Corner H
By Judy Wardrope Eventing Future
ow does one judge a youngster regarding their potential as an eventer? Beyond straight legs and no glaring defects, what points
does one take into consideration when making an assessment? According to the USEA website, the USEA Future
Event Horse Program (FEH) “evaluates the potential of yearlings, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds to become successful upper level event horses.” With educational value plus the welfare of the horse uppermost in mind, I thought it might be interesting to compare the functional conformation points of a successful Future Event Horse (photo #1) to horses that actually were upper level eventers (photos #2 - 7). In order to be fair to this youngster in photo #1, who is likely still growing and is not as fit as the competition horses, I have chosen not to include the LS gap in our comparison. Additionally, the muscling that often indicates a tight elbow is not mentioned due to the differences in conditioning between a young horse and mature horses in competition. If you are a regular follower of this column, I challenge you to do your own comparisons in these areas despite the expected differences.
Rear Triangle 2 – The ilium side of his rear triangle is shorter than
the femur side, a dressage trait, which explains why this horse was always at or near the top after dressage. He also shows that the longest side of the rear triangle is from point of hip to stifle protrusion, which equates with the ability to jump from an open gallop, like the speed horses in jumping. This is the norm in top eventers. He evented at the international level well into his teens. 3 – The ilium and femur sides are
equal, a jumper trait, which explains why this horse made up ground on cross country and in stadium. He also shows the longest side of the rear triangle being from point of hip to stifle protrusion. He evented at the
54 July/August 2018
international level into his late teens before becoming a schoolmaster. 4 – The femur side is shorter than the ilium side,
which explains why this horse moved with his hocks further behind him and with less of the rear stride reaching underneath him. This construction adds to the risk of hind leg unsoundness and limits the scope normally established by stifle placement. To further complicate things, we see that the ilium side is equal in length to the side from point of hip to stifle protrusion, meaning that he would have less ability to jump from an open gallop. His preferred method of jumping would have been to slow and coil, but that would adversely affect the ability to make the time on cross country. He was euthanized on course after striking several fences in a row with his hind legs/ feet before dropping his shoulder in order to lift the hindquarters at a wide fence on cross country.
Stifle Placement 2 – His stifle protrusion is well below sheath level
even though he is stepped forward with the hind leg in this photo. This equates with a larger range of motion, longer stride and more scope. 3 – His stifle protrusion is well below sheath level,
which resulted in a long stride and excellent scope. 4 – His stifle protrusion is well below sheath level, but his length of stride and amount of scope were adversely affected by his short-femur construction.
1
Future Event Horse
Courtesy USEA/Jessica Duffy
Conformation
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
