Horse Judging Information
While horse judging has an association with show ring performance and prize awards, horse judging has greater scope than that. Indeed, perhaps the most significant application of horse judging comes into play when a future owner, or an agent for an owner in some instances, judges a horse's suitability for its intended purpose and thus whether or not to buy. Overall, the same general principles such as selection, classification, breed, conformation and judging form the basis of horse judging.
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Selection
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Horse judging is a matter of making selection. Horse judging involves the assessment of suitability of a particular horse for a particular purpose whether that purpose involves racing, performing as a show animal, functioning as a mount for pleasure riding or functioning as a work horse on a farm or ranch. In each instance, someone must evaluate the horse's suitability to the intended purpose.
Classification
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Overall, you classify horses into two types: light horse or heavy horse. As of 2010, the type most people probably have the most familiarity with is the light horse, or saddle horse. This type of horse also has the widest range of different uses, such as for pleasure riding, eventing and racing. The heavy horse, also known as the dray or draft horse, typically provides practical work service in rural settings, such as pulling a plow or other farm equipment. Both light and heavy horses get subdivided by breed, and different breeds have different characteristics.
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Breed
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In terms of light horses, a breed identifies horses that have been selectively bred for uniformity of particular characteristics. Included among light-horse breeds are Thoroughbred, Morgan, Arabian, Tennessee walking horse and quarter horse, among many others. Heavy horse breeds are more associated with ancestry and place of origin, and include such breeds as Belgian, Percheron, and Clydesdale. Different breeds have different relative suitability to different purposes.
Conformation
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Conformation refers to the way in which a horse's appearance and anatomical structure match up to, or "conform" to an ideal standard. Conformation plays an important part in horse judging regardless of the purpose to which the owner will put the horse. Excessive deviation from good conformation can provide an indication of defects that affect the horse's ability to provide the anticipated performance. For example, as described by the University of Missouri Extension, long shoulders have an association with an extended stride that can translate to greater speed, which is important for competition and racing mounts.
Disposition
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The disposition of a horse can affect the level of performance. Someone who judges horses effectively will observe the horse's eyes and ears to determine if the horse shows indications of nervousness. Also, for some uses such as racing, the individual making the selection must determine if the horse exhibits the quality of courage. A horse judge determines these intrinsic qualities through a combination of a riding trial and examination of the horse's breeding, or pedigree, which can give insight into the horse's likely disposition.
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References
- Photo Credit horse image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
