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Member
Posts: 14
| When looking for a future barrel horse. What type of confirmation is important to look for? I know buying a baby is taking a shot in the dark but we want to take the chance  Suggestions please!!!!! |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
    
Location: Alberta | I really take into consideration what dam & sire looks like...then pedigree.....never a guarantee on either BUT gives ya a really good indicator! |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | When they first pop out, they don't really look like much. This guy was born on May 19th, and these pictures were taken last night, so he is less than 2 months old. He isn't square up good, but you can tell he has a nice shoulder and a good hip. Look for pictures when they are older than a few weeks. Babies are tough, looking looking at mama and sire help too.
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  That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| Watch the way they move. Look for balance. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Same basics apply. Buy one that's set up good with solid muscling and most importantly has a solid structure in feet, legs, shoulder and hip angles.
This is what mine looked like at one day old:
At two weeks:
At four weeks:
At 9 weeks:
At 11 weeks.
Buy one that's built square, whose legs are in the right places, shoulder angle is at 45 degrees, tail isnt set too low or too high. Expect some uphill or downhill builds as they are growing, or one end to be a bit more muscled at one time than the other. But there should be some overall balance between each part of the body. Try and get video of them moving so you know that they are moving well. Certainly look at sire and dam records. Look at horses bred similarly and how they are performing. These are all the best predictors of the foal's potential.
ETA:
Here's video of her moving up through about four weeks and has pedigree information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEO7KLHuIY
Edited by oija 2014-07-08 2:06 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | oija - 2014-07-08 2:02 PM Same basics apply. Buy one that's set up good with solid muscling and most importantly has a solid structure in feet, legs, shoulder and hip angles.
This is what mine looked like at one day old:
At two weeks:
At four weeks:
At 9 weeks:
At 11 weeks.
Buy one that's built square, whose legs are in the right places, shoulder angle is at 45 degrees, tail isnt set too low or too high. Expect some uphill or downhill builds as they are growing, or one end to be a bit more muscled at one time than the other. But there should be some overall balance between each part of the body. Try and get video of them moving so you know that they are moving well. Certainly look at sire and dam records. Look at horses bred similarly and how they are performing. These are all the best predictors of the foal's potential.
ETA:
Here's video of her moving up through about four weeks and has pedigree information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEO7KLHuIY
Very nice baby!!  |
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 Guys Just Wanna Have Fun
Posts: 5530
Location: OH | If at all possible it is nice to see a full sibling that is older. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1430
Location: Montana | It's tough and it helps to have seen a lot of them grow up. If you have a friend that has similar taste in horses who has seen a lot of babies grow up into the kind of horses you like, get them to look with you. About 90% of baby horses are cute . . . a whole lot lower percentage grow up to be good looking adults.
I agree that looking at relatives - as many as possible - is a good idea. I'd say not just sire and dam but other colts by the same stud and out of the same mare. I can think of some great producers who aren't that attractive in person, however. And some sires that are good looking but are inconsistent sires . . . a lot of those, really.
There's an old saying that you should look at a baby at 2 days, 2 months, and then don't look again until 2 years. That's obviously a little odd, but there's some truth in it. Baby fat can make them look better than they are going to be and it can also make their neck disappear. Growth spurts can do terrible, terrible things to good babies (OMG, my yearlings right now . . . .)
Just because it is a challenge to judge babies and because there is a little added risk, don't back off if that is what you want. Just study a little harder. An old timer once told me if you aren't willing to buy babies you will always be shopping for horses that have been picked over. His opinion was that a lot of the best ones sell only once, as weanlings, and never sell again. I think that is worth considering. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2258
| I don't buy babies but raise them and you have gotten good advice already. I like to have people come more than once and also watch them out in the field playing, interacting with the other horses ect. You can see a lot about athletic ability and of course personality by watching. While conformation is a big deal so are some of the smaller things. If you can see colts by the stud that is always nice to see if he is stamping his colts with all the right qualities. |
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 Georgia Peach
Posts: 8338
Location: Georgia |
STRAIGHT LEGS and proper angles. Look for a gentle sloping shoulder, croup and pasterns. Those will be good indicators of future conformation. A personal thing I like to see in a foal is a kind eye as well. |
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