Buying a weanling (which I think of as age three to six months) is an opportunity to get the quality in a baby that you may not be able to afford in a mature horse. But it's risky too--you really don't know the horse you're buying until you can ride him. So what can you tell about a weanling's future potential for dressage from the way he looks and moves, and what's likely to change as he grows?
Conformation
There's an old horseman's saying that the best times to evaluate a baby are at three days, three weeks, three months and three years. I would extend the three months window to six months; after that stage, babies, especially those that will grow up to be big adults--get gangly and harder to size up until they are around three years old.
Here's what I like to see in a dressage prospect at the three- to six-month point:
- Long legs. At this point I want the weanling's legs to look very long in proportion to his body, because he'll grow into them, and legginess is a plus for a dressage horse. I want the legs to be straight, too--meaning that when viewed from the front, the leg is a nice column of bone that's aligned through the forearm, knee and cannon bone. (I don't worry if a weanling toes out a bit, however; see why below.)
- Uphill build. He won't have defined withers at this stage of his development. But in motion, the weanling I see as a good dressage prospect elevates his shoulders and carries them up so that the place where his withers will be is higher than his croup. (I don't worry if he is a little croup-high to look at while standing--as he may be at this stage--as long as he works uphill.) Completing the picture is a neck that is set on high, with no dip in front of the wither area. A dip would cause him to need to carry his neck and head lower than is ideal for dressage, or else hollow his back when elevating neck and head to a desirable angle. Even at this age, I like to see the neck well shaped, with a topline that's longer than the bottom line.
- Roomy throatlatch. The weanling's head will grow, but you can already see whether there is a couple of fingers' width in the triangular area defined by his jawbones and his neck muscle, giving him the future ability to flex and come on the bit without choking.
- Forward-sloping femur. The femur is the large leg bone connecting the hip joint to the stifle (the equivalent of your knee). If it slopes well forward from hip to stifle (rather than being more up-and-down), it will aid the ability to collect.
- Good muscling over his loin, back and haunches. Yes, you can see the development of these muscles, as well as the "pants" muscles--the big hamlike muscles on the insides of the hind legs--even in a weanling. Look for muscling that reaches well down to his hocks.
Movement
In many cases, a horse moves better as a weanling than he'll ever move again in his life. At this age, he has mastered his long legs, yet he has very little body mass to keep him earthbound.
If you see the following hallmarks of good movement in a weanling, and if his parents and their other offspring exhibit the same traits as adults, chances are he'll "hold" his movement as he matures.
- Free shoulder. This is signaled by the ability to lift the forearm for a good reach in front.
- Uphill thrust. Active hind legs that reach forward under the body create this.
- Three forward moving gaits. Look for a four-beat walk with an over step (the hind foot hits the ground in front of the print of the preceding front foot), a big "boingy" two-beat trot with a moment of suspension, and a three-beat canter that also has a moment of airtime. (Never buy a weanling that can't canter!)
Videotape the weanling in motion so you can slow down the playback and see whether he has "Advanced Diagonal Placement" (ADP) at the trot: whether the diagonal hind foot lands a fraction of a second before the fore-foot. Swedish veterinarian Mikael Holstrom, who pioneered the ADP concept, believes that this movement characteristic indicates a greater probability of success in dressage because a horse with ADP can more easily shift his balance to his rear legs and collect himself.
