Victoria: first off I notice that she is built uphill which is great for saddle horse conformation. She has a nice wither, pretty straight back and her barrel is a nice shape for your leg to lay nicely along her side (unlike an Arabian who tends toward sprung ribs that put too much pressure on your hips and you can't use your lower leg on them without you taking your knees off).
Secondly I look at her over all shape, being a square or rectangle. If you look from the front of her shoulder to the back of her hamstrings; then from the bottom of her foot up to her wither - she is slightly a long rectangle. This is what is desired for sport horse conformation, though preferably longer length for extension, reach and jumping.
Next I look at overall proportions: even sections from the shoulder, barrel and hip. Victoria is short in the hip - welcome to the Spanish horse! This is an area lacking in many of these type of breeds and needs to be bred out. If her left hind were more underneath her, it would be more noticeable. One reason that if you brand at the hip, the brand should be lower on these type of horses so the hip appears larger.
Angles: her shoulder is a perfect 45 degrees and her hip is closer to 42. These angles are steep; I like them to be around 40 and to match. Angles in the mid 40's gives you lift and bend in the leg joints - think Saddlebred and Spanish gaited horses...even some Andalusions and don't forget Friesans. When you get more into the 50's you are getting some reach in there, which gives extension and length of stride. This is another trait that should be bred out, the straight shoulder and hip; and when I say this, I am speaking of in the Kiger breed. I have some mares with straighter angles and I always look to breed them up and chose my stallions wisely.
I like how her neck is set up on her shoulders and ties into her withers - definitely not a western pleasure horse or even a traditionally stock type horse. Throatlatch (where the neck ties into the jaw) is a little thick, making it harder for upper level collection; but since most horses don't ever get there, that's not something I would cull for with every horse; again, depending on the base of the neck.
Then I look at the front legs and where the saddle would sit. The front legs are tied into her shoulder more toward the front instead of more centered - a common Spanish horse trait. When you see that, then you look at where the girth wants to sit on the horse, which is behind the front legs and in the space before her ribcage expands. Imagine the girth there, then let your eyes go upwards to the shoulder and wither. The saddle would have to sit way up forward and even get in the way of the shoulder in order for the girth to be in the correct place. This is another common fault in the Spanish horses. I believe it happened when Spain stopped using their horses for the bull ring and started breeding them for harness horses. The conformation changed; more up and down leg movement to be fancy - which means the front legs had to move more forward; hence the loss of a good place for the saddle. They also lost quality of their backs - which is another story and something Victoria does not have an issue with anyway. Also when you see this, you'll notice the horse tends to stand with the front legs on an angle and not straight up and down - this is because they are trying to bring the base of support back. What does this mean? A few things but glaringly, this tends to put more stress on the lower legs joints - some even causing splints on the inside of the legs; plus the feet tend to separate at the toe and the pastern stressed because it is behind the base of the foot - which you can clearly see in this photo. Don't say it is farrier work because the farrier would have to chop her toe halfway off to get it under her and that would be worse for support.
My eyes then go to the flank, where I consider if there is enough room for the knee (stifle) to comfortably come forward and up. It appears a little low but if that hind leg where underneath her, it would be perfect.
Then I look at where the tip top of the pelvis (along her topline) points and the relation to the hip bone underneath it on the side of the horse. I prefer the point up top to be even slightly behind the hip socket. This tells me I have a good chance of a good flex in the sacrum, which is carrying power for the weight to be put on the hind of the horse and not on the front. If Victoria was standing square, it would be easier to see this is good there.
I also look at the angles of the legs under the shoulder and hips but if the rest is the way I want it, mostly the angles are going to be too. Oh, rear cannon must be straight under the hamstrings; again, if she were underneath herself in the back, this would be so.
As for riding, she is built for more collected work - not too much extension and not jumping. Could not cover a lot of ground with her stride, so chasing a cow down would be hard, not to say it could not be done but not like a stock horse. So, more classical work for this lady; would most likely be comfortable to ride all day, versatile on the trails and in many riding styles.
As for breeding (I know you did not ask for this but that is just where my mind goes) - I would breed this mare if I bred Sulphers because the great traits I see out weighs the not so good. Of course I don't know her disposition, trainability and what she passes on in this department. My biggest concern would be shoulder/hip angles and placement of the front legs. So, I would have to see what she produced and would most likely breed her to three stallions to see which one would improve on those points - then keep her with that guy. If none improved those triats, then she would be a nice riding mare. Interestingly, her filly looks like a minnie-me (same shoulder, leg placement and thick throatlatch), so I would say that the sire of Catarina would be off my list. You'd have to find a stallion that has a strong maternal line of the traits you want for the best chance to make changes.
