I had a Damascus granddaughter who could engage her hind end better than many warmbloods. I have never seen a TB who could use her body like her. Her athleticism was more baroque-like than modern WB-like, but I have no doubt she would have been competitive in dressage had her life’s path been different.
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Can you explain what you mean by this? I’m trying to picture what this would measure and coming up blank.
2 fists in what direction? Elbow to girth groove? That’s a good idea, to make sure there’s enough clearance for the elbow, but also, there are a lot of ways today to make sure the girth doesn’t interfere with the elbow even with a forward girth groove
Elbow to the actual side? 2 fists would be an enormous distance! But you DO want good depth that way - elbow to into the body - as that helps the front legs to have more lateral range of motion. A solid fist is nice. But also, it can be hard to figure out if little room there is conformation, OR the horse having muscle issues and holding his elbows in, which does rotate the leg outward a bit.
Or in the case of my mare…chub 
it’s the first place she puts on weight. When she’s lean I can get two fists in there!
Between the elbow and barrel
