Conformation Quiz?

Question

This is for fun, we are judging yearling Paint horses. I want positive and negative conformation points on each horse and then a first choice and why. If you don't want to participate thats cool just want to see how people judge what they see. Thanks!!

http://equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-642361.aspx?lid=642361&search_id=097dc4fd-4a12-4c39-9ebb-540aaa1de260&p=2

http://equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-496370.aspx?lid=496370&search_id=097dc4fd-4a12-4c39-9ebb-540aaa1de260&p=2

http://equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-669628.aspx?lid=669628&search_id=097dc4fd-4a12-4c39-9ebb-540aaa1de260&p=9

http://equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-663941.aspx?lid=663941&search_id=097dc4fd-4a12-4c39-9ebb-540aaa1de260&p=11

Color should be your last consideration its not based on price either just conformation.

Answer 1

i like number 1 the best. he's nice and level across the topline, he's got the most attractive head, and he's the most developed yearling. let's face it, halter is about having the biggest muscles and the heaviest build. this colt has it out of these four horses of similar age. he's got a nice shoulder, a nice hip, and a decent neck. what i don't like is that i can't see his hooves in the pics (maybe the owner is trying to hide something!?), his back end is slightly cow hocked, and he looks a little knock-kneed in the front (could be a shoeing issue). he's also a little long backed

horse number 4. these pics don't do him justice and i'd like to see him in a show halter and at least groomed but he's got a nice hip, decent head, nice shoulder, and good topline. i don't like his legs. he's cow hocked in back, and base wide in front (feet are wider apart than the base of the leg at the chest). he also has a short neck. i think this horse would look A LOT better in the hands of a better photographer

horse 3. cute little mare, but she doesn't have any outstanding qualities... she's just a cute little mare. she's got a babydoll head, nice neck, and straight legs. she's also got LONG pasturns (bad!), a weak shoulder that's too upright, and a short back. her hip is decent, but just average. she's also a bit downhill (this could be due to her age, as she's probably in that gangly yearling stage) this mare just screams plain jane average to me. she'd get lost in a halter class and those pasturns are scary long!  

horse 2. there's not much that i actually like about this horse. first of all he's NOT a red roan like the ad says (mistake of the owner). he's WAY downhill (some of that is age... some of that is poor breeding), his legs are crooked, he's cow hocked in the back in a major way, and base narrow in the front. where is his chest?! it looks like he's got two legs growing from the same spot. he also looks to be back at the knee but it's hard to tell from these pics. his pasturns are not only LONG but they're very upright. this horse does have a nice neck and head, decent shoulder and hip, but he's not balanced and flowing. i wouldnt look twice at him in a halter class. this needs to be somebody's gelded trail mount

**shadow, being downhill at maturity is a major fault and is NOT good for any breed. you want a level topline.. neither uphill or downhill builds are a good thing. yearlings often go through growth spurts where the hip grows faster than the wither but they eventually catch up, so it's not uncommon to see a downhill yearling that matures into a nice level horse

Answer 2

1st, 2nd & 3rd are bad conformation pictures. I would not buy any of the 3 from those pictures. The 4th would be the only one I'd look at.

***edit****

The 1st one does not show any hoof pics. To me that is a big red flag. They want someone to buy him for his color not conformation.

Answer 3

the last one is the best.

all the other ones have skinnny ugly necks and high withers.

Answer 4

!3 hand down, the barrel, the stand, the withers clean, and chest is not too broad, nice sleek and built right.

#2, no, don't like this one at all, does not seem to have the good  barrel, I know is young, but seems to lanky to be in right proportion to me, and I don't like the chest spread or head

#3 is okay, but barrel to short, high tail end, front area seems not spread out and built up good enough.

#4--is very nice, but chest is too narrow and head too low, neck not in rhythm with the body.....but is a nice horse

my preference, is #1.....color is perfect and the conformation, this little guy would win out over the other 3......

Answer 5

They're all lovely!!

Answer 6

Horse One

Bit Uphill

goose ***

is it just me or are those hocks low.......and uneven

short neck

pretty head

a bit behind the knee

odd chest it looks like a camel toe

long canon bones especially in the back

shoulder a little straight

i can't see his feet

his colour isn't all that amazing

Horse Two

Ewww

Ugly Shoulders

cow hocked

knock kneed

big ears

uphill

tiny tiny feet

ewwwwww

Horse Three

Cow Hocked

Front knees bent inwards

UPHILLLLLLL

ewe neck or should i say EWWWW neck

NO SHOULDER

plane head

tiny feet

YUCK

Horse Four

I like him the best

nice head

Nice ***

Narrow chest and shoulders

a bit short bodied

upright pasterns

slightly uphill

Is he eating out of a dog bowl?????

yay that was fun

Answer 7

I'm so bad at this...I just know what I like and what I don't.

So...all I can say is...I like #4 the best, and #2 the least.

*That's just sad for a quiz...isn't it?*  But I'll watch other people's answers and maybe learn something!

Answer 8

by the looks of the first one  these yearlings look better then most ive seen so far.  . . lol keep in mind it's 3.45 am here so maybe thats why?? lol. . . cant sleep. . . now i know how someone else here feels.

i like the shoulder. the chest seems narrow and the nares seem on the smaller side. are the front legs set back alittle too far makine a "nest"?? it doesnt seem that bad, just alittle nest. i dont like the eyes, but who knows, someone else might. . . they seem different to me, alittle small or off for some reason that just doesnt appeal to me. i like the butt... i'm sry i havent figured out how to say that. . . but it reminds me of a nice looking behind for a horse.  it looks more in balance then other horse's ive seen, i like the neck and back doesnt have a hallow or sway back so that's again better then other horse's ive seen.

*moving on.....slowly cause i cant see the lower legs and legs atm are mah weekness, if i could take a guess the hide legs look alittle strieght up and down, but not as bad as others. . . yeah i've seen some *lookers*...lol.

horse two....eep at first glance..... EEP at second. . .moving on past the cow hocks of the hind legs and narrow base of the front. . . trying to anyway...to me, the neck is too thin and looks almost like a stick horse neck. (compared to the first horse...take me back to the first horse....) i do like the eyes more on this one, they seem more alive or have more character. well, it looks down hill, but if it's a quater horse that's something that's a plus for that breed. (from what i hear, my quater horse had a huge butt...it was so cute.... okay now you know where i got my knowledge about horse behinds from...lol....moving on.  i guess by the way it's moving in the trot pic that it'd be a good horse for western pleasure later on? with the head carrage and the over all way it reminds me of a cutting/western riding horse (i'm sry if i killed that but i've rode western, not shown western and just watched those classes and all the horses seem to carry them selves the way this horse is.) good news about this one: it's tracking in it's hind end. (aka bringing it's back feed up to where they should be, something alot of my horses didnt do, lol)

over all this horse looks much younger then the first and that might be where i'm not liking the over all way it looks atm. . . the neck seems off compared to the rest of the body and i cant stop looking at it.

moving on since i was starting to beat a dead horse (pardon the pun)

this one is down hill again, again for qh that's good. this one looks better to me at first glance then the second one but not as good as the first one. it's behind does look bigger then the other two sections, but the neck looks better, maybe the second just needs to fill out more like this one has started to do(but still hasnt totally finished in my opinion) what can i say??? i like thicker necks that dont remind me of a stick horse. the back appears flater then the first one's back. i dont think i like that as much. . . so this one and the second one i'd have to go get a second opinion on as to if i'd go look at them or not, but i dont really like how they're not as filled out as the first.

moving on.....

i'd like to take a min to thank all the web sites for teaching me so much about conformation....lol, i'm still learning and dont have my note book on hand (YES i took notes, i'm old and cant remember some of this stuff! lol . . . yeah i'm tired)

OH there's two horse's in the first pic... that thre me off cause it made this horse looke twice as fat and look like an ear was comming out of his butt. LOL. . . it does also seem a touch narrow at the base on the front legs, but not as bad as number two. i dont like a bald face cause it always distracts me from the eyes and finer points of the face, i'm too busy trying to figure out how they got it so clean... anyway, the nares are too small for my liking and the over all muzze seems like something is off. . . but then again i will say i perfer arab heads to quater horse heads so that may not be fair of me to say. *starts singing the butt song, i like big butts and i cannot lie, you other brothers cant deny... that...*  cute butt, it does have better hind legs then number 2 as well. cute eyes that seem to have a personality. well i'm thinking the shoulder angle on this horse isnt as good as the other three considering there's not too many photos of the shoulder. and from this angle on the last one it does seem more up and down then the others....

so the winner is number one for me. just cause at first glance he was better put together, more filled out, and over all for me had less faults/ones i could live with.

I cant wait to see how "wrong" i am compared to the other answers... but give me some credit at now 4 am in the morning. . . bed here i come!

edit: since when in god's green earth was a narrow chest good for ANYTHING? i thought that's where the heart and lungs were located and the wider the chest the better lung compasity and stuff like that. . . i guess people dont like horses that can breathe. . . *again it's early or late...in any case i had to comment bout that*

edit edit: looking at my answer i said number 1 seemed narrow but not as narrow as number 4 and over all number 1 was the one i could stand to look at the longest to give more points on. . . so that's why i picked that one.