the top of the withers to the ground—the intersection of these two lines will be the horse’s center of balance. Theoretically, the higher and farther back the center of balance, the more uphill the horse will be. The lower and farther forward the center of balance, the more downhill the horse will be, which tends to make him heavier on the forehand and harder to collect. Ideally a horse should also have a slightly rectangular
frame, meaning the length of the body is approximately ten percent longer than the height of the horse. This rectangular frame should be caused by a nice sloping shoulder paired with a strong hind end—a horse should not be rectangular due to a long back! A long back will tend to be weaker, whereas a shorter back tends to be stronger but can cause a loss of lateral flexibility, so nei- ther extreme is good. The length of the back (measured from the point of the withers to the point of the croup) should be less than fifty percent of the entire length of the body. The topline should be well muscled and smooth. The neck should flow smoothly into the with- ers, for example, and the loin should flow smoothly into the croup.
Imaginary Lines and Plumb Lines Imaginary lines and plumb lines can be incredibly help-
ful, whether you’re using them to determine how the shoulder angle compares to the pastern angle (the angles should match) or whether you’re drawing a mental plumb line to determine if a horse’s front legs are straight or not. It usually takes a lot of practice to train your eye to see these lines as you evaluate a horse. By the second day of the seminar, even some very experienced participants were still holding up their pens at arm’s length to help them visualize straight lines. A tip also offered by the in- structors was to find things in the background—such as fence lines or buildings—which can be used to help visual- ize horizontal and vertical lines. One of the horses present- ed at the seminar wonderfully illustrated how helpful it could be to find a horizontal line in the background to help evaluate uphill/downhill balance. The horse was older and its back had dropped a bit which gave it the appearance of being croup high and downhill. However, by using the horizontal line of the wall of the arena in the background, we could establish that the horse was actually not croup high at all. This is a good thing to figure out before risking marking down a horse for being something he’s not!
Head, Neck, Shoulders Moving along in the conformation evaluation, the next
step is to evaluate the head, neck and shoulders. Begin- ning in December the score sheets for USDF Dressage Sport Horse Prospects and Breeding Stock classes will break the conformation score down into four equally
weighted categories: overall frame and topline, head/ neck/shoulder, back/loin/croup and legs/feet. Together these four scores will account for thirty percent of the final score in a Sport Horse Prospects class and 40 percent of the final score in a Breeding Stock class. The head should be proportional, with a well-defined
throatlatch, a good-sized mouth and a large, kind eye. Too thick a throatlatch can make it harder to put the horse on the bit and can cause breathing problems, while too small of a mouth can make it hard to find room for both bits of the double bridle later on. As you examine the head, this is also the time to note faults such as a parrot mouth, which is considered to be hereditary and would be penal- ized especially in a Breeding Stock class. Next is the neck—a beautiful, well developed neck is
considered by many to be one of the hallmarks of a dres- sage horse. The neck should be naturally arched and should come up out of the withers at a 90 degree angle to the shoulder. The length of the topside of the neck should be twice as long as the length of the underside of the neck. While an overly long neck may look elegant, they can also tend to be stiff and can negatively affect the horse’s balance; therefore of the two “flaws” a short neck is preferable to a long neck. The neck is a lever and can help or hinder a horse. A horse with a ewe neck may be harder to get supple in the neck; a horse with a swan neck may be harder to get to use his back properly; and a horse with a low set neck may be harder to get to collect and move uphill. A good visual offered by instructor Kristi Wysocki was to look at the neck and see if it makes you think more of a sail or an anchor. A “sail” neck is desirable—up and floating—whereas an “an- chor” neck is heavy and downhill. The horse’s shoulder should be long and sloping and should match the angle of the front pasterns. The angle between the shoulder (scapula) and the arm (humerus) should be at least 90 degrees. The length of the arm should be equal or greater than half the length of the scapula. If the shoulder angle is too upright it can lead to more knee action and less reach from the front leg. If the arm is too short it can increase the concussion on the front legs and can make lateral work more difficult for the horse. The withers should be long and smooth—overly promi- nent withers or flat, poorly defined withers can both lead to difficulties with saddle fit, among other things.
Back, Loin, Croup The back should be of moderate length, and will have al-
ready been first observed as you were noting the horse’s proportions and rectangular frame earlier. Additionally the back should be smooth and neither roached (exces- sive upward arch) nor swayed (excessive downward arch.) The loin should be well muscled and relatively short and should blend smoothly into the croup, which should
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