D35 Equine Conformation Some of the pictures and text contained in this material have copyright restrictions limiting their use. Use of this information is for example only and should not be reproduced without the permission of the owner.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 2  Conformation is described as the physical appearance of an animal due to the arrangement of muscle, bone and other body tissue.  To understand conformation, one must understand the framework of the horse. Equine Conformation

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 3 Equine Conformation

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 4  There is no perfectly conformed horse, however, each breed organization has their interpretation of an ideal horse. Prior to comparing two or more horses, it is essential to have a mental picture of the ideal horse for the breed. Equine Conformation

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 5 System of Evaluation & Selection  When judging or evaluating a horse, the first thing you should look for is overall balance. A horse that has balanced conformation will generally be a good mover, and that translates into good performance.  The second thing you should evaluate is correct conformation. The structurally correct horse will be a natural athlete.  Condition & muscling are the last things you should evaluate. Muscle mass and conditioning don't change a horse's basic structure, so less emphasis should be placed on it.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 6 Balance  How do you evaluate balance?  First, evaluate the length of the horse by dividing the body of the horse equally into thirds.  The horse should divide into three equal parts.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 7 Balance

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 8 Balance  The length of the neck should be as long or slightly longer than the other thirds of the body.  The length of the head of the horse should be approximately the same length as the neck or slightly shorter.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 9 Balance

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 10 Balance  The withers of the horse should be the same or slightly higher than the croup of the horse. When the croup is higher than the withers, more weight is added to the front end. When a rider is added the problem is compounded.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 11 Balance  Nothing is more critical to balance than the slope of the shoulder.  The slope, or angle, of a horse's shoulder determines the length of its neck and back and also the way its front legs are set onto his body.  As the shoulder becomes straighter, the withers move forward, which results in a longer back, and a shorter neck.  When the shoulder is straight, the other angles of the horse's body will be straight. Thus, the horse will have a short, steep croup, a straight stifle and straight pasterns.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 12 Balance  The ideal slope of the shoulder is approximately 45 to 50 degrees.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 13 Balance  Too Steep in the shoulder.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 14 Balance  In addition to overall balance, the slope of the shoulder influences length of stride. Thus, the straighter the shoulder, the shorter the stride.  The angle of the shoulder and angle of the pastern serve to absorb shock when the horse moves.  A straight-shouldered horse will always be a rough-riding horse.  The longer the stride, the fewer the number of times the foot will hit the ground in a given distance, which results in less wear & tear on the horse and rider.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 15 Balance  The depth of body from the withers to the bottom of the heart girth should be about the same as the distance from the heart girth to the ground.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 16 Conformation  It is essential for the judge to recognize structural defects. There are many structurally incorrect horses that are sound, but few unsound horses that are structurally correct.  Conformation is the biggest limiting factor to horse performance. There are a lot of things that can be done to improve the performance of a horse.  Performance can be improved through training, exercise & nutrition, health and even shoeing, but there is very little you can do about conformation especially in the mature horse.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 17  What do you look for in a good head?  A large eye on the corner of the head with a wide flat forehead.  Why?  A greater arc of vision. Conformation of the Head

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 18 Conformation of the Head  During it’s evolution, the eye has moved from the front of the horse's head to the side, which provided a more rounded arc of vision (about 300 degrees).  Large, quiet, soft eyes often indicate a quiet, docile disposition. A small “pig-eye” is indicative of a horse that is somewhat sullen and difficult to train. A “pig-eyed” horse has a smaller eye socket positioned more on the side of the horse’s head then on the corner. These horses are notorious for a poor disposition.  Some feel that a horse with excessive white around the eye is often nervous and flighty.  Look for a bright, tranquil eye that has a soft, kind expression.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 19  The ears should be proportional to the horse's head, sit squarely on top of the head, point slightly forward creating an attractive, alert appearance. Conformation of the Head

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 20 Conformation of the Head  When measuring a horse from the poll to a horizontal line drawn between the eyes, the distance should be approximately one-half the distance from the horizontal line to the midpoint of the nostril. Thus, the eyes will be positioned one-third the distance from the horse's poll to the muzzle. When the width of the horse's head across the orbit of the skull is measured, the distance should be almost identical to the distance from the poll to the horizontal line drawn between the eyes.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 21 Conformation of the Head  Horses are not capable of breathing through their mouths, so the size and shape of the nostrils are important to horses in highly aerobic activities, such as racing.  This is the reason that Thoroughbreds tend to have larger nostrils, with finer cartilage and a large, flaring nostril to facilitate adequate air intake.  Sufficient length between the nostrils and the eyes is important to allow the tubinates located there to heat or cool the air to near body temperature.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 22  Roman-nosed refers to a horse with a convex profile such as is found in the draft breeds, as opposed to the concave, or dished, profile of the Arabian and similar breeds.  A roman nose on a horse can also obstruct the field of view of the horse. Conformation of the Head

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 23 Conformation of the Head  Too large of a head adds weight to the end of the neck, which serves as the horse’s balancing arm, effecting his agility.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 24  Look for a well-defined jaw. Stallions will have a slightly larger, deeper jaw than mares, indicative of common male sex characteristics.  Depth of mouth is influences the response and sensitivity experienced by the horse during training. The more shallow the mouth, the more reactive the horse; the deeper the mouth, the less reactive. Conformation of the Head

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 25  The throatlatch should be trim and refined regardless of the breed.  Air, food, blood to and from the brain, the entire nervous system and important glands behind the jaw must pass through the throatlatch.  A horse that is thick and coarse in the throatlatch, will have difficulty carrying its head in a vertical position during training because of an inability to breathe correctly.  The neck top line is the distance of the poll to the withers, and the bottom line is the distance of the throatlatch to the neck-shoulder junction at the chest. The ideal distance would be approximately a 2 to 1 ratio of the top to bottom line of the horse's neck. Invariably, a horse that is short and heavily muscled will have a shorter, thicker neck than a taller horse with less muscle. The neck is proportional to the horse's overall length and height.  Stallions are more prone to have more crest along the topline of the neck than either geldings or mares. Conformation of the Neck

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 26  Some horses, such as the Quarter Horse, have a lower set-on neck than do others, such as the Saddlebred.  This predisposes the Quarter Horse to carry its head lower, which is desired in Western Pleasure classes and makes it a natural choice for these classes.  Many of the carriage breeds, such as the Cleveland Bay, the Friesian and some of the German Warmbloods have a much higher neck, giving them a higher head carriage which lends an air of presence. Conformation of the Neck

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 27  The back is a very important part of the riding horse. The horse is not naturally a weight carrier, it is more designed by nature to be a weight puller, so it is especially important to make note of types of conformation that predispose the horse to even greater weakness in the back.  The back is the "hub" of a horse, and a short, strong back is essential to a horse remaining sound and performing well.  First of all, the back should be neither too long nor too short and should be shaped in a manner that accepts a saddle comfortably.  A back that dips excessively is called a sway back and is generally found in older horses. Its opposite is called a roach back. Both can cause difficulties with fitting a saddle. Conformation of the Top Line

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 28 Conformation of the Top Line  How a horse naturally carries its head and neck has a huge impact on its back. Its back has a huge impact on how well it can use its hindquarters, which in turn has a huge impact on its movement and athletic ability.  When a horse carries its neck and head nearly level with its withers, its back is elevated, which results in a topline that will be nearly level, with no major peaks or valleys. Consequently the animal is able to coil up its body, reach deep beneath itself with its hind legs, and propel itself forward in a balanced, athletic, and attractive frame.  Strength of the top line and loin muscles over the kidneys are also important in athletic ability and soundness of the horse.  A gentle arch to the neck is pleasing, without excessive muscling underneath. An excessively long back will have inherent weakness and may not withstand to concentrated work, and a very short back will give the rider a bumpy ride as the propulsion of the hind legs will tend to bounce him out of the saddle.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 29  A a croup without too much angle is desirable; a steep croup can mean a weak hip and incorrect angulation to the horse's hocks. A long, strong hip with adequate muscling and low hocks is desirable. These attributes generally result in a horse that can stop well and will naturally work off its hind end, making it a stronger athlete.  The hindquarters should appear square, when viewed from the side. Hindquarters

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 30 Hindquarters  The ideal horse has a quarter that is as full and as long from across the horizontal plane of the stifle as it is from the point of the hip to the point of the buttocks.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 31  Evaluate the spring of rib and depth of the heart girth, as these are indicative of lung capacity.  The shape and size of the chest controls the amount of room the lungs have to expand, which is important in the athletic horse.  A horse with a chest that is too narrow not only will have its aerobic capacity reduced, but its forelegs will also be too close together, making it more likely to brush his forelegs together when being worked, possibly causing injury.  The body should be rounded and the ribs well-sprung. Barrel

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 32  It has been said that the legs are the most important part of the horse, for if a horse has weakness or bad conformation in its legs, its athletic ability is going to be seriously compromised, regardless of how it will be used.  The forearm should be long and muscular with a shorter cannon bone. Conformation of the Legs

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 33  The knee should be large and flat, not round and puffy. The tendons have to pass through the knee to the lower leg and that is why large, flat knees are desirable to allow the maximum movement.  The lower leg, when viewed from the side, should have a flat appearance. A flat appearing lower leg means the horse has a big bone and the tendons and ligaments to fit it. Conformation of the Legs

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 34 Front Feet and Legs  The horse should stand on a straight column of bone with the line of concussion going straight down the forearm, through the knee, down the cannon bone and coming out at the heel of the hoof.  The front legs bear 60 – 65% of the weight of the horse. If badly conformed they are much more prone to damage when subjected to stress, strain and concussion.  A horse that is "over at the knees" is buck- kneed, and the horse that is "back at the knees" is calf-kneed.  Obviously, calf-kneed is the most serious condition since the knee will have a tendency to hyper-extend, or bend backward.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 35  When the horse is viewed from the front, an imaginary line from the point of the shoulder to the toe should bisect the knee, cannon bone and hoof.  The horse hoof should point straight ahead. When a horse toes out, its is splay-footed and the horse will always wing in when it travels.  When a horse toes in, it is pigeon-toed and that horse will always paddle out.  The most serious of these is the horse that wings in because it has a tendency to strike its legs with the opposite hoof as it travels.  If the cannon bone is off-centered to the outside, it is bench-kneed. Front Feet and Legs

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 36 Front Feet and Legs  The pastern is the horse's shock absorber, at times carrying the horse's entire weight plus that of the rider.  The ideal pastern is neither too long nor too short, too sloped or too upright. Overly long sloping pasterns will place a strain on the suspensory ligament and the tendons which run down the back of the leg. Pasterns which are too upright do not flex sufficiently to overcome the strain of movement, consequently, the leg may experience soundness problems because of it degrees

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 37 Front Feet and Legs  A horse that has too much slope to its pastern is also undesirable and is said to be coon-footed. This condition can become so severe that the horse's fetlocks hit the ground as the horse moves.  The angle of the hoof and the pastern should be the same.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 38  There is an old saying, "No hoof, no horse”.  The hoof should be of sufficient size and shape to support the mass of the horse and absorb concussion. Hoof

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 39 Hind Feet and Legs  Like the knee, it is preferable for the hock to be set low, thus lessening the strain on the hind cannon.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 40 Hind Feet and Legs  When standing beside the horse, the judge drops an imaginary line from the point of the buttocks to the ground. Ideally, that line should touch the hocks, run parallel to the cannon bone and be slightly behind the heel. The horse with too much angle to his hocks is sickle-hocked, and the horse that is straight in his hocks is post-legged.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 41 Post Legged Pressure Points

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 42 Hind Feet and Legs  Ideally, when viewed from the rear, any horse, regardless of breed, should be widest from stifle to stifle. Another imaginary line from the point of the buttocks to the ground should bisect the gaskin, hock and hoof. It is not critical that a horse be perfectly straight from the ankles down when viewed from the rear. In fact, most horses naturally stand with the cannons parallel and toe out slightly from the ankles down. This allows the horse's stifle to clear its ribcage in flight, resulting in a longer-strided, free-moving horse.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 43 Hind Feet and Legs  When a horse is bowed-in at the hocks and the cannon bones are not parallel, it is cow-hocked. The horse that is cow-hocked has a tendency to be weak in the major movements that require work off of the haunches such as stopping, turning, sliding etc. There are horses that actually toe-in behind and are bow- legged, most of which are very poor athletes.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 44  Muscling is an important criteria in judging many conformation classes, especially stock horse classes, such as Appaloosa, Quarter Horse and Paint Horse.  Generally Horses don’t break down due to weak muscling. With proper training muscle mass and conditioning can be improved. A correct horse that lacks muscling should always be placed higher than a structurally incorrect horse that is well muscled.  The ideal horse is a balanced athlete that is muscled uniformly throughout. Horses which are visually appraised as heavily- muscled generally have greater circumference of forearm, gaskin and width of quarter than lightly muscled horses. Muscling

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 45 Muscling  As viewed from the front, the horse should show significant width from shoulder to shoulder, a large circumference to the forearm, and a prominent "v" in the front muscling.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 46  When viewed from the side, a horse should have strong forearms, a deep quarter, strong gaskins, and a long croup to accommodate a large amount of muscle mass through a prominent stifle. In addition, the horse should have a large-circumference heart girth.  Muscle in the front shoulder is especially important because it is the primary means of attachment to the body. There is no clavicle in the horse. Muscling

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 47 Muscling  As viewed from the back, the horse should be wide from stifle to stifle, and the quarter should tie in deep to strong gaskins.

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 48 Lets Judge

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 49  Horse A is chosen for first place in this group. Even though there are some negative aspects to his conformation, for the most part the positives outweigh the negatives.  Although he's a little coarse in his muzzle, this horse has a pleasant expression and nice eyes and ears. He appears alert and bright. His throatlatch is slender enough that he should flex well at the poll. His neck is appropriate in length, but it ties into his shoulder much too deeply, which may make this horse travel (or carry his weight) on the forehand and could limit his overall flexibility. Judges Placing

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 50  This gelding has a good shoulder with nice pronounced withers that will hold a saddle well. He also appears to have a strong back, and his neck, back and hip are of relatively equal length. While his croup is long enough, its angle is slightly steep, giving his hindquarters a pointed appearance. However, he has adequate hindquarter muscling, both in his hip and gaskin, which should give him the power to perform well. This horse is very nice and square. He has straight legs, with a good low hock set. His conformation indicates he's an athlete that can handle a lot of work. Overall, he's a nice horse to look at, and despite his few problems, he should be a good performer. Judges Placing

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 51  Horses B and C are a bit more challenging to place, as both lack overall balance and conditioning. However, Horse B comes in as second, as he has much better legs than Horse C. This gelding has an average head and neck, and his expression isn't as alert as Horse A's. His slightly thick throatlatch may restrict his flexibility at the poll. Although his neck is a decent length as far as his overall balance, like Horse A's, it ties into his shoulder too low for correct balance and flexibility. Judges Placing

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 52  Horse B's shoulder has a nice slope and overall angle, indicating he should have a decent stride. However he lacks muscling in the shoulder and forearm, some of which may be due to lack of condition; this gives him the appearance of being weak in his front end. His back is acceptable, but his croup is much too short, which makes him inadequately muscled in his hip. This will affect his performance, as he won't have the power needed to drive from behind. When we look at his legs, he has a nice angle to his pasterns, and his legs appear nice and straight. Overall, I'd like to see this horse in better condition, with more weight and muscle and less belly. Judges Placing

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 53  Horse C is very similar to Horse B in his head and neck. Both are average and lack overall refinement.  Horse C's neck also ties into his shoulder too low, which may make him travel with too much weight on his forehand, and will make him less flexible in his neck. His shoulder is too straight up and down, which will place even more weight on his front end while he's performing. This, in turn, will further reduce the power from his hindquarters. His back is adequate, although it could be slightly shorter for more strength. His croup also is adequate in length and angle; however, he's lacking hip muscle, which could limit his athleticism. Judges Placing

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 54  Moving to his legs, it is evident his front pasterns that are too steep. When combined with his straight shoulder, he'll have a shorter stride and not as much "shock absorption" as a horse with more normally sloped pasterns. Conformation such as this often leads to soundness problems. The ideal slope of the pastern and shoulder is between 45 and 50 degrees. This gelding also is too high in his hocks, which will prevent him from getting his rear legs under his body to stop well. This, combined with light hindquarter muscling, will reduce his ability to drive strongly from his hind end. Overall, Horse C would not be as good a performer as the first two horses. Judges Placing