major and minor conformation points in thoroughbred

Question
hello Lynne. May i know what all major conformation points shall i take into consideration when evaluating a thoroughbred yearling at auction sales. do mention the minor points to ignore.

Answer
Conformation is a complicated subject.  What are you going to do with your yearling?  If you are viewing him as a racing prospect, there are some things that fall under the category of "beauty" that can be discounted.   you probably don't need a classically beautiful head, but you do need eyes set correctly, nostrils open and airways unbstructed..  In general, the same qualities of conformation that are considered "beautiful" in a breed are often those qualities that make the horse suitable for use.

Beauty in many cases is the way we perceive balance.  It is very much a matter of understanding engineering.  If you look at a horse's body, legs, shoulder, hip and feet as though you are designing a bridge, you will begin to understand balance.  If you want your horse to stand up to the rigors of racing or jumping, you would like to get as close as you can to all parts balancing.  A horse that toes in will put more stress on the inside line of the leg, a horse with straight short pasterns will lack shock absorption and send more jarring forces up the legs.  A horse with overly long pasterns will have too much give and is more likely to land on a fetlock joint.

I used to study photos that I had taken of the horse from varying angles and ask myself, will any part take more pressure than another part because of this horses basic conformation? (don't really on someone else's photos too much.  Whoever said "pictures don't lie", didn't know much about photography)

I could write a novel on this and still not help you much.  The over all picture of balance and symmetry is more important that the individual parts.  Study photographs of "Secretariat" for example.  People said he was :goose-rumped"....he was, but the slope of his croup in conjunction with all the other parts was part of his power.

I guess I would say that taken as a whole, for a performance horse who will not be entering "beauty contests"  probably the only thing that doesn't matter much is how big his ears are or how pretty his face.  I could even waffle about the face in as that many of the best performers I have known have a look about them and few of them are homely in my eyes,