Front Legs
The legs are extremely important to look at because you will be able to judge how the horse will move and understand what unsoundness may be a result of poor legs.
A- Good, straight conformation. You want to be as close to this as possible.
B- Splay-footed. This will cause the horse to daisy-cut when it moves, or move with an inward swinging motion. While the stride is long, it is not as efficient at moving forward. Also, this is likely to cause interference in the front end, which could cause hard or soft tissue damage from repeated hitting. Splints can also be caused from repeatedly hitting the splint bone, which is on the inside of the cannon bone. The other problem with splay-footed horses is that an increased amount of pressure has been put on the inside of the knee, which can lead to excessive strain on the bones, tendons, ligaments, and joints. The increased stress can also lead to splints, even if the horse isn't interfering. This is common on narrow chested horses and foals, as the foal isn't finished growing.
C- Pigeon-toed. This will cause the horse to paddle when it moves, or move with an outward swinging motion. It once again places increased stress on the tendons, ligaments, joints, and bones. It predisposes a horse to side-bone which is a calcification on the side of the coffin bone inside the hoof.
D- Knock-kneed, or, base wide. This applies extra stress to the inside of the knees and takes support away from under the horse. This can cause should pain and soreness from either over or under use.
E- Base Narrow. This also makes the horse paddle in its movements. The horse will have to compensate for loss of support under it's frame. This can lead to shoulder soreness because the compensation frequently leads to under or over use.
F- Bow Kneed. This puts additional stress on the inside of the horse's knee and leads to excessive soreness and discomfort as well as compensation in forward movement.
A- Good, straight conformation. A straight line can be drawn through the middle of the leg.
B- Pastern too straight and short. This can somewhat be corrected by proper trimming (be wary! You don't want "corrective" shoeing). This shortens the horse's stride and also causes the concussion of each footfall to stress the bones rather than the tendons, leading to jarring movement and possible arthritis. This is commonly seen in draft horses for extra leverage when pulling. It can lead to: ringbone, sidebone, splints, bucked shins, navicular disease, and windpuffs.
C- Long, sloping pasterns. While this increases shock absorbtion, you risk tendon and ligament injuries because the excessive flexibility cannot properly support the fetlock joint. If the pastern stretches down too much, you may even experience tearing in the tendons. This fault can lead to: bowed tendon, sesamoiditis, and ringbone.
D- Back at the knee. This places a lot of stress on the knee joint as it over extends in long movement. It causes compression fractures in the front of the carpals and stress fractures within the knee. Forward movement in terms of efficiency and speed are worsened, and the knee can't properly absorb concussion from foot falls.
E- Over the knee. Places stress and causes injury to the check ligament and the back of the knee. This also weakens the leg's support structure and causes the horse to stumble more frequently. This causes the horse to under use and under develop its forearms. Bowed tendons are a risk with this fault, and the horse's tendons and fetlocks are under constant stress.
F- Tied in. This affects the horse's sped and concussion. This increases stress on the tendons and can lead to stress-related injuries, especially in the middle of or just above the cannon bone. The joints are smaller and can't support the leg as well, so they are more prone to injury.
Hind Legs
A-Good, straight hind legs.
B- Slightly cow hocked. Generally not a problem if it's slight. It's a common defect,and over weight horses are prone to have it to compensate for supporting extra body mass. Sometimes, it's more of a fault in the pasterns that gives the appearance of having cow hocks.
C- True cow hocks (lead to toeing out). Now, this fault is a problem. It causes strain on the inside of the hock, which makes the horse more susceptible to bone spavins. More weight is carried on the medial part of the hoof, which can cause bruising, cracking, and corns. The lower part of the leg is also more likely to interfere due to closer movement.
D- Bow legged. Hoof swings and rotates out in movement to compensate, which leads to interference in the hind legs. The twisting motion also inhibits forward motion. Excess stress is placed on the hock and predisposes the horse to bog spavin, bone spavin, and throughpin. The twisting motion as the hoof hits the ground can cause the hoof to bruise, crack, or get corns.
E- Base narrow. Horse is far more likely to interfere with itself, causing soft or hard tissue damage with repeated hitting. This can lead to hip soreness from over or under use.
F- Base wide. Places stress on the inside of the hocks and leads to hip soreness from over or under use.
A- Correct hind end bone structure.
B- Correct conformation, stright line from dock to fetlock.
C- Sickle hocked. Limits straightening and backward extension of the horse, placing more stress on the hock joint and stifle. Makes the horse more prone to bog spavin, bone spavin, and thoroughpin.
D- Post legged. Stresses joint capsule and cartilage, leading to bog spavin and bone spavin. Restriction in tendon sheath during motion leads to thoroughpin. Can also lead to arthritis. Difficult to use lower back in movement, which reduces power and spring; also causes cutting motion into ground with hooves which leads to bruising and cracking on the toe.
E- Camped under. More extreme version of a sickle hock.
There's also Camped out, where the leg lands behind the vertical line. It's inefficent in movement and wastes energy from too much swing in the leg, and makes it more difficult for the horse to do upper level dressage or jump large fences due to difficulty of engaging hind end.
Here's a horse with a long back. The problem with this is that the horse has more stress placed on its spine (especially with the rider), which leads to back soreness and pain as well as a premature sway back. It's also more difficult for dressage because it's harder for a horse to track up.
This horse has a short and swayed back. The problem with the short back is that the horse's movement is impaired. It'll move shorter and stiffer, plus, with its hind legs closer to the front, it's more likely to interfere and hit the bulbs of the heel on the front with a hind hoof.
The sway back could be due to age from an old back breaking down, but it's frequently when a horse's back muscles are underdeveloped, causing the back more likely to be sore and unsupported.
Neck
Knife Neck- A neck that cuts up sharply from the shoulder and has a very straight line (on the bottom), ending abruptly at the throat latch. The crest is also very straight and cuts sharply into the poll. This is undesirable because it demonstrates a severe lack of muscle development both on the top and bottom of the neck, and until the muscles can be improved, any sort of collection or roundness will be very difficult for the horse. Also, the neck will generally maintain a slightly scrawny look to it, even when developed.
Ewe Neck- A neck that appears to be almost upside down because the crest is straight while the throat is very curved and cuts in sharply at the throat latch. This is more commonly seen in horses that carry their neck very upright, as the lower muscles overdevelop while the upper ones are underdeveloped. These horses are very difficult to collect as they are often behind or above the bit and don't have the flexibility to give easily. While this issue can be greatly helped by proper, collected riding, the horse will always maintain some of the "upside down" neck appearance.
Bull Neck- A neck that is very short, thick, and cresty. The underside might be fairly curved as well. While this may desirable for for work horses because the extra muscling lends the horse strength and pulling power, it is not a good horse for riding. Collecting is difficult because of folding the masses of muscle, and it will often bulge the more the horse rounds. It's also extra weight on the front end, so the horse is not ideal for jumping, where it needs to come onto its hindquarters, or for heavyset riders that have a tendency to lean forward, as the horse will be thrown more off balance and is more likely to trip.
Back
The sway back could be due to age from an old back breaking down, but it's frequently when a horse's back muscles are underdeveloped, causing the back more likely to be sore and unsupported.
Withers
Mutton Withers- Very low, wide withers. This makes it extremely difficult to fit a saddle to the horse, plus it's far more difficult for a saddle to stay in place as the withers are too small to keep it from sliding forward or to the sides. Horses that have these are good for bareback riding in terms of comfort and using leg strength to stay in place.
High Withers- The vertebrae here are long, forcing the withers to be high and steep. It's also very difficult to fit a saddle to this as it will be more likely to pinch the horse's withers or be too wide. The saddle also has more potential for sliding backwards when riding. I don't recommend these horses for bareback riding. It tends to be painful. It's also common for high withered horses to be hollow behind the withers: making them extra narrow.
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