You be the judge! advanced

YOU BE THE JUDGE!Horse Judging Basics

& Conformation Analysis

BySabrina Ginn

Horse Judging is not just based solely on personal opinions and preferences.

It is based on educating your self on the ideal standards of each class or breed being judged.

Horse Judging

Classes that you may encounter at a Judging

Competition.

Stock Type(Appaloosa, Quarter Horse, Paint/Pinto)

Morgan

Arabian

Profile Head & Neck

Hunter Under Saddle ,Equitation, English Pleasure

Hunter Hack orEquitation Over Fences

Reining

Western Pleasure, Equitation, Western Riding, Trail

Gaited Breeds(Tenn. Walkers, Rocky Mountain, Am. Saddlebred)

There are two major discipline categories:EnglishWestern

Under each of these are two major divisions:Halter

-Line up Head to Tail inspection-Movement (walk & jog/trot)

Performance -Walk, jog/trot, lope/canter Under Saddle-Use of cones, obstacles, jumps or patterns

How Horses are Judged

What Makes a Good JudgeKnow your limitations (qualifications), only judge shows/classes that you are qualified/knowledgeable in.A clear understanding of the idea for each breed/class.Be organized, judge with a system!The ability to reach a decision quickly, based on sound judgment and rank them accordingly.Judge riders in Equitation classes, judge horses in all other classes & the Exhibitor/Horse as a pair in Showmanship.Treat owners, exhibitors, & spectators with respect.

Most importantly: Be Honest in your Judgment!

Criteria for Judging a Halter Class:

BalanceStructural

CorrectnessMuscling Breed Type Way of Going

Criteria for Judging Performance Class:

Consistency Quality of Movement Overall Performance Manners Responsiveness to

Rider Functional & Correct

position Execution of Pattern

Conformation

Colors & Markings

Unsoundness/Blemishes

Start with the Basics

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Conformation Physical appearance of an animal due to the

arrangement of muscle, bone, and other body tissues.

Also refers to halter horses or horses shown in-hand that are evaluated on a combination of beauty, skeletal soundness and symmetry.

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Conformation Sum of the body parts and how they blend

together which determines the acceptability or unacceptability of the horse’s conformation.

IDEAL

Look at whole picture

Animal which exhibits the greatest number of positive traits.

Conformation Parts

Click icon to add picture

www.imh.org/ imh/bw/quar.html

http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/quar.html



Unsoundness’s & Blemishes

Anatomy: Form to Function

Ideal –vs- FaultsSkeletal StructureBalance & Symmetry

Ideal vs Faults

Skeletal Structure as it relates to Function

Balance & SymmetryA horse w/ ideal conformation for athletic ability &

durability is: one-third shoulder area (front end),one-third back area, & one-third hip area (hindquarters)

Neck length (A) should be one-third of the horse’s total length (B),One and half time the length of the head (C), and the same length as the front legs (A).

A good horse is square. The distance from the point of shoulder to his buttocks is equal to his height. (from the ground to the top of his withers)The depth of his body (from the top of his withers to the underline) is the same as from underline to the fetlock joint. He is the same height at the withers as he is at the croup- in addition, a horses' topline should be shorter than his underline.

Head Profiles. A) Straight. B) Concave (dished) C) Convex (Roman nose)

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Structural Correctness Head

◦ Cleanliness of muzzle

◦ Lack of coarseness through the face

◦ Eyes large and set wide

apart are desirable small narrow set

undesirable

◦ Ears small to medium size and appear alert

• A) Normal Neck; the base of the neck is level with the point of the shoulder or higher.

B) Neck set on too low, below the point of the shoulder; there is hardly any breast area below the neck.

The shape of th S-curve dictates the shape of the neck.A) Normal or “ideal”, neck has a shallow lower curve and is situated high relative

to the shoulder: there is a long upper “turnover” behind the head.B) A thick ewe neck has a wide and deep lower curve, but the upper curve is short,

making the horse hammer headed.C) Ewe neck with wide, deep lower curve but a long upper curve.

D) Straight neck; neither the upper nor the lower curve of the S is very deep.

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Neck◦Ties into the

head at the throatlatch thick or coarse,

less eye appeal and is less desirable

◦Long and ties in high in the chest tie in the floor of

the chest is undesirable

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Attractive

Clean throatlatch – allows flexion at the poll

It is long, but less than 1 ½ times the length of the back.

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Good length and clean throatlatch

Shape and muscling of a horse’s neck can be improved by conditioning

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Structural Correctness Neck is short

for its body size

It is fairly well shaped, & ties high into the shoulder/chest region.

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Withers◦ Good medium-

high withers

◦ Should be level with or only slightly higher than croup

◦ Croup higher than withers not desirable but not a major fault

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Elbow

◦ Point of elbow should be in front of the peak of the withers

Chest of average width (A) and chest too wide

(B).

Exaggerations: “bulldog” chest (A1) & too-narrow front (B1)

A) Forearm spacing: normalB) NarrowC) WideThe too-narrow horse may interfere; the too-wide horse paddles.

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Structural Correctness Body

◦ Barrel Deepest point of

the barrel should be heart girth

Same proportions on both the left and right sides of the horse

Deep chest cavity

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Body

◦Barrel

Viewed from front barrel should be visible on either side of the horse

A good horse is usually about 2.5 to 2.75 time as long as his head, measuring from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock.

Good Topline contour: long neck and proportional back

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Structural Correctness

Croup◦ Long and gentle

slope steep in croup

undesirable

◦ Point of hip should be just in front of the point of croup

◦ Measured from point of hip to point of buttock

Angles in hindquarters are a little different in the endurance horse and the sprinter(halter),the triangle formed by points of the hindquarter may not be equilateral.A) In a horse geared for endurance, the line from hip to stifle may be a little short.B) In the sprinter, the line from hip to stifle may be a little longer.

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Stifle◦ Correct viewed

from rear◦ Correct viewed

from the side◦ Widest part of

the hindquarters

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Gaskin

◦ Left inside Arabian gaskin may be curved slightly

◦ Right inside Quarter Horse gaskin may be almost vertical


The angle of the hock joint is the key to structural strength and durability (soundness) of the hind leg. Strongest construction is when the point of the hock is directly under the point of the buttocks. A line dropped from buttock to ground follows the back of the cannon. If the hock joint is not directly under the buttocks when the horse is standing squarely, the construction is weak.

A) Proper Hock angleB) Sickle Hocked C) Post-Legged (not enough bend at the hocks.)D) Set back too far

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Hock◦ Good hock ample

size to bear the horse’s weight

◦ Neither too fine nor to coarse

◦ Picture is good hock in proportion to body


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Good hocks viewed from front, side, and rear.

Correctly set hocksViewed from rear

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Hind leg◦ Good hind leg

conformation viewed from the side

◦ Profile (line dropped from the point of buttocks to the ground and it will pass down the back of the cannon bone)

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Camped out Behind Camped under

Behind

Straight Behind“Post Legged”

Conformation Faults

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Hind leg

◦ Good hind leg conformation from the rear view

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Base Narrow Base Wide

Conformation Faults

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Front Legs

◦ Front View Good straight

legs

◦ Side View Good foreleg

conformation

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Front Legs Faults◦ Profile: over

in the knees (buck kneed) or behind in the knees (calf kneed)

◦ Front: splayed footed, pigeon toed, bench knee, knock kneed

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Knee

◦ Correct

◦ Smooth

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Knee◦ Front View

Good straight knees

◦ Side View Knee wide from

front to back Exhibit a clean

look Provides

effective shock absorption

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Cannon

◦ Short

◦ Strong

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Fetlock

◦ Good front fetlock

◦ Viewed from the side

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Fetlock

◦ Good hind fetlock

◦ Although the pastern is a little long

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Fetlock

◦ Good fetlock from the rear

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Pastern

◦ Pastern axis should be the same as the foot axis.

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Hoof

◦ Equal in size and quality

◦ Well-conformed foot is symmetrical from all angles

Muscling

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Muscling Think in terms of Quantity and Quality

Quantity◦ Overall volume of muscling present in a given

area.

◦ Depth, width, and length of muscling.

◦ Include: shoulder, chest, quarters, forearm, stifle area and inner/outer gaskins.

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Muscling Quality

◦ Length and smoothness of the muscling

short bunchy type of muscle pattern is undesirable

short bunchy are less agile and not as fluid as those horses with long smooth muscle patterns.

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Quality as it relates to an Individual

Refers to the refinement of the head, neck, feet, joints, legs, bones, and hair.

High Quality have lots of eye appeal and show vigor and bloom.

◦ Coarse, meaty in the joints and lacking bloom, are of poor quality and are undesirable traits

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Sex Character Stallions should be masculine Mares should be feminine Best place to evaluate is head and neck Stallions should have massive jaw and have

a muscular appearance through the neck. Mares should show refinement through the

head, throatlatch, and neck.

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Breed Character

A horse should be representative of the breed from which it is registered

Should exhibit the IDEAL Conformation and Characteristics for that breed as stated in each breeds standards.

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Way of Going How the horse travels

IDEAL - legs and feet move in a long straight and fluid path.

There should not be interference between any of the limbs and stride should not be short and choppy.

Should represent ideal for that class/breed standards.

Learn the Ideal of each Breed/Class

Conformation Performance

Each Breed Association has written standards

AQHA USEF Morgans Arabs Tenn.Walkers etc..

Each Breed Association has written standards for each Class.

Read Book of Rules/Regulations completely.

Now you be the Judge!

Examine each animal individually compared to the ideal breed standard!

Let’s Get Started

Aged Quarter

Horse Stallions

The head of the Stock type horse is short and broad with wide set eyes, large nostrils, short muzzle, firm mouth and a well developed, prominent jaw. They are usually deep & broad chested, possessing good depth of heartgirth and wide-set forelegs that blend into a long, sloping shoulder upward and taper into the knees downward. The back is created by medium high withers, extending well back and combining with a deep sloping shoulder. The back is fairly short and strong, containing a strong coupling. The barrel is formed by deep, well sprung ribs back to the hip joints and a long sloping croup with a long bottom line extending straight to the flank.The amount/type of muscling is very important when viewed from all angles.

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Please Mark Your Cards

Official Placing: 4-1-2-3

Reasons:

Orally defending your placing of a particular Class!

Self Improvement

You be the judge! advanced