The Horse Conformation Handbook Paperback – March 15, 2005

At first glance this looks like it might be a very impressive book.
It is.
However, there were a couple of areas which are of significant interest to me, and I'm afraid to say the explanations in the book disagreed with my opinion and explanation of them drastically.
By and large I'll say the book is very, very good, and is worth having, but it leaves me wondering if the author might have made other errors than the ones I picked up in my first two pages of reading...I hope & guess not.
I'm talking specifically about where the draught/draft horses are mentioned. She tends to group all draught/draft breeds together too often, without recognising that the clydesdale was developed to have certain features totally different from the average of other farm draft breeds.
I.e. a good sloping shoulder is VERY important, whereas she says it's OK for the draughts to have a straighter more upright shoulder. She calls the 'close behind' stance or hock set of the clydesdale, 'cow hocked' which it is NOT! In a cow-hocked animal, the canons go outward from the hock to the ground, but in a clydesdale the canon is vertical. This supports the hock properly and is correct.
She says the draft breeds are generally longer bodied and short legged, with the body being deeper from wither to belly, than the leg lnegth from belly to ground. WRONG! In a mature clydesdale, they should be equal in height/depth, and a 'long body' or back is detrimental.
Sure, in certain 'farm only' draught breeds, a shorter more upright pastern allows for greater driving force in draught/pushing of sheer weights, but the clydesdale was developed to outlast other breeds as a lorry horse, or a road delivery horse, and as such, has longer, sloping flexible pasterns and much greater concussion or shock-absorbing abilities in its legs allowing for a longer life in hard road work than the worse-conformed draught/draft breeds.
She says the neck should be short, thick and muscular...NOT in my opinion...I would say the neck should be in proportion and not short. You still want a balanced animal with a good 'length of rein' there.
She says the body balance should be level, (yes) or slightly downhill from back to front (no it should not, but many North American breeders have developed horses that are like that. This does not make it right, however)

She says the hocks should be strong (yes, OK I'll accept that word) and low (no, I was always taught that to have 'low' hocks was a trait that was highly undesirable in the clydesdale, thought is might have been common in other European breeds.[there is a difference between good & not good hocks- clean, deep, broad hocks are preferable to 'thick' hocks, but to me the word 'strong' when discussing a hock describes a tendency to be thicker and a bit less desirable than clean and well-proportioned deep hock well-supported on broad flat canon bones]
So, I'll still say it is a worthwhile boook, despite generalising the draught breeds too much for safety, and despite ignoring features which made the clydesdale the special breed it is.
Then there is the difference between the 'old fashioned' shire, and the modern shire, as well as the difference between the belgian from Belgium, and the North American belgian-two entirely different animals, with the same name. Look at the difference between the modern Percheron in Canada & USA, compared with its namesake in France- conformation-wise there are huge differences. There are reasons for this too, but I feel this book generalises the draught breeds far too much, and far too dangerously for my liking in this perhaps 'niche' area.

Also, reading the book gives you a great description of all the issues you might come across in your search for 'that perfect horse', but it doesn't seem to measure them up against each other in any simple order of relative importance.
It is fine to be able to recognise faults, but it is a different matter to be able to say that this horse with its faults and good points is a better animal than that one with its similar and different faults & good points because of... etc
It takes a different mindset to decide that colour and temperament, presentation and body condition are pretty insignificant issues when judging or assessing a horse, than the genetically supplied characteristics of leg, foot & bone proportions, action and overall conformation.
This book leaves out the 'this is a better fault to have than that fault' kind of aspect, or the relative importance of certain characteristics compared with others, in the overall scheme of things.

As an example, I would tolerate a calf-kneed horse far more than a sickle-hocked horse, if given the choice, either in the showring or in the paddock. One is more of a joint issue, which I've found to be largely non-inheritable, and one a bone-proportion issue which can be very hard to breed out and which can lead to curb and other joint issues. I'm simplifying this a lot, but also trying to be plain about my opinions on this impressive book-it won't answer all your questions, though it is a tremendous starting resource, if you don't get bamboozled by all the variations from ideal.

Happy reading, and I'll say 'well done' to the author for the rest of her work in between the covers!

A very detailed book about horse conformation. I have several on the same subject but this one beats them all. It goes into the littlest of details of every part of a horse's body and how it affects performance, soundness and so on. Illustrations are drawn in pencil and this is the only issue I have with this book. I would've preferred also to see real life photos. I hat to go online for that but it's not really a big deal. If you are a professional or want to become one this book is a must have for you.

Conformation was a mystery to me. I was accustomed to Dad buying a young horse that needed to be 'broke'. End of story.

Now after 20 years away - we took in a couple horses. I stumbled upon this book just browsing thru Amazon's offerings. I learned a lot! There are diagrams / charts to learn (or refresh) anatomy knowledge as well.

I thought it was thorough and while pointing out that there is no "perfect" horse - it discussed the pro's and con's of say "a long back vs a short back" to help you make an informed decision about a prospect depending on what you are planning to do with your horse - hopefully enabling you to have a sound horse for you chosen discipline.

I think it was offered in Kindle as well - but I chose the actual book as this is one that I KNOW will be referred to again. Now I understand why I so thoroughly enjoyed riding one horse and couldn't stand another's "choppiness".
Sorry I'm not able to say if this is a good book for a seasoned horse person but I'd sure recommend it for anyone that wanted to expand their knowledge of horses in general and how each body part affects their performance.

Sorry to say, this book has TOO much information for me. Handbook? How about encyclopedia? I just wanted to know the basics... this will be a great book for someone who wants to know every detail of every part of the horse. Still looking for a book that covers the basics only.

Knowing that I needed to learn more about horse confirmation, I spent the winter reading this book making copious notes. The author comfortably covers the equine anatomy from head to tail. I regularly read a horse magazine that critiques horse confirmation with each issue. From this magazine, I know there are different approaches to horse confirmation, but at the end of the day there are standards which hold true for each riding discipline. These standards are covered here. Some particulars are not.

If I could wish for an improvement, it would be that the author had addressed confirmation issues for specific disciplines. Most of the notations about horse anatomy made in this book have to do with looking for speed and strength related confirmation. I think that racehorse breeders already know what to look for in a racehorse. The average rider or specific style rider needs more help. The fastest horse is not the average rider's focus. I would have liked to have seen more illustrations on dressage/hunter/cross country horses and what you should look for if you wish to purchase a horse for a related discipline.

Aside from the above, this book is very well illustrated, well chaptered, and with plenty of room to make notes. I did learn alot and I am interested in learning more. It fuels your curiosity.

This book on equine conformation describes symmetry, balance and proportions that are important for horses to stay sound. Most conformation books only look into what is good conformation and what is poor conformation and how it relates to unsoundnesses and way of going. This book not only includes that part but also presents diagrams of the horse in terms of symmetry, balance and proportions. It also talks about the breed of the horse and how breed conformation relates to different types of performance and way of going. It includes dental structures which most conformation books do not. Good buy, well orgainized, easy reading, perfect for anyone in the horse industry, not just veterinarians.