Some of you might be more knowledgeable on breeds than me. His owner and I are not sure what this guys breed is. I thought at first he was a grade or working ranch type QH, but he has an insane amount of blood and will happily go for hours, and even seems to get more energy from working longer periods of time. Our other thoughts are a draft cross, but that doesn’t quite fit with how hot he can be. That said, he’s super calm (think draft horse brain) about new and exciting situations.

Conformation wise, he’s built with a pretty flat back (the outside picture he’s on a very slight downhill, but still overall very flat) so not totally ruling out a QH, but not at all a pleasure bred QH. But his ears are MASSIVE, he has bit of a thick muzzle (unlike a QH with smaller ears & muzzle) and his hooves are solid, big, and have really good angles. He’s a tad long in the toe right now because his owner is also his farrier and she had a baby last week, so she hasn’t been able to do his feet.

He also has springs for hocks, and his walk/trot are amazing. When he jumps, his front end is 10/10 if given the chance to use himself correctly. We may have early arthritis that shows up only on the left lead canter, but no vet confirmation on that yet (pending visit next month). But then he does this weird, very smooth almost walker like trot when we do long hill work and he gets excited, it feels like you are sitting on a cloud gliding over the ground. I’ve never felt that on non gaited horses before.

Any guesses? All ideas welcome, just please be kind to my pudgy lil boy.