Horse Conformation

An illustrated guide to evaluating horse conformation

What Is Conformation?

A horse’s conformation is the way a horse is built.

Good conformation improves movement and performance, allows for smoother gaits, and makes horses and ponies less likely to go lame.

Good Conformation

Large kind eyes
Wide Jaw
Large nostrils
Medium-length neck that is slightly arched
Long, sloping shoulder
Well-muscled back
Pasterns a medium length and slope
Large, kind eyes
Large nostrils
Slightly arched, medium length neck

Conformation Faults

Large course head
Small “pig eyes”
Narrow jaw
Small nostrils
Short neck
Dips on the top & bulges on the bottom (ewe neck)
Short, upright shoulders
High withers
Sway back
Goose rump
Tail set too low
Short, upright pasterns
Camped under hindlegs
Pasterns with too much slope

Ideal Horse Conformation

Balanced

A balanced horse body can be divided into three equal sections with it’s shoulder, barrel, and hindquarters.

Symmetrical

A horse’s body should be nearly identical side to side and front to back. To determine symmetry, look at the horse from the front and rear, and both left and right.

Equidistant

The distance from the point of shoulder to the point of the buttocks should be equal to the distance from the top of the withers to the ground.

Level or Slightly Uphill

The horse’s withers should be level or slightly higher than his croup.

Square

Excluding the head and neck, the horse should be a square with equal lengths wide and tall.

Horse With Poor Conformation

Learn More About the Parts of the Horse

Conformation Areas Covered

This guide covers some well documented tips for Ideal horse conformation. Click on the sections below to go to learn more about that horse part & play learning games.

Head

Front Legs

Neck

Hind Legs

Shoulder

Pasterns

Back

Hooves

The Horse’s Head

A pretty or refined horse head shape should never be more important than how it effects overall balance or structural correctness.

The Horse’s Head Acts Like a Pendulum

The major purpose of the horse’s head, other than breathing, seeing, eating, and hearing, to serve as a pendulum to balance the horse as it moves. It is important for balance that the horse’s head is proportionally sized to the rest his body.

Head Shape & Size

Roman Nose

A horse with a Roman nose has a rounded outwards face profile as opposed to being a flat or dished profile. This usually does not affect the horse’s abilities other than it may be considered unattractive and can add weight to the horse’s head.

When a horse’s head is too large and heavy, it can add additional weight to its front end and therefore may lack athletic ability.

Dished Face

An overly dished head can interfere with the horse’s breathing and balance.

Eyes

It is preferable for horses to have large, dark eyes set far apart and to the outside of his head to allow for good vision.

A horse’s vision a different from humans. Human’s are predators that have evolved to have eyes on the front of their heads, while horse’s eyes are on the side of their heads so they can see nearly all around them as a way to keep a lookout for predators.

Horses use their left eye to see the left side of the their body, and their right eye to view the right side which is called monocular vision. They have more limited binocular vision (seeing the same picture directly in front of you using both eyes). Because of this, horses with small eyes or eyes that are too close together are faulted because their field of vision can be more limited.

Nostrils

A horse’s nostrils should be large and round to allow maximum intake of air when the horse is working hard and breathing heavily.

A Horse's Field Of Vision

Horses are prey animals that scare easily and their first instinct is to run from potential predators. A horse’s eyes are located on the sides of his head so he can see all around him, although he has blind spots right in front of his face, and directly behind him.

Horse Conformation & Drawing Activity

Download the activity.

The Horse’s Neck

The neck should be arched with the top of the neck longer than the bottom of the neck.

Length

For balance and agility, the neck be approximately one-third of the length of the horse.

Arched

A horse’s neck that is considered ideal should be slightly arched and a medium length.

Defined

The head should attach to the neck in a clearly defined way at the throatlatch, which allows for greater freedom of movement of the head and neck.

Connected

The neck should connect to the horse’s chest just above the point of the shoulder and blend smoothly into the withers.

The Horse’s Shoulder

The ideal shoulder angle is approximately 45 degrees.

The slope of the shoulder directly influences the horse’s stride length and smoothness. Too straight of a shoulder causes the horse to not be able to easily extend its front legs and therefore have a very short, jarring stride. Horses with a nicely sloped shoulder have a free flowing, smooth, long stride since they are able to reach farther with their front legs.

Horse Front Leg Conformation

When viewing a horse from the front, there should be a straight line down the forearm to the center of the hoof.

Correct

Straight line from the point of the shoulder through the middle of the hoof.

Base Narrow

Conformation Fault

Bow Legged

Conformation Fault

Knock Kneed

Conformation Fault

Pigeon Toed

Conformation Fault

Splay Footed

Conformation Fault

Horse Front Leg Conformation Side View

When viewing a horse from the side, there should be a straight line down the forearm to the center of the hoof.

Correct

Calf Kneed

(Back at the knee)
Conformation Fault

Buck Kneed

(Over at the knee)
Conformation Fault

The Horse’s Back

A balanced horse’s topline should be shorter than the underline.

A longer topline indicates that the horse has a long, weak back which can lead to weak muscling. Longer back length can make it difficult for horses to bring their hind legs under their body when moving. The hind legs reaching under the body are the source of power for the horse to move forward, and also make the horse more adjustable to ride.

If a horse cannot bring his hind legs very far underneath his body, more weight is carried on the front legs. This can lead to a loss of maneuverability and a more jarring ride for the rider.