Can somone explain these descriptions of confirmation?

[Ludi-doodi]

I confess to know diddly squat about confirmation

! Having read some of the comments about the horse shown in Chocolate Logs thread can someone give me an idiots guide to:

goose rumped

back at the knee

straight hocks

weak loin

Upright shoulder

Popping out now but will look back later and look forward to learning something new today!

 

[jumpthemoon]

ConfOrmation...

Goose rumped - a steep, sloping croup, a narrow rump, and a low set to the tail

Back at the knee - The leg below the knee should not look like it has a tight pair of socks on. It should be a relatively straight line from the top of the tendon down to the fetlock. Look at the leg from the side, if the legs look to have a slight bend towards the hind legs they are back at the knee

Straight hocks - Hind legs, viewed from the rear, should be centered under the points of the buttocks. If the leg is forward of this line it is too straight.

Weak loin - the loin area (the bit behind the saddle before the croup) should be well muscled. Horses with weak loins can have a tendancy to have a hollow back and it makes it more difficult for them to support our weight.

Upright shoulder - the angle of the shoulder should ideally be about 45 degrees from the wither down to the point of shoulder. If it is too upright this will lead to extra concussion.

Hope that helps

 

[Bossdog]

The easiest way to do it is to look at pictures that compare, the BHS manual of stable management will give some good pictures but basically

Goose rumped is a sloped croup, not necessarily undesriable, some can jump well I believe but I wouldn't choose one myself

Back at the knee is when the cannon bone seems to be set back under the knee instead of falling straight from it, quite a weakness and a fault to be avoided

The loin is on teh back from where the saddle would stop and the croup would start, should be strong and muscled (i was always told to protect the kidneys, don't know if thats true!), a weak loin lacks muscle/topline and makes for a weak back

An upright shoulder (the angle of the shoulder muscle) means the foreleg can't extend as far as a nice sloping shouder, could amke for a choppier ride.

HTH, I am no expert by any means but just my understanding of the meaning,s if anyone wants to correct me, feel free!!
Julesx

ETA I have a great book called The Horse Conformation Handbook, it's a lovely big, thick book, well worth the money!!

 

[Shilasdair]

Agree, except that 'back at the knee' is where the knee joint seems permanently bent the wrong way, to a slight degree. It is a fault because it predisposes the tendons to strain.
Over at the knee is the opposite, where the horse looks as though it always has its knee joints slightly flexed. This, although it is not attractive, isn't meant to cause any soundness problems.
S

 

[Nudibranch]

I thought that about over at the knee too, until my mare developed arthritic knees and the vet said horses with her conformation often do...?

 

[Ludi-doodi]

[ QUOTE ]
ConfOrmation...

[/ QUOTE ]

Doh! Thanks for the explanations too!

 

[Shilasdair]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought that about over at the knee too, until my mare developed arthritic knees and the vet said horses with her conformation often do...?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, if you think about it logically, any deviation from straightness in the limbs will create uneven loading, and thus predispose to some form of injury whether it is splints or tendon strains.
The 'traditional' received wisdom is that over at the knee is ok, back at the knee is not, though.
The trouble is also that very few studies have been carried out into the links between conformation and resulting disease...I did once supervise a dissertation about knee conformation, but trying to isolate one thing as a factor is the difficulty.
S

 

[Orangehorse]

This is very true about "desirable" conformation, but walk round any stable yard, and see lots of successful horses that have far from perfect conformation.

Years ago you were allowed to walk round the stables at Badminton before the cross country day and there were some horses and you wondered how on earth they had remained sound enough to get to 3 day event standard.

A horse with "perfect" conformation will be a show horse, otherwise it is deciding what matters to you and what you can live with.

This is one good thing about buying from a dealer, in that they will only buy what they know they can sell again easily, so they won't buy anything that is really dodgy. I always used to buy from one dealer and then I decided I wanted a certain breed and went round private breeders - it was a lesson in conformation, I had never seen so many poor leg/foot confomration and I had two that I thought were OK not passed by the vet as youngesters.