CONFORMATION ANALYSIS OF PAINTY, EASTER AND THEIR ANCESTOR REX PEAVINE.

It would be difficult to find two horses not by the same sire and dam more similar in conformation than Painty and Easter. Certainly the “feel” they gave under saddle was indistinguishable, as was their emotional tonus.

To perform the comparative analysis, the images are first reduced to the same withers height (which is not altering much, in reality, as both horses measured just shy of 16:0 hands). The most important conformation features and functional angles were then measured on screen. Where the difference between Painty and Easter is less than 2 percent, it falls within the expected margin of error, and is thus essentially too small to mention.

In only a few places do these geldings noticeably differ: Easter’s neck is close to 4 percent longer than Painty’s; Easter’s rein is slightly (2.4 percent) longer; and Easter’s pelvis is 3 degrees shallower (more horizontal) than Painty’s. Saddlebreds typically have long arms, long forearms and long femurs; Painty is Easter’s equal in all but femur length, where Easter is 3.5 percent longer. The angle at Easter’s stifle is 8 degrees more acute, although the two horses have essentially identical angles at the hock; in toto this difference means that Easter’s hind limb is a little more “angulated” and longer than Painty’s. All these differences are due to the fact that Painty has some Quarter Horse ancestry, whereas Easter is pure Saddlebred.

These geldings’ famous ancestor, Rex Peavine, is quite a different style of horse and frankly not one I would have chosen on the basis of conformation for production of sporthorses. He has a great set of legs with plenty of “bone,” very substantial knees and hocks, and angulation at stifle and hock, which does not add up to an excessively long or “overangulated” hind limb. By virtue of a well-placed loin coupling which sits somewhat ahead of a line connecting the left and right points of hip, he has another asset—a short functional back (FB). The pelvis is also somewhat short, below 30 percent, but that’s OK in a horse not intended to race. He has a very long, arched neck, well set on a deeply laid-back shoulder. The arm is long and steep—a combination that guarantees high natural “action.” There’s nothing a sporthorse breeder ought to object to there, either: Many a competitor in eventing or jumpers has wished his horse had the kind of shoulder mobility and “snap” that this implies.

The conformational point that worries me is the rather tubular torso, which is noticeably shorter in length of rein and depth of chest than the two geldings. I normally advise against breeding to this if the desired outcome is a horse that won’t be inclined to hollow his back when in the trot. Rex Peavine is the sort of horse who could sire either the type of horse most desired for today’s shows—or sporthorses—depending upon the broodmare he covers.