New Forest Pony Analysis...
Breed: New Forest Pony mare, 13.2hh
Job: General hacking, low level dressage, jumping, etc.
Age: ?
Owned by: fleefloodle (thanks for the photo!)
From Conformation Critique
From Conformation Critique
First, going to overall balance, this pony is well-balanced and sturdy looking, with nice short back and large powerful hindquarters (purple lines). One fault to notice right off is that her croup is higher than her withers - something that will make her heavier on her forehand overall. This trait may have originated from the draft pony lines that are prevalent in the New Forest breed because occasionally this trait is selected for in harness workers. Another thing to note which I don’t believe I have discussed before is leg length with relation to the body. Conformationally, both longer legs and shorter legs have their advantages, and have been selected for independently in different breeds. The “average” horse has a leg length that matches their heart-girth (orange line and red line in the front end). This pony’s legs are ever so slightly longer than her heart girth, making her more of a riding type than a draft type. If her legs were at all longer when combined with her short back I would be concerned about her striking herself with her hind feet. Her barrel is well proportioned.
This mare appears to have rather low rounded withers, which is more of a breed characteristic than anything. Low rounded withers make it harder for a saddle to stay secure, but are not necessarily a fault and are common in other breeds such as Arabians.
The humerus is long and has a moderately steep angle (green lines). Where the humerus is long and has a steep angle it results in a long stride and good forward movement, and also allows the horse to raise its knees well above its elbows when folding it’s legs for jumping. The LENGTH of the humerus translates to stride length, and the ANGLE of the humerus denotes how close the feet will travel to the ground. This mare should have a fairly long stride and be able to pick her knees up nicely for jumping.
Shoulder length also corresponds to stride length, and a long shoulder increases muscle attachment areas between the forelegs and the spine. This pony has a good shoulder angle of around 50 degrees and decently long shoulder - for her overall more stocky proportions I’d say her shoulder is well-balanced, though it could be longer. I say it could be longer because ideally the length of the neck (yellow line) should match the length of the shoulder if the neck is not proportionally long or short, and here the neck is longer than the shoulder. Continuing with the mare’s neck, she has a rather thick one, which is more common to New Forest ponies, but luckily it is longer and so collection will not be as difficult for her if her neck was thick and also short. The neck, in general, should be no longer than about 1.5 times the length of the horse’s back, and this mare’s neck is just about that. Ideally this pony’s neck would not attach so closely to the point of her shoulder considering that she has a fairly high neck set (parallel orange lines). Having the neck blend into the shoulder like this will make it harder for her to use her neck independently and help her balance.
She is not standing perfectly straight in this photo, so it’s difficult to give an absolute critique of her legs, but in general she appears to be straight and has good angles. She has a long sloping pelvis, which will translate to lots of power in her hind end because of ample attachments for musculature. Her stifle is nice and rectangular shaped, hinting that the angle of her back legs is also good. Her hocks and knees, however, appear somewhat small in proportion with her body, and I would like to see a little heavier bone in this mare overall (but especially in the joints). I’d like better pictures of her lower leg and knees to determine if she is slightly tied in at the knee. Luckily, because she is a pony, smaller joints are not likely to cause her to break down since she is not that heavy to begin with. Her pasterns are somewhat short compared to her shoulder, though their angle is good. This will contribute to her stride being slightly choppier than her shoulder alone would entail.
Overall this is a well conformed pony that should be able to perform at her current job without conformationally related soundness issues for many years to come. Also? Adorable.
What do you think?
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Job: General hacking, low level dressage, jumping, etc.
Age: ?
Owned by: fleefloodle (thanks for the photo!)
From Conformation Critique
From Conformation Critique
First, going to overall balance, this pony is well-balanced and sturdy looking, with nice short back and large powerful hindquarters (purple lines). One fault to notice right off is that her croup is higher than her withers - something that will make her heavier on her forehand overall. This trait may have originated from the draft pony lines that are prevalent in the New Forest breed because occasionally this trait is selected for in harness workers. Another thing to note which I don’t believe I have discussed before is leg length with relation to the body. Conformationally, both longer legs and shorter legs have their advantages, and have been selected for independently in different breeds. The “average” horse has a leg length that matches their heart-girth (orange line and red line in the front end). This pony’s legs are ever so slightly longer than her heart girth, making her more of a riding type than a draft type. If her legs were at all longer when combined with her short back I would be concerned about her striking herself with her hind feet. Her barrel is well proportioned.
This mare appears to have rather low rounded withers, which is more of a breed characteristic than anything. Low rounded withers make it harder for a saddle to stay secure, but are not necessarily a fault and are common in other breeds such as Arabians.
The humerus is long and has a moderately steep angle (green lines). Where the humerus is long and has a steep angle it results in a long stride and good forward movement, and also allows the horse to raise its knees well above its elbows when folding it’s legs for jumping. The LENGTH of the humerus translates to stride length, and the ANGLE of the humerus denotes how close the feet will travel to the ground. This mare should have a fairly long stride and be able to pick her knees up nicely for jumping.
Shoulder length also corresponds to stride length, and a long shoulder increases muscle attachment areas between the forelegs and the spine. This pony has a good shoulder angle of around 50 degrees and decently long shoulder - for her overall more stocky proportions I’d say her shoulder is well-balanced, though it could be longer. I say it could be longer because ideally the length of the neck (yellow line) should match the length of the shoulder if the neck is not proportionally long or short, and here the neck is longer than the shoulder. Continuing with the mare’s neck, she has a rather thick one, which is more common to New Forest ponies, but luckily it is longer and so collection will not be as difficult for her if her neck was thick and also short. The neck, in general, should be no longer than about 1.5 times the length of the horse’s back, and this mare’s neck is just about that. Ideally this pony’s neck would not attach so closely to the point of her shoulder considering that she has a fairly high neck set (parallel orange lines). Having the neck blend into the shoulder like this will make it harder for her to use her neck independently and help her balance.
She is not standing perfectly straight in this photo, so it’s difficult to give an absolute critique of her legs, but in general she appears to be straight and has good angles. She has a long sloping pelvis, which will translate to lots of power in her hind end because of ample attachments for musculature. Her stifle is nice and rectangular shaped, hinting that the angle of her back legs is also good. Her hocks and knees, however, appear somewhat small in proportion with her body, and I would like to see a little heavier bone in this mare overall (but especially in the joints). I’d like better pictures of her lower leg and knees to determine if she is slightly tied in at the knee. Luckily, because she is a pony, smaller joints are not likely to cause her to break down since she is not that heavy to begin with. Her pasterns are somewhat short compared to her shoulder, though their angle is good. This will contribute to her stride being slightly choppier than her shoulder alone would entail.
Overall this is a well conformed pony that should be able to perform at her current job without conformationally related soundness issues for many years to come. Also? Adorable.
What do you think?
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