3. Proportions & angles Flashcards
What can the horse be considered? What can it do?
- Large and Heavy
- Used as a pendulum its position is used to:
* Counterbalance action of hindquarters
* Maintain and regain balance
* Help adjust speed & direction
How should head length be?
- It should compliment the neck in size, weight and length
- Be proportionate to horse’s overall size and conformation
- Long enough to accomodate large nasal passages & strong teeth
When it comes to head length how is it determined? What happens if it is too large? Too small?
- Length varies some with breed
- If too large it becomes front heavy, clumsy, difficult to collect
- If too small poor counterbalance, less agile
What would be ideal for eyes? What about nostrils? What about ears? Mouth?
- Large, round, bright, set wide apart on corners of head
- Large, wide; avoiding small narrow, thick-walled
- Ears should be medium size and set below the level of poll at the top of the head
- Muzzle should be big enough to accomade incisors, top and bottom incisors should align
What is the neck? What is its purpose?
- Vital link between head and shoulders
- Its purpose is to be balanced and agile (like head), collection reasons and extended shoulder ability.
What would be a desired throat latch?
- Open behind jowl, “clean” throatlatch
* 2 fingers width between atlas (C1) and jowl
* More room for airway and blood supply
* Allows horse to flex at the spoll
What would be an undesriable throat latch?
- Heavy, “meaty”, too muscular = can’t flex poll
- Too narrow = constricts airway
What does the neck length influence? How is it measured?
- Infleunces how horse can use head for balance
- Measured from poll to start of withers
What is a desirable neck length?
- Proportional to rest of body
- Top of neck longer than the bottom
What is it called when a neck length is short and thick?What happens if neck length is short, with a thick neck? Where do you commonly see these types of necks?
- “Bull neck”
- Heavy on forehead
- Reduces balance (stumbling, clumsy) and agility (unable to perfomr quick changes of direction)
- Limits flexion at the poll
- Usually associated with upright shoulder and short stride
- Common on ponies and draft horses
What occurs if a neck length is too long?
- > 1.5X length of back
- It shifts the center of balance too far forward
- Reduced agility
- Less flexible
- Hard to develop neck muscles (usually thin necked)
- Reduces stamina (xtra weight carried on forehead)
What is a desirable neck shape?
- Long, slender
- Slightly arched (on topline)
- Relatively straight (on underside)
- Allows full extension or collection; longer strides, greater agility
What is important on a neck shape?
Shape is more important than length for improving athletic ability
Neck shape, length and range of motion depend on what shape of the vertabrae?
- S-curve of cervicale vertebrae
- The bottom of the ‘S’ curve is most important to neck shape
What is a desirable neck that ties into shoulder?
- Base of neck should be higher than or level with point of shoulder
- Distinct breast area below neck
- Smooth transition form neck to shoulder
What is an undesirable neck ties into shoulder?
- Neck ties in too low
- Neck appears to be coming from between front legs
- No visible breast below neck
- Base of neck almost as thick as body
- Heavy in front (lean forward)
- Restricts shoulder action; limits flexibility
- Decreases speed and jumping ability
How does one measure the back? What is a desirable back?
- Peak of withers to point of croup
- Medium length (ruel of thirds, slightly shorter than neck, shorter than underline, Influenced by slope of shoulder)
- Relatively flat
- Well-muscled
- Wide enough for saddle
What is an undesirable back?
- Back that is swayed back (concave)
- Pronounced dip between withers and loin
- Can’t round back for collection
- Dissipates power from hind legs; reduces speed
- Roach back (covex)
- Upward arch in spine
- Hiners action
How does one identify the coupling (loin)?
- It is the lumbar region in the rear portion of the back
- Area between the last rib and the point of croup
- One of the most important areas that determines how well a horse can move
For the coupling (loin) how is discovered as a joint?
Lumbosacral joint
1. most flexion in the horse’s back occurs here
2. Enables horse to coil its loins = round back, tuck pelvis, legs under body (“collection”)
3. Transfers driving power of hind legs into forward propulsion
What is a desirable coupling?
Short, broad & deep
1.Referred to as “strong coupled” or “close coupled”
2.No more than one hand’s width between the last rib & point of hip
3.Well-muscled (never hollow)
Where does one find the croup? and how is its slope created?
1.Behind loin; area over the sacrum
2.Slope of croup is created by the angle of the sacrum
What is the point of croup?
1.Tuber sacrum of the pelvis
2.Generally the highest point of the rump
What is a desirable Croup?
- Rounded by muscle; point of croup not too prominent
- Point of croupe same height as withers
- Should slope downard slightly- desired slope may differ between breeds
