When Judging a Horse, the First Thing to Note Is Its Sex. It Will Be Either A

JUDGING A HORSE

When judging a horse, the first thing to note is its sex. It will be either a

mare or a gelding. The next thing to note is its colour;

White is known as grey

Dark brown is known as bay

Light brown is known as chestnut

Black and white is known as piebald

Brown and white is known as skewbald

Black is known as black

The next thing you need to do is evaluate the horse's conformation.

WHAT IS CONFORMATION?

Conformation is the outline of a horse as dictated primarily by his bone

and muscle structures. However, conformation is not just straight legs, it

is also about the length of the bones, the angles of the joints, and the

proportions and overall balance of the horse.

HOW DO YOU EVALUATE CONFORMATION?

The horse should be looked at from both sides, the front and the rear, at

a standstill and whilst in walk and trot. The fore and hind legs should be

evaluated for straightness, correct angles, slope muscling and

straightness. "Thehead and neck are evaluated for normal balance and

appropriate length and curvature.

THE HEAD

The head must be in proportion to the size of the horse. The lower and

upper jaws should meet evenly at the front. If the upper jaw is too long,

the horse is said to be parrot mouthed, if the lowerjaw is too long it is

said to be sow mouthed. The eyes should be set well out at the side of

the head, and be clear, large and prominent, an excess of the white of the

eye suggests the possibility of an excitable horse.

THE NECK

Some horses have long necks, some short but again the neck must be in

proportion with the body. If the neck dips down in front of the withers,

the horse is ewe-necked and this makes it more difficult to achieve the desirable forward, steady, head carriage. There should be an unbroken

curve from the poll to the withers.

THE SHOULDER

The shoulder starts at withers. The line from the withers to the point of

the shoulder is known as the slope of the shoulder. An upright shoulder

gives a short stride and the front legs will show wear more quickly. A

good sloping shoulder that is well muscled yet without heaviness is best.

THE CHEST AND BARREL

The withers should be clearly defined. High or low withers can make it

hard to fit a saddle correctly. Adeep, full chest with long, well sprung

ribs is essential to provide good lung and heart room. Ahorse with flat

ribs is slap sided. The front legs must have clear space between them

and not come out if one hole. On the other hand, the chest must not be

too wide, again it must be in proportion with the horse.

The back may be dipped or hollowed from old age or poor conformation.

There should be a nice covering of flesh over the rib cage so that they do

not stand out, as with a horse that is lacking in condition, but are easy

to feel, unlike a horse that is too fat. Ahorse that is out at grass will have

a very full belly and may even be described as pot-bellied.

THE HINDQUARTERS

The power of the horse lies in its hindquarters which should have a good

covering of flat muscle. The horse must not appear split up the middle

when viewed from behind, and the thigh muscles must be well developed

on the inside of these limbs.

THE LEGS

To help you evaluate whether a horses legs are straight you can imagine

a plum line. If standing in front of or behind the horse, imagine the line

from the point of the shoulder (front) and the point of the hock (back)

straight to the ground. The line should pass through the centre of the

knee, fetlock, pastern and hoof on the fore leg and the hock, fetlock,

pastern and hoof on the hind leg.

On the fore leg, if one or both of the hooves point inward this is known as

being pigeon-toed. If one or both of the hooves point outward this is known as being slay-Cooted. If one or booth of the knees deviate outward

this is known as knock knees. If one or both of the knees deviate inward

this is known as bow legged. If the distance between the horses fore legs

is less at the hooves than at the shoulder it is said to stand close, if the

distance between the horse's fore legs is less in the shoulder than the

hoof it is said to stand wide.

Hocks must not point towards each other (cow hocked) nor must they

be bowed out. They must not be over bent (sickle hocked). The hock

joint should be large but not fleshy

Next you will see the horses in walk and trot

WALK

The walk is a four time movement i.e. each leg touches the ground

individually. Regular steps of even length are required. The footprint of

the front foot should be watched to see whether the back foot comes on

to it (tracking up) or, even better, goes beyond it (overtracking). Agood

walker will give the impression of going somewhere.

TROT

The trot is a two time movement i.e. the near fore and offhind move

together and the off fore and near hind move together. The horse should

be see trotting both toward and away. Astraight action is best. If the

horse swings the feet out from the knee or fetlock joint this is known as

dishing, any action that brings the foot up too close to the other leg is

known as brushing. Each diagonal stride should be the same length. The

horse should bounce in its stride and not land heavily, it must cover the

ground well. There should be no signs of stiffness, there should be free

movement.

Both in walk and trot lameness should be looked for.

HOOVES

The shape of the fore foot should be round and the hind oval, any cracks

should be noted.

Now comes the hands on bit!

TOUCH AND FEEL

Once you have evaluated the horse visually you will then need to check

for what I call "lumps and bumps". Any swellings, any heat that can be

felt, any cuts must all be recorded for your reasons. These will mostly be

found on the legs. Lumps are often found on the inside of the cannon

bone where the splint bone runs, these lumps are known as splints. You

will not be expected to give a reason for the heat or lumps and bumps

being there as the list as to why is endless, but through your

observations you will be expected to fmd them.

Nowyou have finished your judging and decided which order you are

going to put the horses in it is time to write your notes.

Start off by getting the sex of your judge right, madam or master I

Your reasons should go something like this;

Madam judge I placed the three mares and one gelding in the following

order AX BY. I placed A the bay mare first because .

I placed X the chectnut gelding second because and so on

until you have given you resons, remember that you are marked for

OBSERVATIONS, which must be COMPARATIVE RATHER THAN

DESCRIPTIVE i.e copare the horses rather than just describling them, A

had a better overall conformation than X, X moved straighter in trot than

B, Yhad a slight swelling on the off hind, where as A and X had very

clean limbs, COMPARE DO NOT DESCRIBE, even if you have got the

order wrong you can still be placed if you give your reasons well, look up

and speak in a clear loud voice. Finish your reasons with;

Madam / Master judge, those are my reasons for placing the three

mares and one gelding in the following order AX B Y. Thankyou.

I have covered more than you will probably be expected to know at

District level, but you never know who you will be up against once you

get to County or Northern Area, the more terms you can throw at the

judge the more you look as if you know what you are talking about and

the more points you will gain, but only if you give your reasons well

and that goes for whatever it is that you are judging.