are "ready" whatever age that may be...

 

[patandchickens]

It's pretty hard to tell how he's actually built without a proper side view conformation-type shot. But, nothing leaps out as being obviously scary about him. That type of QH is not my personal favorite for athleticism but it just depends what you want to do and what your personal tastes are and if he floats your boat then that's certainly fine

What do you want to DO with him, though? *Just* recreational light riding, or do you want to compete and if so doing WHAT? For some things he'd be good, for others not.

As far as age, there is not really much difference between breeds per se IMHO. He's a horse. The earlier you back him, the more you need to steel your nerves to NOT DO THINGS with him. IME the biggest hazard (by far) to horses started early is that you end up with (say) a 4 year old who you've been riding for a year and a half and are bored just doing light w/t/c and you want to go FAST or you want to JUMP or start sliding stops or whatever... whereas if you had waited til the same horse was 3 1/2 before starting him you would have an easier time controlling yourself

(Not you specifically, of course, just anyone)

Good luck whatever you decide,

Pat