The Forehand Assembly of the Horse
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Good head. Large, dark, expressive eyes place wide apart. Moderate length of ears that rotate a full 360 degrees. Deep jowls, large notrils. |
Poor head. Lop ears. (Small pony ears.) Elk-nosed. Small nostril. Short mouth. Brooding under lip. Shallow jaws. |
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A desirable slope of the shoulder. The shoulder blade or scapula should slope back to such an extent that the leg may swing forward easily and freely like a pendulum from the shoulder joint. |
Straight or perpendicular shoulder. This is an undesirable conformation. It is associated with a short choppy uncomfortable stride due to the inability of the horse to extend or reach forward in action. |
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Poor neck. Upside-down neck. Forelegs set too far back. Straight shoulder.
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correct conformation |
back in the knee (calf knee) |
standing over |
cut out under knees, bone and tendons too small under knees |
over in the knee (buck knee). |
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| pastern too straight |
tied in at the knees. tendons too close to cannon bone just below knee |
standing under |
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Correct conformation. A perpendicular line drawn from the point of the shoulder to the ground divides the leg and foot into two equal halves. |
Bench knees (off-set knees). Cannon bone is not directly under forearm. |
knock-kneed (knee narrow). |
Base narrow (feet too close together). | Base wide (feet too far apart). |
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| Toes in (pigeon toe). | Toes out (splay-foot, or the toe wide). narrow chest. | Bow legs (bow-kneed). |
Back to Conformation
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Next to Rear Assembly.
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