Post by sojourner_stable on Feb 11, 2006 0:01:09 GMT -5
Grand Champions
6) Bay/Black/Brown/Buckskin/Perlino Halter (1 entry)
1st- Polonaise, owned by Bre
Not a bad GC mold actually.
The footing is nicely in scale, I would suggest putting up some kind of backdrop so you don’t have the two different textures in the background. That’s the big thing that gives away her actual size. Also, if you’re using a leadrope, instead of draping it on the ground, have it tied up off-camera at a convincing height. That also helps with the “realism” of the picture.
The lighting is excellent and you’ve shot the mare from the side, rather than from the top, which is excellent. The profile angle is very nice, but I’d suggest taking the ribbon out of her tail. If she were real, the ribbon wouldn’t stay on and unless it’s a draft horse, they usually don’t have ribbons anyway.
Also, you might try brushing her mane out before taking the picture –smoother is normally better and you might be able to arrange it to partially cover her plastic forelock. Other than that, she looks to be in pretty good condition and has good shading.
Breyers
1) Pony Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- Argo, owned by horse gentler
First off, this is a cute mold, but the angle of this picture makes it hard to judge for halter classes, since the conformation is hard to see and the picture is washed out. But, my biggest problem is that Argo’s breed is listed as “Welsh ‘C’ Pony gelding”. Section C Welshes are “Welsh Ponies of Cob-type”, which basically means they’re a smaller version of the Welsh Cob. I would expect them to be sturdier in build and many of them do have slight to moderate feathering. Argo is more refined than a section C pony would typically be and I personally would place him better if he were a section A or B.
3) Gaited Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- MRF Moon Walkin’, owned by Emily
Nice picture! The lighting and background are nice, but his hind stockings end nearly where the wall begins, which tends to disguise his lower hind legs some. If you put him closer to or further away from the wall, that would change the angle and not have his legs blend into the footing so much. If you could get more light onto his face and bring that out some, that would help, since his eyes are a bit dark. Taking good pictures of black horses is definitely hard though!
His basic conformation is good though, but he could use a slightly finer throatlatch and more sloping pasterns. Also, the term “black roan” is the same thing as a “blue roan” and MRF Moon Walkin’ is, unfortunately, not exhibiting a roan pattern. If he were, there would be a mixture of white and black hairs on his body (producing a bluish color), while his head and points would remain black.
4) Draft Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- Bluebell, owned by Bre
I like draft foals, but sometimes they can have sort of “clunky” looking heads. This mold doesn’t have the nicest head I’ve seen, so taking pictures from a 3/4 angle just makes it seem clunkier and larger than it actually is. Also, her front legs are wider at the hooves than they are at the chest, which many foals grow out of, but it’s not something that you would like to see in their conformation. Also, Clydesdales should have cowhocks (so they’ll stay in the furrows they’re plowing!) and this mold is fairly straight behind. To minimize these issues, you can try taking her picture so she’s sideways, or even slightly from behind. That angle would help make her front legs look straighter, her head look more in proportion and hide the fact that her hind legs aren’t set close together.
As far as background goes, the bottom picture is better than the top, since it’s less cluttered and doesn’t have cars/houses visible. Just try not to take her picture in a place where things are out of scale. If there’s nothing in the background that gives away her real size, she’ll look less like a model and more like the real thing.
5) Light Breed Halter (3 entries)
1st- Fancy’s Proud Horizon, owned by Bre
While the background isn’t as good as MRF’s In You Can’t Dance, Fancy has better overall conformation, which is what I primarily judge on in halter classes. She’s got a nice head, her eye looks wet and her legs appear straight. Her right front foot does look like it’s slightly club-footed, which Morgans are pre-disposed to, but in real life something like that can be greatly helped by corrective shoeing/trimming.
Here, the main problem is the shadow that’s cast over the model and the footing. Trying to keep shadows from falling on the horse are good things, since they’re distracting and detract from the overall appearance. Using a different footing would also help, since it wouldn’t give visual cues that the scale is wrong.
2nd- MRF If You Can’t Dance, owned by Emily
Nice horse and the background/footing are good. His color and shading are both nice and I like the braids in his mane. His eye is a bit dark though, if you got some shine to it that would draw more attention to his head and emphasize it’s refinement. Also, even taking into account the fact that he’s flexed, his neck looks short to me. His right front leg looks as if it might be a tad bit calf kneed and his left hind leg either looks slightly warped, or the angle is doing strange things to it.
Also, when a horse collects, it’s back rounds in order to get its hindquarters more underneath and push off. I believe he’s doing a pirouette, which would imply even more that he’s really got his weight back on his hindquarters. If that’s so, then I would expect his back to not have that concave of an arc to it, I would expect it to be much flatter and more level. His weight looks like it’s evenly divided between his hind and forequarters, when I would expect it to be mostly on the hind.
His conformation isn’t as good as that of the filly, so I placed him under her, but it is better than Sarek’s, so I placed him over Sarek.
3rd- Sarek, owned by Bre
This guy is a nice mold, but this angle puts him at a disadvantage. His left front leg is warped and looks like it curves outward then back in. His right front leg looks like his action is arcing inward instead of being in a straight forward motion, which means his foot on that side is probably toed out. His left hind leg is swinging out, which would indicate that leg is toed-in. Altogether, that would make him be a very crooked legged horse and seriously impair his athletic potential.
Also, his color looks like a strawberry roan to me, which isn’t allowed in Morgans. If he has a dorsal stripe you could call him a red dun, but otherwise, he’d need to be a different breed or cross-breed.
As for the picture, the unusual angle it’s taken at makes it hard to concentrate on the horse. He’s also a bit close to the camera, since he’s fuzzy around the edges and the lighting is a tad bit strong, since the right side of his face is completely in shadow. Taking more of a profile shot would help disguise the conformational issues and would show off what a nice head he’s got. The straight on angle would also help prevent people from trying to figure out why the background’s tilting sideways. LOL
8) Dun/Grulla/Gray/Roan/Other Color Halter (1 entry)
1st- Sunkissed, owned by Elesium Stables
Her pose isn’t really the best for a halter class, since the judge is looking primarily at conformation, a picture from the side would be better. Also, in a halter class, you’d usually only use a halter or in-hand style bridle (for drafts and some light/gaited breeds). Having a normal bridle on disguises too much of the head and wearing a saddle hides too much of the body.
Her color is an example of a frost (or snowflake) appaloosa pattern, which would go under Spotted Pattern Halter, rather than this class. Too, unless she’s got a dorsal stripe, her base color would be buckskin. If she does have a dorsal stripe, she’d have a dun base color.
Having the solid color background is good, as it doesn’t detract away from the horse, but blue would probably be a better color than black. Tan/brown/green footing would also be better than blue footing.
11) English Performance (6 entries)
1st- Big Ben, owned by horse gentler
The photo is a bit small and hard to make out details on, but it’s a very nice setup! The jump is a realistic height, the footing looks nice and I like the potted plants. The horse is looking at the jump, is moving out and looks interested in what’s going on. He also seems to be willing and relaxed about what he’s doing –always a plus! The rider is also looking at the jump, but her hair is a bit messy and her legs are out in front of her, instead of being underneath her body. Still, since most of the judging is on performance, I placed him first since the scene is the most realistic and the horse looks like he suits what’s being asked of him the best.
2nd- Degrees, owned by horse gentler
He’s a charming horse and looks more than capable of taking this fence in style! I would like to see him a little bit further away from the jump however, since the jump looks like a water obstacle, which I’m assuming he’s meant to jump completely over. If so, then he’s much to close to be taking off and I’d expect him to stop, duck out, or make an awkward attempt at the jump. None of those would produce a very nice picture, so that’s why I place him lower than Big Ben. He looks to be a calm, fun horse to ride though!
3rd- Seabiscuit, owned by horse gentler
This photo is blurry and hard to see, but the setup is nice and detailed. The horse is stockier than I would expect for a Thoroughbred in racing condition, but other than that, the details are great! I like the circle on the ground and the trophy in the corner.
4th - Sunkissed, owned by Elesium Stables
This horse looks like she’s make a nice calm, steady ride in a pleasure, hunter hack or trail class and has a willing expression on her face. I like how the light catches her eye, but the bridle is too large and curb bits aren’t used in a pleasure/hack class (which I’m assuming this is meant to be). Her shading and color are nice too and the relaxed canter is a good gait for a hunter hack or a pleasure class.
5th- dp Original Prankster, owned by Daley Park
The bridle is nicely adjusted and the rider is in a good position, but the reins could be made more flexible so they drape smoothly going over the mane, instead of crinkling up. The inside rein is shorter than the outside rein, which is a nice touch since this horse is turning slightly to the right. He’s alert and interested, which is good, but since the picture is zoomed in so close, it’s hard to determine if he’s actually ‘performing’ anything in particular. Also, the buttons on the rider’s shirt are a bit out of scale.
6th- Smarty Jones, owned by Elesium Stables
The first problem I see is the tack. There isn’t any bridle, which is a big strike against the picture and the girth is very far back. The girth usually rests just behind the horse’s elbows and this one is almost far back enough to qualify as a bucking strap –definitely not something you’d want in an English class!
The next problem is the background/footing. Having shelves and dressers visible are visual cues that what you’re looking at is only a model horse, not a real one. Since realism is always the goal, anything that detracts from that is something that should try to be fixed or corrected. You could do something as simple as tan colored paper for footing and a blue sheet for a background. Solid colors are always better than distracting backgrounds like chairs/tabletops.
I'll finish the rest tomorrow, thansk for everyone's patience!
Erin
6) Bay/Black/Brown/Buckskin/Perlino Halter (1 entry)
1st- Polonaise, owned by Bre
Not a bad GC mold actually.
The footing is nicely in scale, I would suggest putting up some kind of backdrop so you don’t have the two different textures in the background. That’s the big thing that gives away her actual size. Also, if you’re using a leadrope, instead of draping it on the ground, have it tied up off-camera at a convincing height. That also helps with the “realism” of the picture. The lighting is excellent and you’ve shot the mare from the side, rather than from the top, which is excellent. The profile angle is very nice, but I’d suggest taking the ribbon out of her tail. If she were real, the ribbon wouldn’t stay on and unless it’s a draft horse, they usually don’t have ribbons anyway.
Also, you might try brushing her mane out before taking the picture –smoother is normally better and you might be able to arrange it to partially cover her plastic forelock. Other than that, she looks to be in pretty good condition and has good shading.
Breyers
1) Pony Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- Argo, owned by horse gentler
First off, this is a cute mold, but the angle of this picture makes it hard to judge for halter classes, since the conformation is hard to see and the picture is washed out. But, my biggest problem is that Argo’s breed is listed as “Welsh ‘C’ Pony gelding”. Section C Welshes are “Welsh Ponies of Cob-type”, which basically means they’re a smaller version of the Welsh Cob. I would expect them to be sturdier in build and many of them do have slight to moderate feathering. Argo is more refined than a section C pony would typically be and I personally would place him better if he were a section A or B.
3) Gaited Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- MRF Moon Walkin’, owned by Emily
Nice picture! The lighting and background are nice, but his hind stockings end nearly where the wall begins, which tends to disguise his lower hind legs some. If you put him closer to or further away from the wall, that would change the angle and not have his legs blend into the footing so much. If you could get more light onto his face and bring that out some, that would help, since his eyes are a bit dark. Taking good pictures of black horses is definitely hard though!
His basic conformation is good though, but he could use a slightly finer throatlatch and more sloping pasterns. Also, the term “black roan” is the same thing as a “blue roan” and MRF Moon Walkin’ is, unfortunately, not exhibiting a roan pattern. If he were, there would be a mixture of white and black hairs on his body (producing a bluish color), while his head and points would remain black.
4) Draft Breed Halter (1 entry)
1st- Bluebell, owned by Bre
I like draft foals, but sometimes they can have sort of “clunky” looking heads. This mold doesn’t have the nicest head I’ve seen, so taking pictures from a 3/4 angle just makes it seem clunkier and larger than it actually is. Also, her front legs are wider at the hooves than they are at the chest, which many foals grow out of, but it’s not something that you would like to see in their conformation. Also, Clydesdales should have cowhocks (so they’ll stay in the furrows they’re plowing!) and this mold is fairly straight behind. To minimize these issues, you can try taking her picture so she’s sideways, or even slightly from behind. That angle would help make her front legs look straighter, her head look more in proportion and hide the fact that her hind legs aren’t set close together.
As far as background goes, the bottom picture is better than the top, since it’s less cluttered and doesn’t have cars/houses visible. Just try not to take her picture in a place where things are out of scale. If there’s nothing in the background that gives away her real size, she’ll look less like a model and more like the real thing.
5) Light Breed Halter (3 entries)
1st- Fancy’s Proud Horizon, owned by Bre
While the background isn’t as good as MRF’s In You Can’t Dance, Fancy has better overall conformation, which is what I primarily judge on in halter classes. She’s got a nice head, her eye looks wet and her legs appear straight. Her right front foot does look like it’s slightly club-footed, which Morgans are pre-disposed to, but in real life something like that can be greatly helped by corrective shoeing/trimming.
Here, the main problem is the shadow that’s cast over the model and the footing. Trying to keep shadows from falling on the horse are good things, since they’re distracting and detract from the overall appearance. Using a different footing would also help, since it wouldn’t give visual cues that the scale is wrong.
2nd- MRF If You Can’t Dance, owned by Emily
Nice horse and the background/footing are good.
His color and shading are both nice and I like the braids in his mane. His eye is a bit dark though, if you got some shine to it that would draw more attention to his head and emphasize it’s refinement. Also, even taking into account the fact that he’s flexed, his neck looks short to me. His right front leg looks as if it might be a tad bit calf kneed and his left hind leg either looks slightly warped, or the angle is doing strange things to it. Also, when a horse collects, it’s back rounds in order to get its hindquarters more underneath and push off. I believe he’s doing a pirouette, which would imply even more that he’s really got his weight back on his hindquarters. If that’s so, then I would expect his back to not have that concave of an arc to it, I would expect it to be much flatter and more level. His weight looks like it’s evenly divided between his hind and forequarters, when I would expect it to be mostly on the hind.
His conformation isn’t as good as that of the filly, so I placed him under her, but it is better than Sarek’s, so I placed him over Sarek.
3rd- Sarek, owned by Bre
This guy is a nice mold, but this angle puts him at a disadvantage. His left front leg is warped and looks like it curves outward then back in. His right front leg looks like his action is arcing inward instead of being in a straight forward motion, which means his foot on that side is probably toed out. His left hind leg is swinging out, which would indicate that leg is toed-in. Altogether, that would make him be a very crooked legged horse and seriously impair his athletic potential.
Also, his color looks like a strawberry roan to me, which isn’t allowed in Morgans. If he has a dorsal stripe you could call him a red dun, but otherwise, he’d need to be a different breed or cross-breed.
As for the picture, the unusual angle it’s taken at makes it hard to concentrate on the horse. He’s also a bit close to the camera, since he’s fuzzy around the edges and the lighting is a tad bit strong, since the right side of his face is completely in shadow. Taking more of a profile shot would help disguise the conformational issues and would show off what a nice head he’s got. The straight on angle would also help prevent people from trying to figure out why the background’s tilting sideways. LOL
8) Dun/Grulla/Gray/Roan/Other Color Halter (1 entry)
1st- Sunkissed, owned by Elesium Stables
Her pose isn’t really the best for a halter class, since the judge is looking primarily at conformation, a picture from the side would be better. Also, in a halter class, you’d usually only use a halter or in-hand style bridle (for drafts and some light/gaited breeds). Having a normal bridle on disguises too much of the head and wearing a saddle hides too much of the body.
Her color is an example of a frost (or snowflake) appaloosa pattern, which would go under Spotted Pattern Halter, rather than this class. Too, unless she’s got a dorsal stripe, her base color would be buckskin. If she does have a dorsal stripe, she’d have a dun base color.
Having the solid color background is good, as it doesn’t detract away from the horse, but blue would probably be a better color than black. Tan/brown/green footing would also be better than blue footing.
11) English Performance (6 entries)
1st- Big Ben, owned by horse gentler
The photo is a bit small and hard to make out details on, but it’s a very nice setup! The jump is a realistic height, the footing looks nice and I like the potted plants. The horse is looking at the jump, is moving out and looks interested in what’s going on. He also seems to be willing and relaxed about what he’s doing –always a plus! The rider is also looking at the jump, but her hair is a bit messy and her legs are out in front of her, instead of being underneath her body. Still, since most of the judging is on performance, I placed him first since the scene is the most realistic and the horse looks like he suits what’s being asked of him the best.
2nd- Degrees, owned by horse gentler
He’s a charming horse and looks more than capable of taking this fence in style! I would like to see him a little bit further away from the jump however, since the jump looks like a water obstacle, which I’m assuming he’s meant to jump completely over. If so, then he’s much to close to be taking off and I’d expect him to stop, duck out, or make an awkward attempt at the jump. None of those would produce a very nice picture, so that’s why I place him lower than Big Ben. He looks to be a calm, fun horse to ride though!
3rd- Seabiscuit, owned by horse gentler
This photo is blurry and hard to see, but the setup is nice and detailed. The horse is stockier than I would expect for a Thoroughbred in racing condition, but other than that, the details are great! I like the circle on the ground and the trophy in the corner.
4th - Sunkissed, owned by Elesium Stables
This horse looks like she’s make a nice calm, steady ride in a pleasure, hunter hack or trail class and has a willing expression on her face. I like how the light catches her eye, but the bridle is too large and curb bits aren’t used in a pleasure/hack class (which I’m assuming this is meant to be). Her shading and color are nice too and the relaxed canter is a good gait for a hunter hack or a pleasure class.
5th- dp Original Prankster, owned by Daley Park
The bridle is nicely adjusted and the rider is in a good position, but the reins could be made more flexible so they drape smoothly going over the mane, instead of crinkling up. The inside rein is shorter than the outside rein, which is a nice touch since this horse is turning slightly to the right. He’s alert and interested, which is good, but since the picture is zoomed in so close, it’s hard to determine if he’s actually ‘performing’ anything in particular. Also, the buttons on the rider’s shirt are a bit out of scale.
6th- Smarty Jones, owned by Elesium Stables
The first problem I see is the tack. There isn’t any bridle, which is a big strike against the picture and the girth is very far back. The girth usually rests just behind the horse’s elbows and this one is almost far back enough to qualify as a bucking strap –definitely not something you’d want in an English class!
The next problem is the background/footing. Having shelves and dressers visible are visual cues that what you’re looking at is only a model horse, not a real one. Since realism is always the goal, anything that detracts from that is something that should try to be fixed or corrected. You could do something as simple as tan colored paper for footing and a blue sheet for a background. Solid colors are always better than distracting backgrounds like chairs/tabletops.
I'll finish the rest tomorrow, thansk for everyone's patience!
Erin
. i know it gets very confusing when judging! maybe it is bre's horse? hmmm...
All of my indoor ones have if the arena is big enough...
