AGR 239 Selection and Evaluation of Horses Information Cards: 1)Name 2)Classification 3)Hometown 4)Equine Experience 5)Judging Experience 6)Reasons Experience 7)Reason or reasons why you are taking this class
Judging Halter
Halter Horse is judged based on what? What is conformation? What is the purpose of the halter class? Most positive combination of: Balance Structural correctness Quality Breed and sex character Muscling
Halter What is the single most important criteria? Balance Balance refers to what? Structural and aesthetic blending of body parts Balance is influenced almost entirely by what? Skeletal Structure
Halter Structural Correctness Refers to what? Alignment of skeletal system Form to Function Lines
Halter What is quality? Attractiveness of a horse Emphasis is placed on the horse’s Head Neck Hair Hide Bone Free from blemishes
Halter Breed and Sex Character: Closely related to quality What is breed character? QH should look like a QH What is sex character? Mares should look like mares
Halter Muscling: Long and well defined Most beneficial view to evaluate is the profile Can evaluate all the major areas Where is the single most important and accurate area to evaluate muscling in the horse? Forearm Generally correlates to total amount of muscling
Halter Muscling: Profile, Front View, Hind View What is substance? The amount of body capacity of the horse in terms of width, depth and thickness Short muscles vs. long muscles
The Ideal American Quarter Horse
Judging In a Contest Don’t stop and gaze at a horse for extended periods of time Keep moving Move down the line and develop a placing based on first impression Majority of the time, your first impression is your best Get multiple looks at something that bothers you If something looks ugly, it probably is
Judging In a Contest Travel Make sure you can see Do not swap placings at the last minute First impression is generally your best Your first priority is to get your class placed correctly After a correct placing Reasons should be easy