reaching forward with his front legs as part of the preparation for the pirouette (minimal advancing movement). He has also raised and compressed his neck in order to help the front end continue in a canter stride while not moving forward. In fact, his movement has shifted more towards up than forward. The jumper has just been asked to lift off over the
fence after compressing the joints that comprise his rear spring. Although he has not fully uncoiled that rear spring nor fully released the compression in this photo, it can easily be seen that his stifles are a long way from his body already and that he is using his LS to help lift his front end. His scapula has rotated back, raising his point of shoulder and moving his elbow forward in order to bring the front legs high enough to clear the fence. As the forehand continues through its full range of motion,
his knees will be even higher and the lower portion of the front legs will be able to fold out of the way. As he continues to uncoil the rear spring, he will continue up and forward. We can also see that he is using his neck to direct the energy forward. Once he has finished that phase, he will lower his head and neck momentarily to aid in lifting the hind quarters over the rails and he is free to coil the rear legs again for clearance. Then he will raise his head and neck in preparation for landing in order to diminish the impact.
Hopefully it is also evident that if the stifle
placements of these horses were reversed, a dressage horse with the lower stifle placement of the jumper would have to close his angles even further to achieve that degree of collection, putting more strain on the joints and muscles, and that a jumper with the medium stifle placement of a dressage horse would not have been able to clear the height of the fence due to a diminished range of motion. And if either horse had the femur as the short side of his rear triangle, the hocks would be further behind the horse, causing considerable strain.
About Judy: Judy has researched equine conformation for 30 years and has written three books on the subject (the most recent, an e-book). She travels worldwide giving conformation clinics for all disciplines. Judy also analyzes individual horses based on photos and gives breeding consultations. Learn more at www.
jwequine.com.
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