Part 4: Conformation Explained
By Emily Schulz
Do you know the difference between a forelock and a fetlock? Yay or neigh, read on!
There are so many different attributes a racehorse should have; we wish they could have them all! Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect horse, conformation wise anyway, but we’re going to give you a few hints on how to develop an eye for a racehorse.
What is conformation and why is it important you ask? Conformation is the way a horse is put together structurally which we touched on in Part 3. The better the conformation of a horse, the less susceptible it will be to injury, supposedly, although there are always exceptions to the rule. The idea when examining horses is that you try to find a horse with the least number of conformational faults that are deemed unacceptable in your eyes, and this will be different for everyone.
Horses come in all shapes and sizes, as long as they are well-balanced (and well-placed!), they will be able to win races. All of the angles of the horse come together whether it be the shoulder, hip or pastern, they are all going to work simultaneously to either make a horse run well with no issues or cause extra strain on certain joints which can lead to poor performance or unsuitability for racing. Many experts would rather buy on type, that is, conformation than on breeding alone. If a horse is structurally put together well, it will most likely perform better than a blue blood with mangled legs. The colour of the horse should be the least of your worries, their colour and markings do not correlate to success on a racetrack, which is buy you generally buy into a racehorse. There is no exact science to this so all I can say is, when examining horses, practise, practise, practise!
Points of a Horse
Here is a simplified list of body parts that you may have been wondering what on earth that trainer or bloodstock agent was talking about. Please refer to this diagram if you haven’t heard of a body part that we talk about throughout this piece.
Special thanks to Enver Jusufovic Racing for the use of Vongole as our model
Front End
The majority of a horse’s overall weight plus a rider is taken on by the horse’s front legs. They should have big clean strong knees, and the same angle in the shoulder and the pastern. Their length of stride can be determined by the slope of the shoulder which should be around 40-45 degrees when a straight line is drawn up the shoulder (see below). The muscle tone on a horse should be well balanced throughout but when looking at yearlings you have to remember that they haven’t fully developed yet therefore won’t be fully muscled. Moving up to the head, a nice strong neck that sits perpendicular to the slope of the horse’s shoulder is highly desirable. An attractive head is always an eye-catcher at the sales, with big bright eyes, nostrils and ears. A thick and muscular chest which attaches to a powerful forearm that is longer than the cannon bone. You don’t want a horse with weak or short pasterns (can lead to tendon or fetlock strain), over or back at the knee (can lead to knee chips), base wide or narrow (standing hooves spread or too close together), offset knees, it’s almost like ticking off a checklist. These are all faults that contribute to injury when training racehorses which is what we’re all trying to avoid. Other conformation faults that can be overlooked by some trainers include a parrot mouth, it’s kind of like an overbite in humans, having one can cause eating difficulties and pain.
Special thanks to Enver Jusufovic Racing for the use of Lord Wonder as our model
Hind End
The powerhouse that is the hind quarters would have to be the most important. The angles of the hind leg and hip are crucial for assessing a horse’s action. A short, strong back is highly desirable over a long or sway back which tend to be weaker. Square set hocks and strong thick gaskins are looked upon highly. You’d like to see a horse’s big bum from behind be symmetrical and well-muscled. If a yearling has a higher hind quarter than its wither, it means it has some growing to do. A horse that really uses their hind end when they walk is great to see, they walk with a bit of swagger swinging their hips. Undesirable traits include cow or sickle hocks which can cause interference and an unsuitable gait for racing.
“In terms of physical characteristics, a good walk is very important, you can tell a lot by a horse's walk, is it easy & comfortable? Do they track through underneath their body with their back legs? I like a balanced frame & clean legs. A strong hindquarter, deep girth & good angle to the shoulder are all positive traits. Most important thing to remember is there are no rules in racing! We’ve seen horses that look like they were put together from spare parts who turned out to be multiple group 1 winners, & the opposite is also true, so just have fun with the process. It's all part of the racing journey.”
Overall
The mass and physique of a thoroughbred should be more like an athletic greyhound than a chunky Clydesdale. Avoid a horse that is too heavy while it’s still growing as it puts excess pressure on the joints which allows likely injury to tendons and ligaments. Good bone structure is very important for a horse when developing. The bone density can remodel and adapt to different external pressures and variables such as amount of training, type of surface trained on and rest time. If a young horse has a low bone density, it has a higher chance of developing skeletal issues such as fractures and shin soreness. If a horse looks big and strong as a yearling, more like a 2-year-old, that can correlate to maturity and strength. Just looking for a horse that’s in proportion is a good start, if you (mentally) cut a horse in three, it should be equal between the neck, back and hip as shown below.
Special thanks to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for use of Embracer as our model
Looking at a horse from the side can tell you how a horse may move at a gallop or if anything will inhibit it from reaching its full potential. Where the girth sits should be a long deep area so there is plenty of room for that rapidly beating heart and lungs which have about a 55L capacity compared to ours at 6L, it’s really astonishing! The overall size of the horse should be examined, yes it may grow a touch but if it is a lot smaller than their counterparts try to work out why, is it a late foal? Was it an orphan? Is it slow to mature? If you’re not in a rush to get your horse to the races, these horses can turn into great racehorses if given the time to mature and can also be picked up at a cheaper price at times.
A wise person once said, no hoof, no horse and they were right! A horses foot structure is very important as they need to be able to distribute upwards of 400kg efficiently... Can your feet do that?! A strong, wide hoof with a good amount of toe is favoured. Thoroughbreds are notorious for having flat feet, correct shoeing helps but if you can steer away from this, it will be better down the track. White hooves tend to be weaker than black hooves which could pose future problems, think Miss Vista. Just like humans that need to go to the podiatrist, we aim to be walking straight not causing wear to the inside or outsides of our shoes which could then lead to other skeletal issues down the road. It’s the same with horses, if you view a horse front on at a walk, you’ll be able to see if they turn their hooves in (paddle) or out (dishing). Some can even over exaggerate their movement so that the closer the legs are to touching at a walk, the horse will have an increased risk of leg interference when at a gallop. The straighter the bones, the straighter the walk should be. Box feet or club foot, an upright hoof, are an undesirable trait where the hoof hasn’t grown at the same rate as the body causing shoeing issues that can affect the whole body, kind of like if we wore high heels from the day we started walking.
Sprinters vs Stayers
Sprinters are more compact types, they have a lot of strength and power in their big hind quarters which allow them to ping out of the gates and get up to speeds of 70km/hr over short distances. Sprinters are more of a stocky build with not a lot of leg under them, short-coupled meaning they have a short therefore strong back and quite muscular bound so they don’t always walk out in a big lengthy stride. A good racehorse will move its whole body well at any pace.
Stayers are horses that race over longer distances (think Melbourne Cup or Cox Plate) they are generally late bloomers, they’re also a lot longer and leaner in the body. Stayers may also pop over the jumps from time to time or later in their careers, big forearm muscles are desirable for landing those big hurdles and having a big rump for propulsion over the jump. It’s good to see a nice overstep from a staying type, this is when the horse's back hoof hits the ground in front of where the front hoof left the ground when at a walk. A lengthy stride means that they will be able to cover more ground which is advantageous in races. For a horse to have a free flowing stride, ideally they should have a long, free shoulder with a strong hip and hind leg.
“Whether it's a colt or a filly, athleticism is a priority and a good walk, where the animal is using itself well. You'll rarely see a stallion that doesn't have a beautiful head. While you can take a few exceptions out of that generalisation, the vast majority have a great head and a kind eye. Also, colt's need to have good size and scope, I'm not a fan of small colts. However, Extreme Choice wasn't a bad smaller-sized colt. Fillies, I'm not so picky on size, but a big walk is a must. One small little thing that a lot of trainers like, are fillies with big ears!”
Exceptions to the rule
There is no exact science to this and you don’t have to follow any rules. Some experts just look at the type of animal the horse is and can excuse their faults. There are many stories told where horses have failed the vet check or have shocking x-rays but have gone onto win stakes races. If we didn’t excuse faults, we may never have seen Danehill who was back at the knee, Northerly with his high head carriage or Mahogany who was a smaller horse go onto win major races year in year out. Stallions pass on their conformational faults all the time but we can try to look past them if their progeny can run up to their sires ability. Horses with correct conformation won’t always be the fastest, they will just be more durable than a poorly conformed horse. The more faults you can identify can help determine a price they will go for, but that all depends on the market.
Now, go back and study that first diagram and save it in your photos for when you next find yourself looking at a horse. You could even throw in a few words we’ve used above to make you sound like a bloodstock agent in training and impress your mates. Hopefully you’ve learnt a bit more from today’s instalment that will help you choose a sound horse to buy into. You could even write some notes in the sales catalogue about horses you’re looking at and then follow them when they get to the racetrack to see your new skills at work. Last but not least, don’t take things too seriously! We live in a country where racehorse ownership is very accessible and affordable so we can afford to have a throw at the stumps.
Watch out for Part 5: I’ve just bought into a horse…what’s next? live soon.
