prod·uct (prod’əkt)
- A direct result; a consequence: “Is history the product of impersonal social and economic forces?” (Anthony Lewis).
Equibrit, darling, conformation does affect gaits and movement.
For example, if you had a giant head, you’d wobble around as you walked.
Not necessarily. If my giant head was perfectly balanced and I had the muscle and bone to support it, then it wouldn’t be a problem. Not only that, but it would house my giant brain and I could finish the Sunday Telegraph crossword in 2 minutes!
:lol::lol::lol::eek::eek:
Wow, how did this very mild discussion take such a crazy turn? Also, pretty sure brain size in humans has been shown to not be positively correlated to intelligence levels, haha. I could sure use some help on the Sunday crosswords though…
Woo, anyway, I remember some of the most conformation learning fun I had (and still have) is going to higher end horse sales. I grew up riding saddlebreds, and there is a large auction in Lexington in the spring and fall with all quality levels represented. I would go with my grandmother (long time horse trainer), and we’d look at nearly every horse (usually between 200 and 400) in their stall before they went through the sale over the next couple of days. So much fun! It’s great to have a look with someone that really knows their stuff and then be able to see how it all gets put together the next day as they are ridden through the sale ring.
Some of the ugliest horses are sometimes great performers because their flaws are outweighed by heart, good training, or other conformation plusses. We used to have the craziest looking little horse in training. Loooong backed, straight pasterns, mutton withered, poker neck, very short legged compared to his body, and his barrel was like a long tube. Anyway, this little horse could somehow manage squat and get it. He had great shoulders and a lot of heart, and he did very very well in the show ring…
Anyway, you can get the same kind of experience by going to shows with someone knowledgeable and watching horses get saddled up, warmed up, and ridden. Read a book to get some of the basics, then just go watch and listen. You’ll get it. It really just comes down to experience. You get to a point where you aren’t necessarily cataloguing all the flaws and good characteristics but instead seeing how everything works together as a whole. It’s about the whole picture, and that’s what really takes experience to master. That’s why some people have great luck “flipping” horses. They have a good eye and can maybe see past the slightly long back or slightly weird hip that has turned other buyers off.
While this is not specific to Sport conformation, I find this site useful for comparing conformation of one horse to another, and some of the variations that are still successful in a given discipline.
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/ManOWar.html
This is Man o’War and relatives. Voted greatest TB of the 20th century. Note that he was definitely downhill and somewhat common as a foal. He shows the long sloping shoulder and pasterns of a possibly fast runner combined with substance less common in todays TB. Also shows great muscular development of hip and croup. Comparing him to parents and his offspring is quite fascinating.
And by the way, I think Mahuba is just a lovely mare, very smooth and balanced (no, she is not uphill, not a dressage type)
The main site
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits.html
gives you pix of many of the TB lines integrated into the modern WB
This is Dark Ronald and you can see he has a less exaggerated shoulder, is slightly uphill despite low withers (for a TB) with a high, correct neck and short back.
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/DarkRonald.html
If I could judge movement potential off of still photos, I’d be able to make a lot of money renting that service to anyone - really, you need to see movement to judge it. And a horse can and often does look totally diferent under different riders.
Youtube
Found some vids on youtube where they look at a horse standing and moving. Have only watched the first ones, seems ok, but i’m no expert 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P79UKyOkAU
Also, links to videos of danish warmblood kåring and stallions etc:
http://www.heste-nettet.dk/video/kaaring2005/index.php?group=K�ring%2C+oprangeringen
Theres a lot of lovely videos on this site under media - web tv, so lots of nice horses to watch and (drool) ehem… learn from
Other high end auction/ stallionshow etc links?
