What are the judges looking at?

The bi-annual keuring is just around the corner. New foals are due and youngsters are launched into training for entry in the Studbook and possibly more. But what exactly do the judges weigh up during inspections?

 

All 1-year-old and older horses are assessed on: breeding type, conformation, legwork, walk and trot. Horses entered for entry in the Studbook also undergo linear scoring.

 

For breeding type the following characteristics are considered: head, neck, colour and feathers. We like to see a noble head, jet-black coat colour and long, abundant feathers. Next we look for a long, vertical neck with a light head-neck connection. Too much vertical build has a negative effect on the use of the back.

Body shape must be at minimum horizontal because that makes it easier for the horse to transfer weight onto the hindquarters. Shoulder conformation must be long and sloping. Top line must be strong with a flowing connection to a well-connected, strong loin section.

We prefer to see a long, slightly sloping croup. Finally, long gluteals extending far beyond the gaskin (second thigh) so that the hind leg can be placed far under the body.

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Legwork
Feet must be equal and of generous size with straight stance of the foreleg. Deviating stances of the legs seen from the side: standing under, camped out, hollow foreleg and over-in-the-knee (buck-kneed) foreleg. Hollow forelegs are seen fairly regularly.
In the hind leg the angle in the hock is important. When the angle in the hock is too small we call this sickle-hocked- or bowed legs. Bowed legs produce less power and suffer more wear. Straight or steep hind legs have too much angle in the hock. Seen from behind cow-hocked legs are fairly common. The correctness of stance of the forelegs is assessed by walking the horse towards the judges.

The quality of the legwork is defined by the dryness of the hocks, knee joints and fetlock joints. Clean or dry legwork is defined as: visibly sharp contours with tendons clearly showing, no pockets of puffiness. Quality assessment includes checking for leg defects such as wind galls (puffs), curbs (soft or hard), bog spavin and bone spavin. (Soft) Curbs in combination with strongly sickle-hocked hind legs is undesirable. In case of hard curbs, bog spavin or bone spavin the horse will not be accepted in the Studbook.

Movement
Way of moving must be functional with tact and regularity and capacity for collection and extension. Movement counts double in comparison to exterior. Most susceptible to tension is the walk. Classes for entry in the Studbook start by walking the horses around in a group so that they can settle before individual assessment takes place. A good-quality walk looks purposeful and striding, is tactful, has sufficient scope, lots of use of the body and a hind leg that sends the foreleg away. A walk that is too scopy tends to lead to loss of tact (lateral walking).

Since last year two new characteristics for trot have been introduced and ‘balance’ has been replaced by ‘posture’. The new characteristics are ‘movement technique’: does the horse move with the hind leg under the body mass (carrying) or behind the body mass (pushing) and ‘movement rhythm’: swiftness of the hind leg. A good trot is regular with sufficient scope and powerful use of the hind leg. The horse carries himself and moves in an uphill frame with good use of the body and suppleness. The horse demonstrates capacity for transitions: he has the ability to extend and shorten the strides.

Premiums
The horse receives a first premium if it has scored an average of minimum 7.5 for the five characteristics with an average of 6.5 for the movement requirements. An average of minimum 7.0 with the same movement requirements results in a second premium and an average of minimum 6.5 (no movement requirements) means a third premium. Horses with average scores of 6.0 will not receive premiums. Three-year-olds and older horses with a first and second premium will become Star. When the exterior is more than satisfactory for Star but movement gives rise for doubts then the horse can become Preliminary Star. As soon as this horse scores a minimum average of 6,7 in walk and trot in an ABFP- or IBOP Test it will be declared Permanent Star.

Foals are individually assessed on breeding type, conformation, development, walk and trot. For development the foal is evaluated in terms of size and muscle development in relation to his peers. Remarks concerning legwork are incorporated in the score for conformation and listed on the foal card. For every first foal crop of newly-approved stallions a linear score form is completed for the purpose of foal reports.

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