In the EQUUS February 2010 installment of her column "Conformation Insights" Deb Bennett, PhD, demonstrates how to overlook minor blemishes and focus on a horse's structure and harmony of proportion. Here are nine horses she selected as examples of conformation excellence, along with tables showing their physical measurements and ratios. For the full story, go to the February 2010 issue of EQUUS (call 301-977-3900 to order back issues).
(The article is in PDF format. If you have trouble viewing it, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program.)
Raw Measurements
| Parameter | No. 1 - Arabian | No. 2 - Australian Stock Horse | No. 3 - Cob | No. 4 - Connemara | No. 5 - Moyle Horse | No. 6 - Mule | No. 7 - Quarter Horse | No. 8 - Thoroughbred | No. 9 - Warmblood |
| Body Length | 127.25 | 121.54 | 130.67 | 117.66 | 125.80 | 130.15 | 130.12 | 119.85 | 112.24 |
| Withers Height | 119.48 | 104.85 | 116.06 | 106.63 | 121.03 | 116.20 | 112.24 | 110.11 | 102.51 |
| Croup Height | 116.77 | 107.13 | 112.37 | 103.42 | 121.26 | 115.46 | 112.56 | 107.53 | 100.20 |
| Head Length | 48.16 | 48.58 | 47.36 | 45.46 | 49.02 | 58.83 | ---- | ---- | 42.78 |
| Neck Length | 74.96 | 73.54 | 59.93 | 66.12 | 77.52 | 66.01 | 66.38 | 65.31 | 69.07 |
| Freespan of Back | 52.70 | 44.62 | 63.00 | 47.57 | 48.88 | 58.25 | 52.70 | 50.04 | 51.70 |
| Croup Length | 33.42 | 34.52 | 24.21 | 27.98 | 29.12 | 37.11 | 32.56 | 29.75 | 21.19 |
| Pelvic Length | 37.35 | 42.28 | 36.27 | 35.15 | 37.77 | 40.59 | 41.44 | 33.60 | 35.41 |
| Femur Length | 32.54 | 26.65 | 32.05 | 28.87 | 33.06 | 26.43 | 25.33 | 26.36 | 24.77 |
| Gaskin Length | 29.37 | 28.89 | 30.36 | 25.82 | 28.44 | 33.56 | 35.53 | 30.90 | 29.00 |
| Hind Cannon | 27.52 | 26.36 | 25.88 | 26.74 | 28.97 | 26.86 | 27.17 | 24.78 | 24.21 |
| Hind Pastern + Hoof | 16.03 | 15.31 | 17.97 | 15.55 | 16.08 | 13.24 | 15.15 | 13.27 | 14.86 |
| Shoulder Length | 48.14 | 44.45 | 45.92 | 45.57 | 50.57 | 46.55 | 47.44 | 44.66 | 41.78 |
| Arm Length | 25.29 | 20.87 | 25.25 | 19.93 | 24.91 | 23.53 | 18.75 | 22.11 | 19.49 |
| Forearm Length | 34.50 | 28.77 | 32.15 | 28.72 | 29.01 | 33.43 | 33.28 | 28.10 | 31.43 |
| Fore Cannon | 23.59 | 19.48 | 20.42 | 19.64 | 23.16 | 21.48 | 21.72 | 20.79 | 18.21 |
| Fore Pastern + Hoof | 15.72 | 14.49 | 14.44 | 15.15 | 15.44 | 14.65 | 14.42 | 14.19 | 13.55 |
| Total Hind Limb Length | 105.46 | 97.21 | 106.26 | 96.98 | 106.55 | 100.09 | 103.18 | 95.31 | 92.84 |
Measured Angles
| Angle | No. 1 - Arabian | No. 2 - Australian Stock Horse | No. 3 - Cob | No. 4 - Connemara | No. 5 - Moyle Horse | No. 6 - Mule | No. 7 - Quarter Horse | No. 8 - Thoroughbred | No. 9 - Warmblood |
| Body Balance | 1.0 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Shoulder | 50.0 | 45.0 | 54.0 | 54.5 | 50.0 | 48.0 | 52.5 | 44.5 | 50.0 |
| Arm | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 46.5 | 52.0 | 47.0 | 45.0 | 57.0 | 48.0 |
| Angle at Shoulder Joint | 100.0 | 95.0 | 104.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 | 95.0 | 97.5 | 101.5 | 98.0 |
| Pelvis | 17.5 | 17.0 | 18.5 | 17.5 | 15.0 | 22.5 | 15.0 | 12.5 | 15.0 |
Ratio Calculations (rounded to nearest whole number)
| Ratio | No. 1 - Arabian | No. 2 - Australian Stock Horse | No. 3 - Cob | No. 4 - Connemara | No. 5 - Moyle Horse | No. 6 - Mule | No. 7 - Quarter Horse | No. 8 - Thoroughbred | No. 9 - Warmblood | Total Range |
| Withers Height/ Body Length | 94 | 86 | 89 | 91 | 96 | 89 | 86 | 92 | 91 | 10 |
| Croup Height/ Withers Height | 98 | 102 | 97 | 97 | 100 | 99 | 100 | 98 | 98 | 5 |
| Head/ Body Length | 38 | 40 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 41 | ---- | ---- | 38 | 5 |
| Neck/ Body Length | 59 | 60 | 46 | 56 | 62 | 51 | 51 | 54 | 61 | 16 |
| Head Length/ Neck Length | 64 | 66 | 79 | 68 | 63 | 81 | ---- | ---- | 62 | 19 |
| Freespan/ Body Length | 41 | 37 | 48 | 40 | 39 | 45 | 40 | 42 | 46 | 11 |
| Croup/ Body Length | 26 | 28 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 19 | 9 |
| Pelvis/ Body Length | 29 | 35 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 31 | 7 |
| Femur/ Body Length | 26 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 8 |
| Gaskin/ Body Length | 23 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 6 |
| Femur Length/ Gaskin Length | 111 | 92 | 106 | 112 | 116 | 79 | 71 | 85 | 85 | 51 |
| Hind Cannon/ Body Length | 22 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 3 |
| Total Hind Limb/ Croup Height | 90 | 91 | 95 | 94 | 88 | 87 | 92 | 89 | 93 | 7 |
| Femur/ Total Hind Limb Length | 31 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 8 |
| Shoulder/ Body Length | 38 | 37 | 35 | 39 | 40 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 5 |
| Arm/ Body Length | 20 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 6 |
| Arm Length/ Shoulder Length | 52 | 47 | 45 | 44 | 49 | 50 | 39 | 49 | 47 | 13 |
| Forearm/ Body Length | 27 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 28 | 5 |
| Fore Cannon/ Body Length | 18 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 2 |
Ratio with greatest range: Length of femur compared to length of gaskin = 45
Ratio with least range: Fore cannon bone length compared to body length = 2
Average range calculated over all ratios = 9.9
Average range calculated leaving out greatest and least ranges = 8.3
