New stallion observations

Barcaldine · Postby **Barcaldine** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:14 pm

I always enjoy looking at the first and second year stallions this time of year. Now that I live in KY I've made myself a promise that I will not breed to any stallion I haven't seen and liked.

Love UNCLE MO. Very similar type to INDIAN CHARLIE. Little long in the cannon bone and could have more bone (typical of IN EXCESS horses), but excellent topline, quarters and shoulder. Turns out in both forelegs. Damn close to 17 hands. Nice temperament.

CAPE BLANCO--European to the max. Long cannon bones, slight offset, toes out. Small feet. Great shoulder, hocks are behind him. Good size but somewhat slab sided. Lovely walk. Nice temperament.

MUNNINGS--Beautifully balanced. From a distance he looked smaller than up-close, a common reaction to balanced horses, e.g. Tiznow. A good 16.1 hands. Strong quarters and lovely shoulder. Questionable feet.

TWILIGHT CANDY--Disappointing. I really wanted to like him because he's my kind of horse (speed 6-9f) but can't say I will breed to him. Base narrow, in at both knees, offset, small feet, light bodied, very long-backed. 16.2 and good temperament.

SHAKESPEARE--A slightly larger version of his sire, THEATRICAL. Well balanced, good quarters, long shoulder, small feet, so-so correctness. Strong bodied. 16 hands.

COURAGEOUS CAT--The biggest disappointment of the day. Not nearly as strong bodied as his full brother AFTER MARKET, who also stands at Lanes End. On TV he looked as good, but he's not. Hocks are way behind him, long backed, toes out, light. He's priced "right" (10k) and now I see why. Only a big, robust, correct mare should go to him.

DISCREETLY MINE--Loved his short back, one of the shortest Ive seen in years. Hocks are behind him and he doesnt look well balanced to me. Relatively correct, small feet, good shoulder and temperament.

Curious to hear others' comments.

rudydee · Postby **rudydee** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:35 am

Thanks very much for posting. The Cape Blanco observation- "Good size but somewhat slab sided." I have never heard the term "slab sided".
What is that?

Barcaldine · Postby **Barcaldine** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:13 am

I like to see a well-rounded barrel with well-sprung ribs. Slab sided horses are the opposite--narrow wasted through the torso. Twiggy was slab sided (shows my age!).

Crystal · Postby **Crystal** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:17 am

I like Discretely Mine when I saw him on Sunday. I think he has good size and height. I think in a year he will look like a different horse. As all do after retiring to stud. Very leggy fellow.

Zahrah · Postby **Zahrah** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:15 am

Crystal wrote:I like Discretely Mine when I saw him on Sunday. I think he has good size and height. I think in a year he will look like a different horse. As all do after retiring to stud. Very leggy fellow.

You should have seen the change he made between when he was at Saratoga as a 2 yo and then at 3. Looked like two completely different animals.

Crystal · Postby **Crystal** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:32 pm

Saw Cape Blanco and Uncle Mo yesterday.. Was not impressed by Uncle Mo at all. Pin fired and was not a fan of his ankles. Long shoulder and hind quarters. Looked worn out, a good couple months of fattening up before the breeding season will do him well.

Cape Blanco was fantastic looking. Good muscle, balanced body, huge stride and effortless movement. Would send mares to him all day.

Majestic Warrior stole the show for me. I had never really considered him before, but all around beautiful horse!

Adena was next. Ghostzapper, Macho Uno and Awesome Again were all in good flesh. AA looked fantastic for having colic surgery in Sept. He recovered better than any stud I had known. Kudos for Rood & Riddle for their superior care. Macho Uno would definetly be a recommendation for anyone looking for a solid horse.

Zahrah · Postby **Zahrah** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:10 pm

Majestic Warrior really is a fantastic looking horse. I just wish he was throwing to his looks more consistently. Not a lot of them look like daddy.

Love Awesome Again and would love to use him but damn, can he get a small yearling. And with no rhyme or reason. I know of huge mares throwing small to him and medium/small side of average mares get a decent sized one.

Shammy Davis · Postby **Shammy Davis** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:21 pm

Barcaldine wrote:

Love UNCLE MO. Very similar type to INDIAN CHARLIE. Little long in the cannon bone and could have more bone (typical of IN EXCESS horses), but excellent topline, quarters and shoulder. Turns out in both forelegs. Damn close to 17 hands. Nice temperament.
CAPE BLANCO--European to the max. Long cannon bones, slight offset, toes out. Small feet. Great shoulder, hocks are behind him. Good size but somewhat slab sided. Lovely walk. Nice temperament. . .

Crystal wrote:

Saw Cape Blanco and Uncle Mo yesterday.. Was not impressed by Uncle Mo at all. Pin fired and was not a fan of his ankles. Long shoulder and hind quarters. Looked worn out, a good couple months of fattening up before the breeding season will do him well.

Cape Blanco was fantastic looking. Good muscle, balanced body, huge stride and effortless movement. Would send mares to him all day. . .

Just goes to show that evaluating conformation is very subjective.

Small hooves, if it is the case w/CAPE BLANCO, is atypical of a Euro Thoroughbred.

Tappiano · Postby **Tappiano** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:10 pm

So is everything else in the world of thoroughbred's

and if you read Frank Mitchell's blog you see a lot of dissenting opinions. It seems to come down to what someone likes to see on the horse not always what is bad.

Long pasterns are another trait that either people love or hate... and it always goes back to horses that have long one's and did well or long one's and did not...

Sorry to digress a bit.. I LOVE to read people's opinions on what is good and bad about particular conformation. I really wish theyd have done more in the blood horse when they did the series on the yearlings and how almost everyone had a different opinion on what was good and bad on them.

Barcaldine · Postby **Barcaldine** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:55 am

REGAL RANSOM--15.3 hands, strong quarters, excellent shoulder, correct and toes in slightly LF. Nice temperament. Was lame due to a gravel so I couldnt see him at the walk. He was pin fired on both hocks in the middle of his 3yo year and this unfortunately detracts from his presence. Avg size feet, well balanced, looks more like an Elusive Quality than a Distorted Humor.

DESERT PARY--Like most first year stallions has filled out tremendously since I last saw him in the spring. 16.1, beautifully balanced, lovely head, correct through knees but toes in LF. Excellent quarters and shoulder. Nice size feet. A huge improvement over his sire, Street Cry, whose hocks are something of a minor disaster.

MIDSHIPMAN--Same story--has really blossomed after first year at stud. 16.2 great hind quarters and shoulder, really an attractive horse. Knees aren't perfect and he toes out a bit, but has good bone, which is something one doesnt always find with the Unbridleds Song tribe, and certainly not with the Avenue of Flags' either. He's priced right--no doubt due to the fact that his sire simply hasnt had a son fire at stud.

Tappiano · Postby **Tappiano** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:36 pm

I thought Midshipman was over at the knee when I saw him, but it could have been the way he was standing and I think Old Fashioned has more bone than he does out of all the US sons.

Barcaldine · Postby **Barcaldine** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:20 pm

I didnt notice that about Midshipman.

Since I will not breed at Taylor Made I haven't looked at Old Fashioned.

Am very interested in TRAPPE SHOT at Claiborne and hope to look at him next week (if the temp hits 50!)

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:10 pm

I saw Midshipman at Darley last winter and I didn't think he was over at the knee. All in all, he was a really nice, well balanced horse with very good conformation, in my opinion. I really liked him a lot.

Tappiano · Postby **Tappiano** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 5:40 am

It could very well have been how he was standing and that's why I said that... I freely admit I am slightly deficient when it comes to my knowledge of conformation but as I saw Red Bullet a few hours earlier the first thing I looked at with MS was his knees.

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:48 am

I remember Red Bullet pretty well from when he was at Adena Springs South, and he did have a crooked set of forelegs. On the plus side, he had strong quarters and really got his hocks well up under him when on the move.

I always love reading other people's observations of these different stallions. Thanks for sharing, Barcaldine.