There is no such thing as the perfect horse...
However, by being knowledgeable about the finer points of equine anatomy and conformation, you can find a horse that is more likely to be able to do what you want him to do, without being compromised by his shape and build.
Below is a drawing showing the main points of equine anatomy and conformation, including some of the things I will be discussing.
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- Parts of the Horse
- Art Explosion by Nova
| A | Muzzle | B | Poll | C | Crest | D | Withers |
| E | Back | F | Loins | G | Croup | H | Dock |
| I | Point of Hock | J | Hock | K | Thigh | L | Stifle |
| M | Chestnut | N | Ergot | O | Coronet | P | Pastern |
| Q | Fetlock | R | Cannon | S | Forearm | T | Point of Elbow |
| U | Shoulder |
Let's start at the front end
The first thing people look at in a horse is the head. Although it has little to do with the actual performance of the horse, except for the points noted below. most people like to see a horse with a refined head, bright, kind eyes, pricked ears and an alert expression.
Old English terms such as fiddle-headed refer to horses with coarse, unrefined features, and roman-nosed refers to a horse with a convex profile such as is found in the draught breeds, as opposed to the concave, or dished, profile of the Arabian and similar breeds.
Horses are not capable of breathing through their mouths, so the size and shape of the nostrils are important to horses in highly aerobic activities, such as race-horses. This is the reason that Thoroughbreds tend to have larger nostrils, with finer cartiledge than, say, a draught horse.
The eyes and ears can give clues to the temparament of the horse, if not his athletic ability.
Large, kind-looking eyes, with no white showing and no rolling of the eyeballs, indicates a more tractable demeanour, as do ears that are pricked and alert, rather than pinned back against the horse's head.
Two areas of the head which can have an effect on the performance of the horse are the throat and the poll. The poll is where the skull of the horse fits on to the spine, right behind the ears. Stiffness in this area can cause the horse to have difficulty in softening to the rider's hand and "come on the bit". Likewise, a horse with a thick throat area may have difficulty giving to the rider and may give the rider the feel that he is riding a plank of wood.
The horse's neck should be in proportion to the rest of the body, appearing neither too long nor too short. A gentle arch to the neck is pleasing, without excessive muscling underneath. Stallions are more prone to have more crest along the topline of the neck than either geldings or mares, although the more a horse is worked in certain disciplines, such as dressage, the more the muscle along the topline will be toned up. A horse with thick muscling along the underside of his neck will feel stiff and resistant to ride. This can also be changed with exercises to build the muscle along the top of the neck, encouraging the horse to relax the muscles along the underside.
The term ewe-necked refers to a neck that appears to be put on upside down and a horse with a swan-neck has a very long neck, usually with excessive bend similar to a swan, from which the term is taken. Both of these conformations are considered undesirable.
Equine Anatomy - The Shoulder
The way the neck joins the body can influence the way the horse goes. Some horses, such as the Quarter Horse, have a lower set-on neck than do others, such as the Saddlebred. This predisposes the Quarter Horse to carry his head lower than the Saddlebred, such as is desired in Western Pleasure classes and makes him a natural choice for these classes, Many of the carriage breeds, such as the Cleveland Bay, the Friesian and some of the German Warmbloods (who were originally bred as carriage horses and who now excel in sports such as dressage and showjumping) have a much higher neck, giving them a higher head carriage which lends an air of presence.
The shoulder itself is critical to the horse's way of going. A well sloped shoulder (as measured from the point of shoulder to the withers) will allow the horse to take a long, economical stride, enable him to extend in the trot, gallop easily, will make for a more comfortable ride, and is desirable in the riding horses such as the Thoroughbred, the Quarter Horse, and the Hunter . However, it is not found in all riding horses, and the breeds in which a high-stepping, showy action is required, such as the Andalucian, the Saddlebred, and the Morgan will be more apt to have a more upright shoulder, which places the foreleg more underneath the body and results in less extension of the forelimbs, but more upward knee action.
Equine Anatomy - The Body
There are several points that should be noted about the body. This is where all of the horse's major organs are, such as the lungs and the heart. They need to have room in order to be able to be most effective. The shape and size of the chest controls the amount of room that the lungs have to expand, important in the athletic horse. Ahorse with a chest that is too narrow, not only will have his aerobic capacity reduced, but his forelegs will also be too close together, making him more likely to brush his forelegs together when being worked, possibly causing injury.
The girth, or barrel, of the horse should be deep, giving the horse plenty of heart room to contain the internal organs. The body should be rounded and the ribs well-sprung. The term slab-sided refers to a horse with a narrow, flat-sided body.
The back should be considered to be the most important part of the riding horse. The horse is not naturally a weight carrier, it is more designed by nature to be a weight puller, so it is expecially important to make note of types of conformation that predispose the horse to even greater weakness in the back.
First of all, the back should be shaped in such a way as to accept a saddle comfortably and should be neither too long nor too short. A back which dips excessively is called a sway back and which is generally found in older horses, and its opposite, a roach back both can cause difficulties with fitting a saddle. An excessively long back will have inherant weakness which may not stand up to concentrated work, and a very short back will give the rider a bumpy ride as the propulsion of the hind legs will tend to bounce him out of the saddle.
The point where the back joins the quarters is called the loin and it is very important that this area is strong and muscular if problems are to be avoided. Horses with long backs are prone to weakness in this area. The croup is the highest point behind the saddle and should be level with the withers in the mature horse (as horses are growing, their growth spurts often make the croup higher than the withers) . In the mature horse, a croup higher than the withers will cause a tendancy to lean on the forehand and be heavy in front. This is not the same as goose-rump or jumper's bump, both terms which refer to a high, well muscled rump usually associated with jumpers.
