The Horse Conformation Handbook

Horses with good conformation move fluidly, experience less wear and tear on joints, and are more apt to stay fit. Explaining how conformation relates to structure and function, Heather Smith Thomas shows you how to identify a horse s desirable attributes and potential faults. You ll learn to train your eye to see past an animal s physical beauty and recognize proper balance, leg angles, and height as you confidently select horses that have superior durability, trainability, and athletic potential.

“The Horse Conformation Handbook is the only complete book on the topic and will provide horse owners with a thorough introduction. America s Bridle Bit a comprehensive, yet user-friendly, how-to guide on evaluating a horse for soundness, athletic potential, trainability and longevity. Performance Horse Excellent pictures and illustrations make for easy understanding of how and why a part of the horse operates. If you are going to use horses for work or pleasure, you need this book. Small Farm Journal Is it worth $22.95 to have a reference guide that will build your expertise in evaluating a horse s conformation? You can bet the farm on it. Horsemen s Yankee Pedlar”

"...The Horse Conformation Handbook is the only complete book on the topic and will provide horse owners with a thorough introduction." - America's Bridle Bit

"...a comprehensive, yet user-friendly, "how-to" guide on evaluating a horse for soundness, athletic potential, trainability and longevity." - Performance Horse

"Excellent pictures and illustrations make for easy understanding of how and why a part of the horse operates. If you are going to use horses for work or pleasure, you need this book."

Small Farm Journal

"Is it worth $22.95 to have a reference guide that will build your expertise in evaluating a horse's conformation? You can bet the farm on it."

Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar

Heather Smith Thomas has written extensively on animal health care, authoring thousands of articles and 24 books on the subject. Her books include Storey s Guide to Raising Beef Cattle, Essential Guide to Calving, Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle, The Cattle Health Handbook, The Horse Conformation Handbook, Storey s Guide to Raising Horses, Storey s Guide to Training Horses, and Stable Smarts. She raises cattle and horses on her family ranch in Salmon, Idaho.

"Conformation" concerns body structure and anatomy. In this comprehensive volume, Heather Smith Thomas explains how conformation relates to function and what to look for when evaluating a horse. She teaches the reader to see beyond a horse's physical beauty to identify desirable attributes and potential faults, and with copious illustrations and explanations, trains the eye to recognize the hallmarks of soundness, durability, trainability, and athletic potential. Thomas begins with an in-depth discussion of equine anatomy and the importance of balance and proportion. She also explains how to detect "heart," that indefinable quality that distinguishes a horse from his peers and compels him to excel. The book concludes with real-world applications of the principles of good conformation, including helping a horse succeed by matching him with the right job and what the conformation of the aging horse can tell you. Horses with good conformation move fluidly, experience less wear and tear on joints, and are more apt to stay fit and sound during a long life of service. Whether you're buying your first horse, choosing breeding stock, or simply want to learn more about your equine companion, "The Horse Conformation Handbook" will help you understand horses better than ever before.

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