Conformation and Selection for Performance
By Don Blazer,
with Instructor Eleanor Blazer
Lesson
Two
Conformation: Form to Function
A
horse’s conformation determines his efficiency of movement, which in turn
directly affects his soundness.
Therefore we determine how a horse's conformation may affect his way of
movement by first viewing the horse standing, and then watching the horse in
movement to see if our conclusions manifest themselves as the conformation
suggests.
You
already know that "balance" is a key to athletic ability and certain
"efficiency" deviations can be a positive to specific desired
movement, such as slow short strides, high knee action, or a smooth walking
"gait". Watch the horse walk,
trot, canter and gallop at liberty if possible.
What you see when a horse is unencumbered by a rider can change your
entire opinion about his "natural" abilities.
The
angle of the horse's shoulder and hip determine the stride, not the horse's
size, length of leg or height. A horse
with a long, well-sloped shoulder and hip will usually be fast and agile with
good stride. The horse with a short,
steep shoulder and hip will have choppy action and a short stride.
* A to B is the slope of the shoulder.
(Point of shoulder to the highest point of the
withers.)
The blue line is the angle of the shoulder—approximately 45 degrees in
the “perfect” horse.
* D to E is the slope of the pastern. Ideally it will be close to the
same angle as the slope of the shoulder.
To
evaluate the hip, draw a triangle starting at the point of the hip, going to
the point of the buttock and then down to the stifle and from the stifle back
up the hip. This triangle should be
equilateral—all sides being equal in length and all angles being the same. The side of the triangle from stifle to point
of hip will be longer in the sprinter than in the endurance horse.
There
are many breeds of horses, yet basically only four "types". The term "type" refers to the
horse's size, substance, balance, athletic ability and conformation. Considered as a group these traits make a
horse suited for particular kinds of activity, and this is what we are looking
for when we seek a specific horse to do a specific job.
The
four basic types: Riding horses, which we break down farther into stock-horse
type or gaited type; Draft horses, Carriage horses (lighter than draft horses
and more suitable to pull vehicles than to be ridden; Race horses, which are
broken down into sprinters and distance horses. Many breed associations, such as Arabian,
Quarter Horse, Paints, Appaloosa, Morgan, etc promote more than one type with
the breed, claiming "versatility of breed."
If a horse’s conformational traits
are carefully noted, it is quite easy to recognize the events the horse is
suited to perform. In this lesson we
will look at several common events, and for each we will list the
conformational observations which indicate the horse’s natural inclination.
Almost all horses today are bred with
a specific performance in mind. Without
the inbred desire to do the work, the conformation may be perfect and still not
be enough to make a champion. Never
determine on conformation alone that a horse will be an exceptional performer;
always study the horse’s pedigree in relation to his conformation.
We first want to look at the horse’s
head. As you will recall from lesson
one, air flow is extremely important to the horse which will be asked to work
with speed. If you intend to train
horses for speed events of any kind, eliminate horses with dished heads, small
nostrils, narrow throatlatches and narrow jaws. Horses with such conformation do not get
maximum air supply and therefore cannot perform at exceptional levels.
SPRINT RACING
Horses with a straight head,
large nostrils and wide throatlatch are good candidates for sprint racing. These same traits are desirable in a horse
which will do flat racing over a distance, and horses which will be asked to
steeplechase or event.
A short neck is very
acceptable for a sprint racer since the distance from the nostril to the lung
shortens the time it takes to get oxygen into the bloodstream.
Well sprung ribs indicate the horse
will have a large lung capacity.
A short arm, an upright shoulder and
upright pasterns suggest the horse will gather quickly and get into his next
stride without delay. When this
conformation is observed, the trainer should immediately see the potential for
quickness in straight lines for short distances.
Straight hind legs as also a great
indicator of quickness in gathering and getting into the next stride. A straight hind leg coupled with low hocks is
a great indicator of short distance speed.
JUMPING
A
horse with a long neck, a swan neck or a horizontal neck is a good candidate
for jumping events.
The sloping shoulder puts the horse
into this category, as does a long arm and a long forearm.
Well sprung ribs are an asset to the
jumper.
A low stifle joint
indicates power from behind and should immediately suggest the horse may be a
jumper.
When a horse has a sturdy frame, plus
the above conformational assets, he will most likely jump well and stay sound.
DRIVING EVENTS
The
horse with a bull neck or a swan neck should immediately be recognized as a
potential driving horse. A sloping
shoulder added to a heavy neck and wide chest is a distinct advantage for
driving work. (Remember, horses do not
pull a vehicle, but instead push it by pushing into the collar of the harness.)
The driving horse can be fine boned
if he is to work with a light vehicle.
A short, flat croup, which
predisposes the horse to trot, is a positive as is the sloping shoulder and
short forearm.
Horses which are camped out behind and horses with narrow hips generally do well as driving horses.
REINING
A
horizontal neck when seen on a horse which also has a steep rump and low hocks,
signals the potential reiner. Such conformation usually means the horse
will slide well when stopping hard, yet easily maintain his balance. The horizontal neck also allows the horse to
remain flat in front as he makes pivots or rollbacks.
A short back and well sprung ribs in
combination put the horse into the reining category. A sturdy frame is a plus for the reiner.
TRAIL RIDING
The
conformational traits listed here suggest the horse would be best for easy
trail riding, not for competitive events.
The suggestion that trail riding best suits this type of horse is made
on the basis that “weak conformation” will not hold up to other activities.
A roach backed horse or a horse with
a long back can quickly be placed into the trail riding category. Weak loin also says, “trail horse.”
If the horse is fine boned, has
narrow hips and a short croup, then trail riding may be the only activity at
which he can be expected to perform well and remain sound.
DISTANCE RIDING
The conformational weaknesses of a
trail horse can often be seen in the distance riding horse---which needs to be
conditioned and honed to a hardness not needed by the trail horse.
The distance riding horse should have
a flat croup as he will generally do a long of long trotting.
A long forearm and a low stifle are
of great advantage to the distance horse.
PARADE OR GAITED
The gaited horse is most often a breed
of horse which should have both the breed characteristics and conformational
characteristics. A parade horse may be
of any breed, as long as he is animated in nature and tends to be a “high
stepper.”
Gaited and parade horses require an
upright shoulder and a short forearm.
Generally the gaited horse and the parade horse tend toward weak
hindquarter conformation. By not
powering well from behind, the have a natural tendency to be more animated in
the forehand.
SPEED SPORTS
The long neck and the horizontal neck
immediately suggest speed sports. Add
the well-sprung ribs for exceptional lung capacity and you may have an
excellent polo horse.
A long arm and a long forearm
indicate reach so that the horse can easily catch himself when be propelled
forward at speed by a powerful hindquarters.
A short cannon adds to the quickness
of the forehand.
A high stifle indicates a straight
hind leg which is always an indicator of a horse with quickness in straight
lines.
ROPING
A short back and an upright shoulder
in combination should immediately suggest potential as a roping horse which
must withstand the jerk of catching a steer or calf.
A sturdy frame is a must for the
roper. He needs to be strong, but isn’t
going to be working hard over long distance.
The upright pastern with the upright
shoulder indicates quickness in a straight line. If low hocks are added to the upright pastern
and shoulder, then you can be sure the horse will be lightning out of the box.
A pigeon breasted horse has his front
feet relatively close together which is more of an advantage to the roping
horse than having them wide apart due to a wide chest.
DRESSAGE
When a horse has a high neck set,
especially in combination with a sloping shoulder, dressage should be the
trainer’s first thought. The dressage
horse’s work at the higher levels requires an elevated forehand.
The dressage horse needs to work well
from behind, so the low stifle joint signals hindquarter power.
A horse with a long arm and long
sloping pasterns is well suited to dressage performance.
EVENTERS
Eventers must also be dressage horses, so the
conformation desirable in the dressage horse must be seen in the eventer. Add a sturdy frame so the horse can
withstand the rigors of cross country and stadium jumping.
A sloping shoulder allows the horse
to be able to jump and travel the distances required of an eventer. Low hocks aid the horse both in power from
behind for the dressage exercises as well as stadium jumping.
A straight hind leg helps the eventer
to have the speed to excel at the roads and tracks portion of the competition.
BARREL RACING/POLE BENDING
A pigeon breasted horse generally
makes a good barrel or pole bending horse since he is compact in the front end
and can made the exceptionally tight turns with speed.
A short arm aids in the quickness
needed during the tight turns and direction changes.
Short cannon bones and upright
pasterns signal a barrel or pole horse since you know the horse will have good
quickness for a short distance. His
ability to gather quickly keeps him driving forward with speed.
CUTTING
A short back with well sprung ribs is
the first conformation needed by the cutting horse. Add to those qualities a pigeon breast and
you have a horse which is capable of quick lateral movement and quick changes
of direction.
A steep rump and low hocks allows the
cutter to get his hindquarters well under his body so he can lift and move his
forehand with exceptional speed.
Assignment:
1. Refer
to the assignment for lesson one’s evaluation on the 4-year old gelding. Analyze
the conformation and write a detailed report on the strengths or weaknesses for
certain performances. Complete your
report by suggesting a discipline or disciplines for which you think the horse
may be suited.
2. Locate
a registered horse and determine for which event the horse was bred to perform,
based on the pedigree. (You can report
on your horse or someone else’s horse, but you must be able to examine the
horse and report the horse’s pedigree.)
3. Take
pictures of the horse and include them in your report. (front, back, both
sides, close up of head)
4. Make
a short video of the horse moving, without a rider, at all three gaits…and
explain what you see in the horse's movement that makes you think the horse
will perform a specific event. Load the video to YouTube and send me the link.
5. Report
the conformational configurations which support the performance ability
suggested by the horse’s breeding.
6. Note conformational configurations which
detract from the ability to perform as the breeding indicates.
Please e-mail assignment to elblazer@horsecoursesonline.com
Include ‘Conformation Lesson Two’ in the subject line.