Second: Gelding B

This 12-year-old gelding is the most attractive of the three. He has a trim throatlatch, and his neck ties in high to his chest and is long enough to help him balance. His head is the prettiest here, with a large, soft eye; tapered muzzle; and small ears.

He’s not as well balanced as Gelding A. When divided into thirds, his shoulder and hip are shorter than his midsection. Also, his shoulder angle is steep while his hip angle is flat. That steep shoulder will make it difficult to extend for a comfortable length of stride. His long back and barrel and flat croup make it difficult to round his topline and engage his hocks for power. His front pasterns mirror his steep shoulders for a more concussive stride.

This horse stands over at the knees, or “buck-kneed.” It’s not attractive, but it’s a less-severe flaw than being back at the knees. I’ve seen many buck-kneed horses that are functional performance athletes.

( gollehon.com). owns and oper- ates Gollehon Quarter Horses in Versailles, Ken- tucky. She’s an American Ranch Horse Associa- tion judge, AQHA Professional Horseman, and Intercollegiate Horse Show Association coach with over 100 world and national titles. She specializes in Western pleasure, ranch riding, and yearling longe line. Thanks to Julie Screws, owner of Cowboys Are Good, the AQHA gelding in the photos, a son of Gollehon’s multiple world champion stallion Good Cowboy Margarita