Conformation Clinic

Aged AQHA geldings.

Evaluate and place these aged Quarter Horse geldings. Then see how your choices compare to our expert judge’s.

UNDERSTANDING a horse’s balance and structure—and how they relate to the horse’s performance—is critical. Today, we have horses that specialize in halter classes, but the conformation ideal is supposed to maintain the breed standards, and that always goes back to balance and structure and how those factors affect soundness, longevity, and performance. As I assess a class, I look for horses that’ll be useful and stay sound beyond a halter career.

The purpose of halter is to maintain the breed standard. If we’re truly interested in maintaining the breed standard, we have to be concerned about the longevity of these horses. If I’m looking at mares or stallions, I ask myself “Would I breed to this horse?” With geldings, I ask myself, “Could this horse go on to become a riding horse?” After a halter career, there needs to be a place for these horses.

With this class of geldings, as the rulebook stipulates, I look first for overall balance, then structural correctness, breed and sex characteristics, and muscling.