Brian, the NSH cross

As it turns out, I may not have been putting the cart very far before the horse.  I found a prospect today, and am driving over on Sunday to check him out.  He's a 7 year old NSH cross listed on Endurance.net.  He looks quite solid, and is a nice 15.2-3 hands high (good for us taller ladies!).  Strike, my summer loaner horse, was an NSH, and so I'm now pretty partial to the breed in general.  He came out of a rescue situation, and the owner is moving and cannot take him along.  I'm not sure what his other half is, but he's put together quite nicely.  His owner says he is out of shape in the picture above, and carries himself better now.  She's been using him for dressage and jumping, but she thinks he'll do quite well on the trail.  He's got cute form over fences--probably with a little work we could get that cleaned up a bit.

And, look!  He's not afraid of water!

My main concerns are his RHR and muscle/bone density.  He's a titch longer in the back than a lot of endurance arabs, so I'll have to evaluate that when I get there.  Also, obviously, I'd like a horse that I "click" with and that doesn't seem excessively spooky or timid.  He hasn't been out on the trail, but I think with a fairly solid foundation that shouldn't prove to be a big deal.  

Yay for forward movement!