30th March 2006 :
The dictionary describes it as “the manner in which a thing is formed, its structure, how it has adapted”.As far as a horses conformation, you would have heard many people use the term to describe the overall appearance and structure of the animal.
To go a little deeper it is the “balance” of the horse (the relationship between the forehand and hindquarters, between the limbs and the trunk of the body and between the right and left sides of the body). The features of the head (distance between the eyes, width of throat, alignment of jaw etc) and the “quality” of the horse (clean joints, sharply defined features, smooth muscling, and a fine coat of hair), all form part of a horses conformation.
Another term used when talking about conformation is “substance”. It is the thickness and depth of bone, muscle and other tissue. The overall weight, height, hoof size are all taken into account.
A good judge of a horse’s conformation is known to have an “eye for a horse”. There is a lot more to this term, hope this helps understand a little of it.
