Junior AQHA mares.

Evaluate and place these junior AQHA mares. Then see how your choices compare to our expert judge’s.

I FOLLOW the rulebook when evaluating horses as a judge. I look for overall balance, structural correctness, breed and sex characteristics, and volume and tone of muscling. I then relate those traits to how each would enhance or limit a horse’s usefulness. A horse can appear a beauty in color and a few traits, but the core components of balance and correct structure are what make a good athlete and performer or lead to lack of performance or unsoundness. I look for horses that overall make the best performers and for the structure that backs that up.

Halter classes should reward the horses with the best form to function. In judging these young mares, for example, I’ve assessed their topline-to-underline ratios. Studies and experience support that a shorter back (measured from break of the withers to the hip) in relation to the underline (measured from elbow to stifle) is a trait of an athletic horse as well as other animals that run and jump. That ratio alone doesn’t determine a class winner; but supported by other good traits of balance, it’s part of the winner’s attributes.