Flaws to Avoid
These characteristics would cause me to steer away from a weanling:
- Short legs. If they look short on a youngster at this age, they will most likely be downright stubby by the time he grows up.
- Hind legs that drag. A weanling with this flaw (sometimes called "sternwheeling") appears to be pushing his back legs out behind to propel himself forward, instead of reaching up under his body from behind with each step.
- Flat short way of going. I call this a "dinky" movement; the shoulder isn't free--able to roll up and back and lift the forearm--and the stride is small and close to the ground.
- Developmental disorders. Between about four months and a year. Check for clubbing, an abnormality in which the heel grows very long, the front of the hoof wall approaches vertical and the foot becomes box-shaped. Also, look for signs of physitis, which causes painful swelling of the growth plates above the knees, hocks or fetlocks, and which can indicate osteochondrosis, a defect in the way new bone is produced from growth cartilage.
Apparent Flaws that Self-Correct
It is my experience that, because a weanling is still very much a work in progress, some traits that would count against an older horse are apt to go away as the baby grows.
- Toeing out in front. As a weanlings narrow chest broadens with development, toes that have been turning out may straighten.
- Base-wide stance. Front feet placed far apart. Also usually the result of a narrow baby chest, this tends to disappear with maturity.
- Cow hocks and hocks that look too straight when viewed from the side. As the "pants" muscles of the hindquarters and back legs develop, a weanling's cow hocks may straighten. And hocks that appear too straight tend to become better-angled as the baby grows and they start to bear his increased body weight.
- Upright pasterns. This is a common characteristic in weanlings; but as the body gets bigger and heavier with maturity, the pasterns may come down to a correct angle.
- Tiny feet. Weanlings don't yet have much in the way of feet, so don't worry if they look small at this stage.
- Pacing at the walk. If you observe this fault--in which the foreleg and hind leg on the same side move almost simultaneously--in a weanling who's very long legged and short-backed, the tendency will probably go away when his back lengthens and his legs are proportionally shorter.
Personality Signposts
You can't tell much about the future temperament of a foal by his baby personality. He may be wild as a foal and gentle as a grown horse, or vice versa.
To forecast the weanling's future training ability, your best bet is to check out his parents and their other offspring, especially in terms of how well those offspring are doing with amateur riders. One good source of information is the U.S. Dressage Federation's website, where you can find the year-end standings for Adult Amateur riders at every level. Along with competitive results, the site gives the breeding of the amateur's horses. From there you can research the parents online through breed associations, locate other offspring and learn whether a line produces consistently trainable horses.
Breeder, trainer and judge Hilda Gurney judged the 2004 World Young Horse Championship in Verden, Germany. In 2004 and 2005, she rode Luminence, a gray Oldenburg gelding she bred and trained, to win the USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Western Selection Trials. Luminence, whose co-owner is Mary Contakos of Moorpark, Calif., also won the 2005 California Dressage Society and U.S. Dressage Federation Region Seven Open Third Level Horse of the Year awards. Renowned for her devotion to her students and her ability to "multi-task," Hilda--who has only gotten more deeply involved with every aspect of the sport of dressage since representing the U.S. in the 1976 Montreal and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with her legendary Thoroughbred, Keen--says she is "as busy as ever" these days.
For Hilda's perspective on dressage at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, see the November 2006 issue of Practical Horseman magazine.
