# Quarter Horse Conformation Critique Please



## chelz (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi all, this is my 14-year-old Quarter Horse gelding Apolo. I just wondered overall what you guys think of his conformation? 
Left Side









Right Side









Front View









Rear









In Motion









Headshot


----------



## Gageholmes1 (Feb 14, 2013)

I have nothing bad to say, overall he is just too gorgeous!


----------



## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

He has a nice big shoulder
Neck set is not bad
Nothing terribly off with his front legs
back is a good length
A bit goose-rumped and has a steep slope to his croup
Hindquarters could use muscling
Cowhocked and his back legs seem just a tad posty, but overall he is a fairly well built fellow


----------



## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Ok im going to have a go !  im learning conformation in Equine industry and i have done my first sac ( tests) on judging horse conformation. My teacher said i got nearly everything.


----------



## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Head is in great proportion
. Nice big clean looking eye, eye socket is not to big for the eye ball
. Nostrils are wide and flare out in the picture
. ears are a great size 
. Fore head has a nice wide space in between the eyes, fore head appears clean and smooth
. Eyes are level
. Jowl is nice and round and not to chunky 
. jaw is a good size

Neck: (next time on the side pics, try and get ya horse to look ahead of him not at you ahah he has a cute face expression)
. Has a nice slight arch
. Neck is a near perfect length 
. Neck looks to be set not to low or high
. Neck has good muscle 
. Head attaches well onto the neck and the head doesn't look to big for his neck of body

Body: - well proportioned body
. Divides into nearly perfect thirds (meaning the front end is the same length as the middle part of the body and the hind end)
. Body nearly forms a square
. Its good that his croup isn't to high he will be a good all rounder horse if he does dressage or work that he needs to not be on the fore hand to do
. Body seems to be very well proportioned.
. Back is the perfect length, looks strong and has good topline
. Yep i think a steep croup to
. Well spring ribs
. Good sloping of the abdomen allowing room for the respiration processes to occur (its when the abdominal organs slide back for the lungs to expand with air, it has a name for it lol) 

Shoulder: 
. well muscled shoulder, good size and is nearly 45 degree's also nearly matches the pastern angle
. Well muscled Breast 
. perfect wither not to high or to long
. Wow hind end is just about PERFECt 

Legs: More pictures and i could do better judging on the legs.
. Toed out slightly in the front legs im not sure where the rotation is coming from but it appears to come from the...pastern on the near side and on the far side it comes from the knee. 
. Back legs the pasterns are rotated outwards which is good because you want the rotation of the hocks to match the pasterns so there is less strain. ( So toed out slight in all feet.)

HE IS GORGEOUS overall 

. What he is prone to getting injuries from if its based on his conformation:
If he got stress or damage in his leg from having a conformational fault it would be most likely in his off side leg in the front pic, because it looks more toed out than the other leg. 

What he has got the QH’s need:

. Good muscle but not a hypp looking horse YAY  
. Sloping shoulder
. Beautifulness
. No major leg problems ( from looking at the photos )
. everything he has except for the toe out and under muscled hind end

 I hope this helps and I hope I didn’t stuff any thing up majorly


----------



## chelz (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your responses so far. Thanks especially OliviaMyee for the very thorough analysis. I would like to work on getting him a little more muscled up before this summer because I'd like to show him a bit locally. What would you recommend would be the best exercises for helping the areas on him that do need a little work? I'd like to improve those areas over the next few months.


----------



## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Jumping !!! It reaally helped a tb muscle their hind end (hamstrings in particular) but dont over jump maximum 3 times a week ect. Hill work ? ahha im not to sure but jumping definitely ! Trot poles walking over stuff. Glad i helped that was my first conformation judging online.


----------



## brookeabee123 (Feb 17, 2013)

That was an awesome critique by OliviaMyee!!! You are very lucky to get such a thorough critique that had everything explained as well! Loved reading it! Very informational!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## GotaDunQH (Feb 13, 2011)

chelz said:


> Thank you everyone for your responses so far. Thanks especially OliviaMyee for the very thorough analysis. I would like to work on getting him a little more muscled up before this summer because I'd like to show him a bit locally. What would you recommend would be the best exercises for helping the areas on him that do need a little work? I'd like to improve those areas over the next few months.


LOTS and LOTS of long trotting, hill work, and backing up.


----------

