>>> I would have been furious if someone had tried that with one of my babies...
Me too. >> Renee wrote: They remarked that his conformation would be first prize. >> Strong broad >> back, good hooves, good joints, good tendons, nice withers, nice shoulder >> and croup. >> He had a "coarse" head (whatever that means) >>>>>Did they explain why his conformation didn't allow for lift? When they >>>>>mentioned his >>>>>shoulders did they explain why they liked his shoulders but didn't like >>>>>his lack of >>>>>lift? Oops. Good catch there, Wanda! That's inconsistent on the judge's part, but very telling. How can a horse have the desired conformation, but not have the desired "action"? The judges should know that conformation DEFINES the action - knee action or whatever. You know what I see in that inconsistency? The reason behind the special shoeing, the special trims, and the weighted boots.... Lift isn't a natural trait of well conformed horses. Sure, some horses are conformed to have SOME knee action, and that's variable within the breed. BUT...wouldn't you think that the judges SHOULD know that the breeding conformation standards should be consistent with the kind of movement they see in the breed? This tells me a lot... And you know, it's quite possible to do some sort of GOOD conformation analysis be studying and marking the horse's conformation...and that doesn't require that the horses be unhandled and chased to show their "action via terror." What I'm NOT sure about is how much the horse's conformation is predictable by looking at his angles at age two...? I should ask Liz that. She's sure been right on the money when judging the conformation-for-gait with all my other horses. Renee, congratulations on Stormur NOT having lift - it's a waste of energy in a good, sensible trail horse! Karen Thomas, NC
