Failure to be spotted

BrownEyedCowgirls posted this a.m. regarding a rather unfortunately-pictured horse and the tendency of folks to jump on the bandwagon and judge things with more haste (and spite) than wisdom.

I wrote before about how I acquired Sunny, rather than the nice broke horse I was saving my pennies for.

Sunny had a number of strikes against him:

1. He was deemed a failure because he's (almost) solid chestnut instead of the pinto he was supposed to be.
2. He isn't exactly perfect, conformation-wise. The first thing the farrier's wife - ever tactful - said when she heard I was thinking of buying him was, "couldn't you pick the other one? [Sunny's full brother Windancer, younger by one year, and a pinto to boot] He has straight legs!"
   
3. He's not very tall - just at 15 hands, if I'm generous with the tape, and I have long legs.
4. 5. & 6. He wasn't much more than halter-broke (sort of), was still a stud, and wasn't registered.
   

I bought him anyway. BO's loss, my gain - I've never really cared as much about color as about commonsense. Good conformation and a good brain are worth a lot more than coat color IMHO.

So why, if conformation is so important, pick him? As far as the legs go, yes, his left front is just a touch crooked. He's also just a smidge cow-hocked, but that's not uncommon for Arabians. Those are his biggest faults, and they're not horrible. His feet wear evenly, and he's sound. He has a pretty head (and of course, as we all know, how pretty a horse's head is is definitely the most important character trait to look for - LOL!), and he's comfortable to ride - didn't know that then, of course, but I did like the way he traveled.

These two pictures of Sunny were taken on the same day minutes apart.

Now, I wouldn't say Sunny is conformationally suited for anything in particular. But he could probably compete successfully in the lower levels of many things, and since I have no particular aspirations towards greatness, we suit each other quite nicely.

As for being small - well, I've ridden, and enjoyed riding, lots of tall horses. Quite honestly, I like having a horse that I can get on bareback without having to resort to block, fence, or bucket. At 150 lbs, he's not working too hard carrying me, and I fully intend to keep him for a very long time. Given how stiff my knees are some days, it's purely a pleasure not to have to stretch so very high to find that stirrup! (Oddly, both Dancer, the full brother mentioned above, and his half brother Thunder - are tall - well over 15 hands, and both have spots. Genetics are fascinating, aren't they?)

The unhandled, ungelded, and unregistered points? Well, I could (and did) fix all of those. He wasn't mean or chargey, just young and full of spunk. The good brain part was, I admit, a gamble. He could have been a snot - his mother tended toward cranky. But I struck lucky. Sunny takes most developments with equanimity.

And from subsequent observation, all of the foals by Sunny's sire I've been around have had his same tendency to be easy-going disposition-wise. Granted, I've worked at that, and at not turning him into a "hot" Arab, but the basic readiness to trust has to be there first. He has it.

Sometimes you just have to grab that diamond in the rough. Even if you're the only one who can see the facets shine. In this case, lack of spots certainly paid off for me.

So maybe that roan mare Mrs. Mom took a liking to isn't to everyone's taste. Maybe they don't see the power in her big hind end, and the spark in her eye doesn't speak to them.

Hopefully, the fact that FHOTD posted that mare's picture for everyone to make fun of will prove to be the silver lining and not the end of the story. I'd like to see that mare and foal get an upgrade, and I'm pulling for them both!