# Tennessee Walking Horse Conformation



## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

The ONLY reasons to care about conformation is for structural long term soundness and suitability for a task. I like a well conformed horse because form follows function in an animal that weighs 1200 pounds (or more). 

This horse has a nice shoulder which is typical for the breed. He is a little long bodied but has a very nice hind quarter with good natural muscling. 

In the fault department he has knife withers.. easily bruised if you don't carefully fit his saddle. He has a weak neck.. with a dip in front of the withers.. indicating to me that he travels with his head high (he is a TWH, so is he gaited and does he naturally pick up the gait? often gaited TWH's have necks like this). He is built a little down hill.

His weakest part are in his legs. His gaskins are very light. His hocks are not large enough (they are barely adequate) and I wish they were a bit lower. His fore arms are light, his knees are small and round and he lacks bone. He is not back at the knee but he is very very straight through the knee and he is tied in at the knee. He looks like he needs his feet trimmed.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I like her confo. I too have a black but he's a chunky monkey. What are your mare's bloodlines?


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## EquestrianDream (Jul 4, 2014)

Thank you @Elana for your observation!  She is a TWH so is naturally gaited, and does tend to keep her head high when being ridden. Before I got her, (which was a few weeks ago) she wasn't ridden much and was very underweight, so I'm still trying to help her build up some muscle on her neck, and round her back a bit, to help improve her shape. Maybe that will help her conformation flaws somewhat. And yeah, I forgot to mention in the first post that I apologize if you notice her hooves looking like they need to be trimmed, I'm looking to have a farrier out soon! 

@Saddlebag, thanks! Pride's Jubilee Star is her grandsire, and Ebony Masterpiece is her grandsire on her dam's side. She also has Midnight Sun, Go Boy's Shadow and Sun's Delight in her bloodline.


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