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Dudley the Dud

Dudley is a horse that we lease from our farrier for the summer. Our farrier got him as a weanling from his breeders. He is by a really nice champion warmblood stud and out of a really nice champion warmblood mare, but he was so ugly as a baby that his breeders gave him to my farrier as soon as he was weaned so that they didn't have record of him on their property. He does have a weird shaped eye that causes his third eyelid to show (which makes him look startled all the time) and a crooked nose do that his left nostril is bigger than the right. He is only about 15.1hh. I am absolutely terrible at conformation so I was wondering if he is really as bad as his breeders suspected. The photos are not ideal, but its all I have of him. [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/Dudley-2.jpg[/img] [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/dudleft.jpg[/img] [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/dudleft2.jpg[/img] He actually has a really big, powerful trot. [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/dudtrot.jpg[/img] [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/dudtrotrear.jpg[/img] [img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/monsterpony/dudleyrunS-1.jpg[/img]

Jenks Thu, 04/09/2009 - 10:07

He's just not very elegant looking in some of the pics, but kind of cute in 2 of them. A lot may be the presentation or the pictures. Plain head, low set neck. Steep rump but long hip. Straight shoulder, but open angle, hard to tell but I think his pasterns match it. None if this may be very accurate considering the angles of the shots are not good for judging. I wouldn't say anything else really due to that.

Monsterpony Fri, 04/10/2009 - 13:57

I'm going to have to see if anyone else has a photo that would be better for critique.

Sara Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:17

They may not want his breeding revealed.

Inigo was truly unattractive at times. Warmbloods just tend to go through these stages. Also, until recently they were not really bred for beauty so common heads were, well, common.

I remember when a lot of jumpers would have been considered unattractive horses. Their bodies would tend to have sort of an angular, awkward look when standing still but it certainly did not adversely affect their jump! I think that the trend toward a more beautiful warmblood might have started when they started catching on in the hunter ring.

Monsterpony Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:50

[quote="RiddleMeThis"]Do you happen to know the names of the stallion and mare??[/quote]

Nope, the farrier isn't allowed to say. All I know is that he was bred up the wazoo to be great.

Monsterpony Sat, 04/11/2009 - 14:14

He is around 8 or 9, if I recall correctly. Definitely not growing anymore.

Monsterpony Sun, 04/12/2009 - 13:57

He's a packhorse :laugh1 If you look at his front legs, you can see a bunch of little white spots that are scars from when he fell through a bridge while out on a hunting trip. When we have him, he is used as an advanced beginner/intermediate level lesson horse (his ginormous trot stride is too much for beginners to handle).

Monsterpony Thu, 04/16/2009 - 01:29

Ok I scrounged up some more photos that I had hiding on my external hard drive

These first two are from riding camps. The students get to decorate their mounts for the final ride of camp. These are the only ones I can find of him in a position that might be judgable:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

During a drill team practice, ridden by a Jr Varsity drill member:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

Walking:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

Running in the pasture:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

His funky eye:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

Crooked nose:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

Living up to his dud status:
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/…]

Jenks Thu, 04/16/2009 - 19:24

Man. The poor boy. These photos kind of erase the memory of the 2 cute ones....

He's not as steep in the rump as I previously thought, but it's so...flat. Is that goose rumped? Perhaps a little over at the knee and in his still pics, neck length is decent, but when he's moving? It shrinks up? He's hauling younguns though?

Sara Thu, 04/16/2009 - 20:44

Hmm, he's almost wry nosed. Any chance any of the other stuff was caused by an unusual position in the uterus?

He's cute though, he makes me giggle.

Monsterpony Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:57

He is a bit to forward for our youngest riders, but he sure teaches to more advanced ones to use their seat. In the drill picture, you can see the nose of his partner on the left edge so I can tell that his rider is trying to slow him down. I actually haven't used him in a lesson in a couple years because I almost only teach the absolute beginners so I have classes/camps full of cute little ponies or draft ponies. I really can't recall how he moves normally under saddle. I'll see if I can find someone with better riding photos.

Monsterpony Thu, 04/16/2009 - 23:03

By the way, in the doofy looking picture, he is trying to get supplement out from between his cheeks and teeth. I have a whole series of goofy faces as he tries to clear out his mouth.

Monsterpony Fri, 04/17/2009 - 19:26

No, his nose is always like that. If I had access to him now I would do a neurological exam because crooked nose and eye weirdness are signs of a nerve dysfunction (one of those if I knew then what I know now situations). The one with his gaping mouth is the one where he is trying to clean out his mouth.