# Help me learn to critique!



## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Alright guys, I'm attempting to learn how to critique the conformation of a horse. Bear with me as I've just now started. 

I am going to post a few pictures that I've chosen randomely and critique them to the best of my ability...and I'm asking you guys to please fill in what I miss (which I'm sure will be a LOT at first) and help me see where there are faults =] I'm not going to worry on being able to tell if it's well muscled or not...just the basic confo o.- thanks!

Callas of NeverBlue Farms.
All shots considered are on this website: NeverBlue Farm - Callas
I based most of my observations on her conformation shot near the end of the page.

I actually didn't see very many obviouse faults in this mare. I thought that she had a slightly long back but nice, straight feet (although I can't really see if she's pigeon toed or anything) maybe a bit thin chested (what is the technical term for that?) but it may be her breed? I'm not sure. I found her to be a very pleasantly built horse though.

Reining Horse
www.equinews.com









This gelding had quite a few very obviouse faults when I looked at him. For one, he is butt-high and his withers are not very pronounced. He is definately built downhill. He also seems to be rather cowhocked in the front and although I can't figure out exactly what it is, his back legs just look off to me. Its almost like his let curves in all of the wrong spots. Is it possible that he's tied in? His cannon bone doesn't look to me like it's the same width all the way down as it should be. He looks narrow in the front. I do like the shape of his neck and head though. they tie together nicely from what I can see. He has a deep girth which seems good. What else?


Dressage horse.
Dressage Horse Temperament and Conformation











The first thing I noticed about this guy was his neck. To me it seems completely out of porportioin with his body, and it doesnt tie very well with his withers. His back legs don't look too bad to me, although maybe a bit pigeon toed? Looking at his front legs, I think tha the fore right is just being messed up by the photo (or atleast I'm hoping so!) and his other leg looks well built until I get to his pasterns. It seems to me like those are set too far forewards. He has a good croup and well set tail, but a rather narrow frame (or maybe its just his neck throwing off the way his body looks?) He seems to have a nice shoulder though, and a nice head.


alright guys  I'd love it if you could correct me, point things out, or even give me another horse to try and critique (as long as you can tell me if Im right or wrong!)

have at it!


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Here's a great resource to learn from. I used one from U of K when I started judging on a team in jr high school....long, long time ago lol! Here is their latest Judging handbook they use for their competitive judging team. 

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/asc118.pdf


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

hmmm. The link isn't working =]


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Darn! It's good stuff too


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

We have an excellent tutorial here http://www.horseforum.com/horse-riding-critique/conformation-tutorial-71591/


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_I am by no means good at critiquing conformation, but this is just what I saw from your posts, and is more directed at terminology, then at what you saw._



Endiku said:


> Callas of NeverBlue Farms.
> All shots considered are on this website: NeverBlue Farm - Callas
> I based most of my observations on her conformation shot near the end of the page.
> 
> I actually didn't see very many obviouse faults in this mare. I thought that she had a slightly long back but nice, straight feet (although I can't really see if she's pigeon toed or anything) maybe a bit thin chested (what is the technical term for that?) but it may be her breed? I'm not sure. I found her to be a very pleasantly built horse though.


_I would have just said she seems narrow chested, or narrow in the chest._



> This gelding had quite a few very obviouse faults when I looked at him. For one, he is butt-high and his withers are not very pronounced. He is definately built downhill. He also seems to be rather cowhocked in the front and although I can't figure out exactly what it is, his back legs just look off to me. Its almost like his let curves in all of the wrong spots. Is it possible that he's tied in? His cannon bone doesn't look to me like it's the same width all the way down as it should be. He looks narrow in the front. I do like the shape of his neck and head though. they tie together nicely from what I can see. He has a deep girth which seems good. What else?


_You have to remember that each horse breed is bred for different things. Quarter horses can sometimes have a higher butt, and it is not always a bad thing. _

_This guy looks like he has a nice top line. Withers don't have to be overly pronouced. If you have seen a lot of TB's, then you may be thinking that he just doesn't have the big "shark-fin" withers that they have._

_"Cow hocked" is a term for the hind legs, not the front. He can be toed-out at the front however. His back legs look funny because of how he is standing....he was not really squared up for this picture, so he has his feet underneath him._




> The first thing I noticed about this guy was his neck. To me it seems completely out of porportioin with his body, and it doesnt tie very well with his withers. His back legs don't look too bad to me, although maybe a bit pigeon toed? Looking at his front legs, I think tha the fore right is just being messed up by the photo (or atleast I'm hoping so!) and his other leg looks well built until I get to his pasterns. It seems to me like those are set too far forewards. He has a good croup and well set tail, but a rather narrow frame (or maybe its just his neck throwing off the way his body looks?) He seems to have a nice shoulder though, and a nice head.


_Its hard to tell from a side view picture if the horse is narrow or wide in the chest. Again, this horse wasn't squared up, so it makes how he is standing awkward to tell some things. If you missed anything in this photo, it would be that he is long in the back._


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

whoops! 

hehe, its harder than I thought it would be to learn the right terminology. Thankyou for correcting me =] Its definately tricky for me to figure out how each horse should be built...especially since I dont even know the breed of a few. I guess it will come with practice. For the quarterhorse though; I work on a farm with quite a few quarters and have some friends who own them, and I've never met anyone who purposely looked for a horse that was as butt high as this guy. A tiny bit, maybe. but he seemed a bit drastic xD 

I guess I was comparing him to a TB. oops! After seeing withers like that it's hard to judge the normal horse's wither. lol.

and thanks guys, for the links! I'll read those as soon as I can


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## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

On dressage horses, it's good to have a neck that's high set. It helps with the discipline. His neck did seem to have an extra thick crest though (which is probably why you didn't like it). In a gelding or mare I'd say it's incorrect, but it's expected on a stallion, which I'm assuming he is.

Rather than comparing every horse to one standard, remember that each discipline and breed has certain standards. You'll have to know them in order to judge them.

Also, sometimes it even differs on mares and geldings. For example- mares are allowed to be a little longer in the back, because it helps them carry foals. Geldings and stallions tend to be, and should be, shorter.

All horses ARE similar in the sense that they shouldn't have twisted legs, crazy different proportions, etc. 

You're doing great, and I admire you for being open to learning. Keep up the good work!


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

alright! So basically, I need to take a look at a few 'ideals' of each disipline, understand those, then base my critique off of that? =P

I think that is was what bothering me. It just looked off with that big hump right at the top of his neck. Why is it that stallions are expected to have that?

And I never thought about the backs! That actually makes a lot of sense.

Again guys, thankyou for helping me out. I LOVE the thread that iridehorses pointed out. Very informative and I assume that it works for pretty much any horse, no matter the disipline- because it's judging the horse against _itself_.

Haha, I'm so excited that this is starting to make sense!


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