Sport Horse Conformation—Evaluating Athletic Potential in Dressage, Jumping and Eventing Prospects

The way a horse is physically built—its conformation—reveals a lot about the discipline for which it is best suited, and this reference provides detailed advice on selecting horses specifically for competition in internationally recognized sports. Sport horse breeding authority Christian Schacht presents a new and easy-to-use system for evaluating the conformation of the sport horse, with special attention on dressage, jumping, and eventing prospects. Amateur and professional riders, breeders, veterinarians, trainers, and judges will all benefit from this method based on recognizing professionally accepted proportions and lines, allowing a well-trained eye to ascertain a horse’s strengths and weaknesses and therefore correctly determine its training and fitness regimens.

Christian Schacht is a veterinarian, a licensed dressage, eventing, and international show jumping judge, and the breeding director of the International Sporthorse Registry.