Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Seeing Through the Photos (Star of the Beast Edition)

“A few hundred pounds and top line will always make them look better, but when you’re starting from a nicely angled hip and shoulder, you already know that you’re headed in the right direction.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on seeing the structure of a horse beneath less-than-ideal photos.

Last week, I went on a deep dive about the specific accumulation of factors that worry me about Thoroughbreds for sale online. Specifically, when they are cheap, have an uncertain prognosis, and are neon green or just off the track, I start to go down the “good dumb decision” rabbit hole.

The great thing is that when that article went up, I received a bunch of comments of all of you riding your horses not their X-rays or diagnoses. Folks shared how the best horses of their lives were passed over by others for big and little things, stories of how those imperfect horses gave them wings or filled their hearts. That was awesome. We all need more of that. Keep them coming.

Perhaps my favorite #ridethehorsenotthexray Major Spin and his impressively gnarly knee schooling at this year’s Makeover. Photo by Lauren Kingerly.

When I wrote last week, the horse that inspired the article, Star of the Beast, had not yet hopped on a trailer north from Florida. He was angular and had just been placed for resale after rehabbing knee surgery. I took one look at his photos and pedigree and knew there was a nice horse in there. And then did the smart-dumb thing and bought him and arranged shipping from Florida to New York. Sorry buddy, it is still cold up here.

I had been warned that he was a bit thin, had been scuffed up a bit in a paddock with others, and was a little on the rougher side. And we knew about his knee and the slab fracture, chip, and caudal fracture. That should he healed and rehabbed. And if he has a good range of motion, he will still absolutely have an athletic career. Good — just get him here.

Star of the Beast (now Scooter) when he arrived last Friday. Even a little rough and crusty from the trip from FL, he was in better shape than I anticipated. Photo by author.

Star of the Beast (now “Scooter”) arrived on Friday with a Turning For Home stunner we’re calling Anchovy (Vini Vidi Vici), who is his own cool story. Anchovy had a good race career, running 21 times and retiring as he was just slowing down as a six-year-old. The cooler story is that his breeders or owners cared enough about this foal to invest in significant cranial surgery when a copula fell from a barn and fractured his skull. The wire that put it back together is still visible. It didn’t alter his career, but does speak to owner/breeder commitment to these horses. Yes, I’m trying to track down reports and X-rays because I am a nerd.

Anchovy (Vini Vidi Vici) is mighty handsome, wired-togethered-skull and all. Photo by Lily Drew.

So broken head and broken knee settled into stalls next to each other and immediately tucked into the hay. Good kids.

Since, Scooter (named for the beast of a star, Scuti, whose size could apparently engulf all of Jupiter’s orbit — translation: really big star), has been eating a TON, learning about turnout, and not being afraid of his pasture mates (nope, he’s not currently a dominant horse), and figuring out how the chaos in my barn operates. And he is so incredibly kind.

Kind is this kid’s default. Photo of Star of the Beast by Lily Drew.

There are horses that come in whose default is aloof, or quirky, or shy. Some are pushy ones and bullies (usually because they’re actually insecure and need better, more secure-feeling boundaries), and many are sweet. This quiet horse has the default mode of exceptionally kind. He’s curious, gentle, and willing to do pretty much anything you ask. And I’m certain that once he comes out of his shell, there will be a hell of a nice horse in there with a whole lot more personality than just the quiet nice guy, but that’s a great place to start.

The one thing that I didn’t know about (but that’s because I didn’t ask) was that Scooter is pretty darn footsore. His feet are overgrown to the point where he had rolled his hind toes under. We filed flat a bit to try to get them more comfortable, but I’ll be excited for my farrier to get four shoes on him and some pads today to help support him from the ground up.

Yikes. Photo by author.

And once his feet feel better, his body will quickly catch up. Hell, this kid has already put on weight since Friday. It is all part of the”getting them on a good path” game. And it is fun to see where they were and where they are, even as they are just starting the process. I love standing them up and looking at the horse I knew was in there. This one is going to be pretty outstandingly lovely.

Scooter (Star of the Beast) two weeks ago in FL. Photo from Facebook ad.

Scooter yesterday. Photo by Lily Drew.

One of the tricks to seeing through imperfect conformation photos is to look for hip and shoulder angles as well as the neck tie in. The silver lining of a thin horse in photos is that it is easier to literally see the bones and muscles on which they are built. A few hundred pounds and top line will always make them look better, but when you’re starting from a nicely angled hip and shoulder, you already know that you’re headed in the right direction. Scooter has a ways to go with packing on the muscle and fat, but I’m impressed with what I’m seeing in less than a week. This kid can eat!

For the neck tie in, I look for a line that starts high off the wither, even if they are currently noodle-necked. From there, with ‘fed top line’ and ‘muscled top line,’ the horse will fill out into a lovely shape that can fit well across a range of disciplines.

Scooter is uphill, but not exceptionally so. His neck tie in is reasonably high. And when he’s finished getting in sport horse condition, this is going to be a horse that will turn heads, regardless of whether he’s in dressage, hunters, or streaking across the cross country field.

One more because he’s too damn cute. Photo by Lily Drew.

That said, it’s nice to be able to find a way to swoop in for those who both need the help AND will turn out to be stunners. But, I do also pick up horses despite regardless of their conformation. Turns out, even small more downhill shaped kiddos can be damn fancy when they get enough dewormer and quality feed and alfalfa. Otis on the Cape (Oats) made quite the turnaround in three months. With enough good nutrition, they usually do.

Otis on the Cape (Oats) and his belly o’ worms before he got here in late November. Photo by Amara Kranz

Oats at the end of December. I wish I had grabbed another photo before he moved to his new eventing and dressage home in February. He looked even better then! Photo by Lily Drew.

So for now, for Scooter I’ll keep the alfalfa and the good grain coming. And we’ll hope that he really, really likes his new shoes. Because if he was this willing to just give it a quick walk around with this brain on sore feet, I have no doubt he’s going to be an exceptionally good, talented egg once we have him feeling better. This one is going to make one hell of a fun glow up, and I can’t wait to share his continued progress.

Scooter for his first post track walk ride. Screenshot by Lily Drew.

So go ride folks (and share your progress photos!) I’ll keep the Scooter updates coming.

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