English
The shape and structure of a horse, referred to as its conformation, significantly influence both its athletic performance and long-term soundness.
How a horse is built not only determines how they generate power and speed, but also how their body absorbs and redirects concussion. A horse with conformation faults may experience reduced athletic performance and an increased vulnerability to injury caused by concussion and improper movement.
The ability to assess conformation for desired performance is critical when judging whether a horse is suitable for the job you want them to do. For example, a horse with particular conformation faults may not be a good mount for a 1.20m jumper but may excel for low-level pleasure riding.
Evaluating conformation becomes more complex when considering specific breed and sport criteria. An Arabian bred for halter performance may be very desirable for their discipline but may not be desirable for a hunter under saddle class.
Nevertheless, most conformation factors are universal across all breeds and disciplines, serving as indicators of a horse’s long-term soundness and suitability for work.
Setting a Horse Up for Conformation Inspection
When examining a horse’s conformation, it is critical to set them up properly. Conformation rules are based on the proper alignment of a horse’s body.
These guidelines often involve comparing different parts of the horse’s body to one another. For instance, the positioning of the lower portion of the horse’s legs in relation to their knees and hocks is crucial.
If the horse is not correctly positioned, it becomes difficult to accurately judge the appearance and alignment of various structures in relation to each other. [1]
Ground and Environment
When evaluating horse’s conformation, it is important to choose a neutral environment that allows you to focus on the horse’s build and not how they are affected by the ground.
Follow these guidelines to select the right environment:
- Ensure the horse is standing on perfectly flat ground to eliminate any influence from uneven terrain. Angled or rolling ground can make it difficult to evaluate if the horse is even from wither to croup.
- Ensure your horse is standing on ground that is free of long grass or impeding vegetation. You want to be able to view their hooves and pasterns in comparison to their upper legs and body.
- Ensure your horse is standing in good light with minimal shadows. Lighting conditions can hide or emphasize flaws, potentially misleading your perception of the horse’s conformation.
- When submitting a conformation photo, ensure the background environment is not too distracting. Minimize any background elements so the judge may focus solely on your horse’s physical attributes. [1]
Horse’s Stance
Your horse’s stance is pivotal to properly evaluating their conformation. Follow these steps to position your horse:
- Ensure that your horse is standing with their head at a neutral level, neither low as if grazing nor high as if frightened.
- Position your horse in an open stance, so you can see all four hooves when looking at the horse from the side. In an open stance, each foot is slightly offset, allowing for clear visibility of how each foot and lower leg are connected to the horse’s body.
- Stand your horse so that their near hind leg is positioned with the hock directly in line with the point of the buttock. This is crucial for identifying issues with hock conformation. [1]
The picture below is of a horse appropriately presented for conformation inspection. The horse is clean, on level ground, standing in an open stance, and there is nothing on or near the horse that can be distracting to the viewer. [2]
Grooming
Whether submitting your horse’s picture for professional judging or looking at your own horse’s conformation, the horse must be well groomed and presented in minimal tack.
Presenting a clean, plain horse avoids distractions caused by dirt or flashy tack. The focus should be solely on the horse itself, without any add-ons that can distract from the actual picture.
Follow good grooming practices to ensure that your horse is clean and tidy. If your horse has a long mane, ensure the mane is held to the side opposite from which the horse is being evaluated. A long, full mane can hide most of the neck, limiting inspection.
Ensure your horse’s tail isn’t hiding any part of their hind legs and remove any boots or wraps from their legs. Ensure an unobstructed view of all aspects of your horse’s anatomy. [1]
Factors of Conformation Evaluation
When evaluating a horse’s conformation, don’t just look at isolated parts of their skeletal structure. Assessing equine conformation for performance encompasses a broader perspective of the horse.
Conformation examinations can be broken down into the following components:
- Balance: Evaluating the distribution of the horse’s body from front to back and side to side, paying close attention to the proportions of the horse’s body as they relate to each other.
- Structural Correctness: Assessing the alignment of the horse’s skeletal structure, particularly in the legs.
- Way of going: the way the horse moves, in regard to both cleanliness and quality of movement.
- Muscling: Observing the quantity and quality of muscle mass throughout the horse’s body.
- Breed and Type: Assessing how closely the horse adheres to breed-specific characteristics and how the horse is built for their intended purpose. [3]
Each of these aspects of conformation is interconnected, forming a holistic circle of attributes that collectively contribute to the horse’s success or lack thereof as an athlete.
Balance
Balance is one of the first conformation aspects that should be examined. Balance refers to the overall proportions and distribution of the horse’s body parts.
With your horse on even ground, step back and compare the highest point of their wither to the highest point of their hip. Ideally, these points should be perfectly even, as in the photo below. [4]
Horses can also exhibit an “uphill” or “downhill” conformation. In horses with an uphill conformation, the withers are positioned higher than the highest point of the buttock, while in a downhill conformation the withers are lower than the highest point of the buttock. This is not necessarily a fault in horses that have not reached physical maturity.
Overall Proportions
To assess if the overall proportions of your horse are correct, visually divide their body into thirds. Imagine a line dropping vertically from the highest point of your horse’s wither and another line extending on the flank, following the line created by the change in hair direction. The following three sections should be equal:
- The space in front of the line from the withers (excluding the neck)
- The space between the wither and flank
- The space behind the flank
In other words, the horse’s body should be evenly divisible into three equal sections. This proportionate division is indicative of a well-balanced conformation. [3][4]
Rule of Squares
Determine if your horse’s body follows the rule of squares. Start by visualizing a line from the highest point of your horse’s withers to the highest point of their buttock.
Next, imagine vertical lines extending from the point of their buttock and their chest. Extend these lines to create a box, completing it by drawing a line from the top of the box to where your horse’s feet meet the ground. [3]
If the box is rectangular and not square, the horse may have a long or short back. A back that is too long is weak, but a back that is too short predisposes the horse to issues, such as kissing spine. [4][5]
Heart Girth & Neck Proportions
To facilitate appropriate breathing and lung capacity, your horse needs a relatively large heart girth. The heart girth is the vertical length from your horse’s wither to the bottom of their body. This length should be the same as the length from the bottom of their body to the ground.
Now look at your horse’s neck. The length of your horse’s neck from poll to wither should be twice as long as the distance from the throat latch to where the neck extends from the chest.
Facial Balance
Finally, does your horse have a balanced face? The perfect head conformation will depend on standards for the breed, but overall balance is universal. The distance from the poll to the midpoint between the eyes should be half the distance from the midpoint between the eyes to the midpoint between the nostrils.
The width of the horse’s head from the outside of one eye to the outside of the other should be the same length as the distance from the poll to the midpoint between the eyes. [3]
Once you have examined the overall balance and proportion of your horse, you can take a deeper look into the angles and length of their limbs and bones.
Structural Correctness
Structural correctness directly impacts how your horse can perform their intended job. Examine your horse from head to toe to identify any significant flaws.
Head and Neck
The structural aspects of your horse’s head and neck dictate how easily they eat, take contact on the bit, and balance.
Your horse’s head should be conformed so that their top incisors are directly in line with their lower incisors.
If the top incisors protrude forward over the lower incisors, it is known as a parrot mouth or overbite. Conversely, if the top teeth are positioned behind the lower incisor, the horse has an underbite.
A horse with an inappropriate bite pattern will experience uneven wear, potentially impacting their ability to eat. [6]
Your horse’s throat latch should be well-defined without excess fat or muscle to impede poll range of motion. You should be able to slide four knuckles of your fist between the jaw bones for a horse to have good width for air flow.
The base of your horse’s neck should be level to the point of their shoulder and the neck should tie in fairly high up the chest to allow for appropriate flexibility. [7]
Shoulder
Your horse’s shoulder angle impacts the length and rideability of their stride. When drawing a horizontal line straight back from the point of their shoulder, their scapula should lie at an angle between 40 – 55 degrees when standing square.
A horse with an upright shoulder angle (greater than 55 degrees) will have a small, choppy stride that is not pleasurable to ride.
A horse with a laid back shoulder angle (less than 40 degrees) will have a long swooping stride, but will be more difficult to fit a saddle to. [3][7]
Front Limbs
Front limb conformation not only determines stride length but also your horse’s ability to stay sound when in work.
When viewing your horse from the side with the cannon bone (lower leg bone) perpendicular to the ground, the the radius (upper front leg bone) should sit directly on top of the cannon. Both forelegs should bear weight equally, with the toes pointing forward and the hooves the same distance apart as the origin of the upper legs.
A horse is considered base narrow if their hooves are closer together than the origin of their upper legs. On the other hand, a horse is considered base wide if their hooves are wider than the origin of their upper legs.
Both conformation faults will cause uneven wear to their hooves, ligaments, and cartilage, affecting long-term soundness. [3][7]
Elbows
Examine the position of their elbow in relation to their wither. Ideally, the elbow should align directly underneath the wither, indicating that the length of their humerus (upper arm bone) is approximately 50-60% of their shoulder blade.
A longer humerus is beneficial in that it allows for a longer stride and improved ability to extend the leg forward and “snap” it backward. However, an excessively long humerus will result in the shoulder muscles being shortened, limiting your horse’s power.
Conversely, a humerus that is too short will result in a short, choppy stride. This not only reduces speed due to a shorter stride length, but also their gait will be more unpleasant to ride. [3]
Knees
Your horse’s knees should be relatively large and flat at the front. A small, pinched knee crowds the tendons and cartilage, hinders knee action and reduces the ability to absorb and transfer concussion.
A knee with a smooth front allows extensor tendons to glide over a smooth surface, reducing inflammation and increasing comfort during movement. [3][8]
The knee should lie directly between the forearm and cannon bone to create a perfectly straight, vertical line when viewing your horse from the front and sides.
If the knee buckles backwards when viewing your horse from the side, your horse is considered “back at the knee” or “calf kneed”. If the the knee buckles forward, your horse is “over at the knee” or “knee sprung”.
Both conformation issues strain the tendons and ligaments around the knee, indicating a high risk of lameness issues in the future. [8]
If, when viewing your horse’s knees from the front, your horse’s knees bow outward, your horse is “bow-legged”. If the knees bow inward, your horse is “knock-kneed”. These issues also strain the tendons and ligaments.
When the knee joint does not track straight, the horse’s ability to absorb and transfer concussive forces is co