[QUOTE=Equibrit;4141388]
It obviously doesn’t work for you ![/QUOTE]
So are you 12? Or one that many people have on ignore? You can’t hold an adult conversation or make a point, so I really don’t see why you feel the need to contribute.
There are none as blind as those who will not see ! There really is no need to stoop to personal insult.
You can start, equibrit. 
THe problem is that developing an eye for conformation just isn’t as simple as looking for this angle or that angle. That’s the problem. Just about anyone can do that.
The trouble is, seeing how all the parts join together in a balanced whole, and work together.
The best way to do this is not to just look at videos and pictures, or to read. One does have to do that, but that’s a very small part of the recipe. That’s the salt and the baking soda. You’re missing the flour, eggs, butter and all the rest. You need all the ingredients and you can’t make a cake til you got all the ingredients.
The best thing is to sit with an expert, and tell him or her what you see, and how you compare one horse to another, and be corrected by the expert, over and over and over. Take a class in conformation analysis, and stay away from the ‘Protractor People’, and from phrases like, ‘a well set on neck’ and a ‘good body’. Learn to actually see proportions. and how they work together.
To select a lower level horse from a number of inexpensive animals, to learn a little jumping and a little dressage and have fun at local club shows, one doesn’t need to be a conformation expert. A basically sound, healthy willing horse that one gets along with, is just about all one needs. But if one is planning something more demanding and expensive, one really needs some training. The US organizations offer training in this, it’s good to take advantage of that.
Well said slc2…Equibrit… Do you remember Flim Flam? DM’s horse? Saw him up close and personal at Prince George in MD with Conrad Schumaker using him as a personal example of “poor conformation”… And look where that “poor conformation” got him… Hmmmm…It is not all about conformation but it does help… 
I find a person goes through stages:
First they are just enamored of the beauty of a horse without knowing why.
Then they pick everything to pieces and measure and draw conclusions.
-At this point they see a lot of less than beautiful horses and start apologizing for their own horses faults.
Finally, usually after several years, their vision comes together and although they can still see the faults, the synergy of the whole animal moving is what they see and respond to again. And the well trained great movers are beautiful again, regardless of individual fault.
That probably doesn’t help…
Flaws that lead to unsoundness are bad, flaws that make the work difficult for the horse are to be avoided.
The rest?
There are many horses with what was deemed “poor conformation” that went on to do great things. BUT…those are the exceptions, not the rule.
I for one love it when a horse defies all odds and being picked apart and deemed not appropriate. Hilda Gurney said the same thing about Keen…but look at the magic.
I agree with SLC…learn your basics by reading and studing instructional videos like Hilda’s. It is very specific. You’re not going to just watch horses ride around with riders who may know how to help them overcome their “faults”.
Then…go watch performance horses perform. You’ll get an “eye”.
But then, it can take decades to get a really good eye. There’s always a horse out there that’s going to defy the convention of the conformation for the sport.
That is SO going to be my new signature quote.
The ‘poor conformation’ of Flim Flam was not that poor.
One has to be very careful thinking about conformation, for too many people, they want the horse to look like a breed, instead of a type, and too, people’s eye gets thrown off by details. One isolated fault really may not have the effect people think it would have or cancel out all the other good things about the horse.
A lot of famous horses do have poor conformation, Keen was a good example. He did have poor conformation. He had a long hollow back and other issues. But to look at him, he had a number of things on his side that were strengths, he appeared to have excellent bone and feet, especially.
But a lot of times, the ‘poor conformation’ is isolated faults and an overall very balanced, athletic conformation, and this is exactly what I was saying in the other post, that you cannot sit there with a protractor, you’ve got to see the whole together and how it works.
At the same time I see so many people who miss really major issues when looking at a horse’s conformation, they get down into details and miss the whole. Getting taught what sport horse judges look for, rather than breed judges, look for can help.
The first thing I think a person should do, is to squint at the horse and remove ALL details, and look only at a very general outline to see overall balance.
Geez, Equibrit, the OP is just asking for some simple information and obviously trying to learn something, why be so snarky? Conformation is not that cut and dry, I have seen some horses put together horribly go on to perform quite well, and others with “textbook” conformation have problems.
slc’s right about trying to understand the overall balance first. I think it’s quite hard and takes a lot of years of experience to be able to judge a horse this way. I’m no good at all, whenever I read the “conformation clinic” article in Practical Horseman, I inevitably pick the last horse first!
The conformation clinics are sometimes very close to sport horse type and sometimes very much not. THe conformation for sport and for the hunter ring are extremely different.
[QUOTE=slc2;4141856]
The conformation clinics are sometimes very close to sport horse type and sometimes very much not. THe conformation for sport and for the hunter ring are extremely different.[/QUOTE]
Sorry to hijack, but could you take a moment to hit the highlights of the difference? It seems there are lines being developed for Hunters in addition to Jumping Sport, was wondering about perceived confo difference.
Appreciated.
Thanks
I think that the sport horse folks are after a very, very different type of horse than the hunter line judging. The ‘classic hunter look’ has a lot of stuff that sport horse people ignore, big differences in how the proportions are viewed (downhill vs uphill build), especially the conformation of the hind quarter, set on of neck, amount of bone, size of joints.
A using conformation.
Conformation is a term pursuant to “form and function” – for a particular discipline. One can always cross train…and most horses adapt quite well. Conformation most important when seeking horses to go beyond the “basics” of any discipline and excel in a particular venue…and stay sound into old age doing so.
Outstanding conformation and way of going for a stellar hunter may not be that would be admired or successful in the discipline of dressage. And conversley so.
Admiration for each discipline and the understanding of the biomechanics the horse displays for a particular discipline is not that hard to understand and see – if you understand what is required, physically and mentally – of the horse and its intented use by astute breeders.
Conformation has been “bred in” for eons for the purpose for which the horse was intended. Just need to study a bit.
As usual…running on again…
One would need an understanding of the discipline to appreciate suitable conformation.
Here is some info about dressage vs jumping (tho not nec. hunters) conformation, with additional links - http://www.behindthebitblog.com/2008/06/dressage-versus-jumper-conformation.html
I don’t agree with several points in the article, esp about dressage horses ‘tending to have’ straighter hocks.
I also like to keep in mind that movement/gaits is just as inherited as conformation.
Natural movement/gaits are a result of conformation.
No one here has mentioned Dr. Deb Bennett’s books on conformation, which I found helpful. Here’s a link to the first one, for sale on Amazon.com:
She also has an accompanying video (http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Deb-Bennetts-Secrets-Conformation/dp/B000M52WAO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1244121719&sr=8-3), which I was able to borrow from the local library and watch several times. I found these resources did a lot to help me develop a basic ‘eye’ for balance and conformation. Both the video and the books have photographs of different horses to compare aspects of their conformation, which was the easiest way for ME to develop my eye.
No, actually, Equibrit, movement is somewhat a product of conformation. A great deal of movement is inherited as specific traits, independently of conformation.
Not a fan of Deb Bennet’s conformation analysis. Too much emphasis on angles, over emphasis on the body vs the whole and the legs, and too much ‘Any horse that looks like Painty is perfect’. Not going for a sport horse type.
produce (MAKE)
verb [T]
to make something or bring something into existence:
Artists produce paintings.
Farmers produce corn.
Producing something requires action on the part of the producer.
That is if you are using the ENGLISH language !
Sorry - but conformation cannot produce anything.
Conformation is the symmetry, size and shape of the various body regions relative to each other or the general appearance of the animal in terms of satisfying the observer’s appreciation of what is a desirable appearance.
