Little Macks uphill build and sloping shoulder suggests gaitedness; a registered Tennessee Walking horse, the gelding is multigaited. Credit: Dan Aadland Photo

Just as it’s hard to be objective about your own child, it’s always hard to evaluate the conformation of your own trail horse. But it’s an interesting and useful exercise.

Little Mack, the subject of “One Good Trail Horse” has done it all—led pack strings, packed heavy loads, worked cattle—and the fact that he’s stayed sound for many years carrying a heavy man and his equipment suggests we should give his build a close look.

Pictured here at age 14, Little Mack shows few signs of aging. Standing 15.2 1/2 hands and weighing approximately 1,100 pounds, he’s moderate in overall build, with adequate bone. Trimmed close for shoeing, he takes a #1 keg shoe in front and a #0 in back. His chest is relatively narrow, more akin to an endurance-style Arabian Horse than to the average Quarter Horse, and his back is moderate in length.

Strong points in my subjective opinion: I love Little Mack’s topline, the high withers and the “uphill” build, key components in what conformation expert Deb Bennett, PhD (www.equinestudies.org) calls the “saddle type” versus the “racing type” of animal.

The gelding’s uphill build and sloping shoulder suggest gaitedness (or at least relatively smooth gaits). A registered Tennessee Walking Horse, Little Mack is multigaited. He trots readily, paces occasionally, and hits a flying rack when necessary. He’s not as consistent in his running walk as he should be, but that’s his rider’s fault—when pursuing my ranch work or leading a pack string, I’ve often paid too little attention to his gaits. Little Mack has a nice canter and can gallop fast enough to easily head a cow.

The gelding’s chest is also deep from withers to sternum, far more relevant to endurance capabilities than chest width, which can hinder endurance.

Weak points? Well, I now breed horses with a somewhat shorter back and a more rounded (less angular) overall appearance.

But proof is in the performance, and such things as “heart” are hard to define. It’s difficult to fault an animal who’s done the things Little Mack has done, has done them with such enthusiasm, and has stayed sound for so many years.

At this writing, Little Mack is 16 years old, and I’ll be leaving with him this very day for a challenging trip. That says it all.

For more on Little Mack, see “One Good Trail Horse,” Sketches from the Trail, The Trail Rider, January/February ’09.