The idea of using conformation to better choose a horse to buy, or choose a horse for a specific discipline is not new. Xenophen described what he looks for in selecting a young horse: “a hoof of thick horn, and a frog that is held off the ground.” But he never mentions the “ideal” horse, or the “perfect” horse. A perfect horse does not exist. We can take our analysis of a horse’s conformation and use that information to make better decisions, but we don’t simply turn a horse away because his pasterns are not at the perfect angle.

We can then break the horse’s body into three parts:

1. The spine, neck and head

2. The forelegs, and

3. The hindlegs.

1. The spinal column consists of the skull, seven cervical vertebrae which begins at the 1stcervical vertebrae, or the atlas which allows the skull to make up and…