Reined Cow Horse Mares

Evaluate and place these reined cow horse mares. Then see how your choices compare to our expert judge’s.

HERE WE HAVE A CLASS OF MARES that I’m judging based on the major stock breeds’ criteria of balance, structural correctness, breed and sex characteristics, and muscling, and looking for the most positive combination of those components.

I’m also looking at these mares specifically for their potential as reined cow horses, a division that requires bursts of speed, quick turns, and powerful stops. Balance is considered the most important characteristic when judging conformation, but structurally correct legs for soundness and muscling for adequate power in reined cow horses are musts.

My top horse in a class often will give me the best first impression. I make mental positive checks or negative checks in different categories for each mare, and if she has a positive profile, she often has positive checks in most of the categories I’m looking for.

This mare is compact, well balanced, and adequately muscled. Power, a must for performance horses, is evident in her depth and angle of hip, which matches her front end well. She’s short backed with good-quality withers and strong across her topline, though she’s a touch lower at her withers than at her hip.

Her head is feminine and attractive, and attaches to her neck through a refined throatlatch. Her neck shows good length and ties in high to her chest for good flexibility and an ability to round and lift herself. Her long, laid-back shoulder will allow a smooth, reaching stride. Her depth of heartgirth complements her compact structure and should give her plenty of lung capacity.

From the side, her front legs are straight through the knees and show good pastern slope, matching her lovely shoulder angle for excellent shock absorption. Her hind legs show proper hock angulation, but her hocks aren’t level with her knees. High hocks usually go with a hip that’s higher than the withers, as hers is, but being overall balanced and athletic looking, she should make a nice performance horse.

This mare is a close match to the winner, and I wouldn’t mind riding either one. She has many good traits, but she’s in second place primarily because she lacks muscle capacity and definition. She needs more hip muscle volume for the explosive speed and solid stops required of reined cow horses. Aside from that, she has balance and proportion, and she’s level across her topline.

Long from eye to muzzle, her head isn’t as refined as the firstplace mare’s. Her neck ties into her chest and withers well, and though it’s a little thicker than Mare A’s, she should still be able to flex and balance herself well with it. She has a strong, short back, and good, sloping shoulder and hip angles.

Her depth of heartgirth fits with her overall structure.

Her front legs look good from the side, straight through the knees with pastern slope that matches her shoulder slope for a smooth, comfortable ride. Her hind legs show good hock angulation, and just as her topline is more level than Mare A’s, her hocks sit slightly lower, too.

This mare has the best muscle capacity in this class, with good delineation to her forearm and shoulder. However, she doesn’t have the overall balance the other mares have. When divided into three segments (front of chest to heartgirth, heartgirth to flank, and flank to end of hip), her middle segment is long, making it hard to gather and lift herself and compromising her topline strength.

Her head is a bit plain with a small eye, but her neck is adequate in length and ties in at her chest and withers well. She’s level from withers to hip, and well turned over her croup. Her hip angulation is good, but her shoulders are a bit more upright than the other two mares’.

Her front pasterns match her more upright shoulder angle for less shock absorption, but more concerning, she appears to be back at the knees, with a convex line down the front of her legs. That can put undue strain on her knees. She also appears to have a thoroughpin in her left hock, a sign of physical stress.