Freelance Writing Jobs | Today's Articles | Sign In

Articles
Writers
 
Browse Sections
Home Horse Talk

Conformation Clinic Part 6


One of the important aspects of conformation is how well proportioned a horse is. This gives us a good opportunity for estimating equal measures. Take a tape measure and measure the horse's head from poll to muzzle. Estimate, and then actually measure the following areas to see if the horse is correctly proportioned. The length of the head should be equal to: the length of the shoulder, the length of the heart girth (from withers to elbow), length of forearm (elbow to knee on the front leg), length of the back, length of the croup (hip bone to tail), and length from elbow to stifle (the top joint on the horse's hind leg where it meets the body).

There are more measurements to consider which could also be represented as ratios. Measure the horse's neck from the throat latch (bottom of the neck where it meets the head) to where it meets the chest. Then measure the top of the neck from the poll to the withers. The top of the neck should measure twice as long as the bottom. When learning about conformation of the front and hind quarters, I was always taught to remember "long, short, long, short." In the front quarters this refers to the length of shoulder (long) compared to distance between point of shoulder and front leg (short), then comparing the length of forearm (long) to length of cannon bone (short). On the hindquarters this pattern refers to the length from hip to point of buttocks (long), point of buttocks to stifle (short), stifle to hock (long), and hock to cannon (short). There is no perfect ratio between these lengths, as long as they follow the long, short, long, short proportions the horse will be structurally sound.

One other fun measurement . . . if you are looking at a very young (3 years old or less) horse and want to estimate how tall he will be, measure from the ground to his elbow then take that measurement and start from the elbow and go up. Where the measurement ends is a pretty good estimate of where the horse's withers will be when he is full grown.

Keen observation skills are essential when looking at the conformation of horses. Watch a horse walk directly toward you and directly away from you. If possible do this on a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete. Listen for an even steady rhythm

The copyright of the article Conformation Clinic Part 6 in Horse Talk is owned by Patricia Celley. Permission to republish Conformation Clinic Part 6 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic

;