Conformation Craze

Several bloggers I follow and respect have done a fairly basic conformation analysis on their horses and so I decided to try it! Check out Breeches and Boat Shoes as I believe it's where the craze originated. 

Length vs Height

Ideal – The length of the horse from the point of the shoulder to the buttock should be equal to the height of the horse from from the top of the withers to the ground. This should create an box around the horse (minus the head and neck) that is a square with equal sides.

 Tango - definitely not a square. Beastie is longer than he is tall. 

Heartgirth vs. Legs

Ideal – The depth of the heartgirth from the top of the withers to the elbow should be equal to the length of the leg from the elbow to the fetlock.

Tango - Huh. He's not even at all. Look at that massive chest.

Topline vs Underline

Ideal – The topline should be level so the point of the croup is at the same height or slightly lower than the top of the withers. The topline from the top of the withers to the point of the hip should be shorter that the underline from the point of the elbow to the stifle.

Tango - this is the one conformational point that Tangoose does pretty well at. 

Forequarter vs. Hindquarter

Ideal – The forequarter of the horse (minus the head and neck) should be equal to the hindquarter of the horse when a line is drawn through the center (near the last rib) of the horse in the box from before.

Tango - at this point, I'm a bit embarrassed to see how poorly my horse is put together by conformational standards. I hadn't done a formal analysis but he looks pretty balanced to my eye when I don't draw lines all over him. 

Shoulder vs. Back vs. Buttock

Ideal – The shoulder, back, and buttock should all be equal in length when lines are drawn from the top of the wither to the ground and the point of the hip to the ground in the box from before.

Tango - well. Tangoose, you have a long back.

Head vs. Body

Ideal – The length of the head should be similar to the lengths from the point of the hock to the ground, the chestnut on a forelimb to the ground, length of heartgirth, and from the stifle to the croup.

Tango - I actively considered skipping this one because of how uneven all the parts are.

Buttock vs. Hip vs. Stifle

Ideal – The lengths from the buttock to the stifle, the stifle to the point of the hip, and the point of hip to the buttock should all be similar.

Tango - an equilateral triangle Tango does not make.