Conformation critique

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It never occurred to me either, but when it was pointed out I though "Oh yes" , apparently when the cheek bone is large when they really flex they can actually cut their breathing off so resist really flexing
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hmm, i don't believe it, tbh. i had a mare with very large cheekbones (inherited from Irish mother) and she always found it incredibly easy to flex at the jaw and poll, was very soft and didn't block at all. probably the easiest horse i've ever ridden on the flat tbh.
how can it cut off their breathing, it doesn't actually impinge on the windpipe, surely? the cheek bones go either side of the throat, surely? (not a vet, obviously!) not being argumentative, just want to know the physics behind the theory.

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I think what they meant was large cheek bones narrow throat, for example you should be able to get your fist inbetween the cheekbones, if you can't they might not be able to flex properly.. depends on the build of the horse eg a Welsh Cob isn't going to be able to flex as well as a TB cos of their build ... mind I was told this about twenty years ago so it could be wrong
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Can't comment on things which can only be by looking from the front of back but:
Theres a good space between the eyes, both of which are a good size. It looks like you can fot two fingers between the cheek bone and the wing of the Atlas.
she looks to have a well difined jugular groove and the shoulder come nicely out of the shoulder. The neck looks generally in proportion wih the rest of her body. In most pictures her neck lacks top line and looks flat but she doesn't look too bad in the last one.
She has quite a good shoulder, the angles look to be slightly on the wide side of what the angles should be, there is a nice slope there though and the shoulder looks nice and strong.
Well difined withers set ever so slightly higher than the croup.
Good depth of chest and girth.
She looks to have a good firm back but she has a bit of a bump there which I'm not too keen on (ever so slightly roachy?). Then length of her back looks just right.
Her quarters in the last photo looks good, strong and nicely rounded (looks a little weak in the other photo's though).
Front legs from what I can see look good (is she slightly pigeon toed?) nice length of cannon.
Good gaskin length theres something about the hocks I'm not too keen on though, slightly straight possibly. Looks slightly camped back (could just be how she's standing though).
Good HPA.
Handler looks pigeon toed
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*Waits to be corrected on most things!*
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I think she is very nice, particularly like her depth of girth, in first pics thought her quarters looked a little weak and undermuscled. Lovely length of neck.
 
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Can't comment on things which can only be by looking from the front of back but:
Theres a good space between the eyes, both of which are a good size. It looks like you can fot two fingers between the cheek bone and the wing of the Atlas.
she looks to have a well difined jugular groove and the shoulder come nicely out of the shoulder. The neck looks generally in proportion wih the rest of her body. In most pictures her neck lacks top line and looks flat but she doesn't look too bad in the last one.
She has quite a good shoulder, the angles look to be slightly on the wide side of what the angles should be, there is a nice slope there though and the shoulder looks nice and strong.
Well difined withers set ever so slightly higher than the croup.
Good depth of chest and girth.
She looks to have a good firm back but she has a bit of a bump there which I'm not too keen on (ever so slightly roachy?). Then length of her back looks just right.
Her quarters in the last photo looks good, strong and nicely rounded (looks a little weak in the other photo's though).
Front legs from what I can see look good (is she slightly pigeon toed?) nice length of cannon.
Good gaskin length theres something about the hocks I'm not too keen on though, slightly straight possibly. Looks slightly camped back (could just be how she's standing though).
Good HPA.
Handler looks pigeon toed
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*Waits to be corrected on most things!*
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Handler looks slightly special in my eyes
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She does indeed lack topline in most of the pictures because the majority (omitting the ridden and the one of her tied to the trailer) are from when she is out of work unfortunately
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I don't have any of her stood when she is in work other than these few which are from June 2007 and her first and second BD comps (she had been in work four months):

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What is a roached back?

I have no idea what I am looking at when it comes to hock conformation, and in all fairness I have not got the best pictures for this because most are at an angle
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So I apologise... must find a better photographer!
 
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I think she is very nice, particularly like her depth of girth, in first pics thought her quarters looked a little weak and undermuscled. Lovely length of neck.

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Thanks... she had been out of work for almost two months on complete box rest at this point
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It is really interesting to hear all of these comments... I am enjoying this post! And I feel as though I am actually learning something too.
 
Now that handler looks much better
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Roached back is where the spine, rather than being smooth hsa bump in it. Some horses have very roached backs and it look bloody awful but Grace looks to have just a slight bump (Missy has it aswell).
I thought most of the pictures were from when he was off work or just coming into work but in th one of hertied to the trailer she looks gorgeous
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Pictures aren'that bad, it's easy o pick out most good an bad points form the one of her tied to the trailer
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Thanks... and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment.

I'll put another horse up over the next few weeks when I haveritten down what I think.
 
http://www.equine-information.com/HorseConformation.html

Thsi explains everything about where everything is!! The second thigh is what others have referred to as the "gaskin". I had always thought of a long second thigh to be weak, and is a slight hang up of mine re my horses conformation, but actually, it has been mentioned to me by LG and now kerilli that it is actually a sign of a good jumper
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Just should be well muscled and look strong, which is what Graces lacks in those pictures, but as you say, that is because she was out of work at the time
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http://www.equine-information.com/HorseConformation.html

Thsi explains everything about where everything is!! The second thigh is what others have referred to as the "gaskin". I had always thought of a long second thigh to be weak, and is a slight hang up of mine re my horses conformation, but actually, it has been mentioned to me by LG and now kerilli that it is actually a sign of a good jumper
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Just should be well muscled and look strong, which is what Graces lacks in those pictures, but as you say, that is because she was out of work at the time
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Thanks... will pop over and have a look at that wsbite
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She only jumped half a dozen times, and she was absolutely outstanding! I couldn't believe the amount of power that came from her hind legs
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I wanted to keep her doing some jumping once a week to build up these muscles, but it was not meant to be.

She was brought on very slowly and only in October would I say she was starting to look as though her topline was improving and her back was strengthening... her marks reflected that improvement with her winning a Novice class
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Then she was diagnosed with a suspensory injury and you know the rest of the story!

It is really interesting to look at a horse you know like this and look at its conformation really hard! I have to say, I had a few other points written down, I thought she had quite a long back, but others have said not to bad for a mare which is interesting. And I had definitely missed some of them too
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