Conformation Terms 

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back at the knee - from a side view, do your mare's knees appear to arch

                               backward more than normal?

bandy hocked - looking at your mare from behind, are her hocks pulled in

                          together? this trait is opposite of cow hocked.

body type - generally describe the mare's body type, ranging from short and

                   compact to tall and lean.

bone - is your mare more petite and fine boned, or is she  more heavy boned?

           most people use the bones in the forelegs in assessing this trait.

camped out - from a side view, do your mare's hocks sit behind her? In other

                       words, do her tendons on her rear legs form a line that is behind

                       her hindquarters?

cannon bones - relatively speaking, are your mare's cannon bones longer (more

                         typical of turf runners) or shorter (i.e. like a quarter horse)

cow hocked - looking at your mare from behind, are her hocks excessively

                       spread apart, both while walking and standing still?

gaskin - what is the relative size of your mare's gaskin muscle (the muscle

              located on the outside of the hind leg, just above the hock)?

height - one hand equals 4 inches.

hip size - are your mare's hindquarters more heavy and powerful or light and

                narrow?

knees - how well aligned are your mare's knees? from the front view, are they

             well-aligned, straight up and down (excellent) or are they significantly

             tilted in one direction (poor).

length of back - beginning at her withers and going back to where her hind

                          quarters begin, is your mare more on the long side or short side?

over at the knee - from a side view, do your mare's knees appear to arch

                               forward more than normal?

pastern angle - from a side view, and in relation to the mare's hoof angle, are her

                         pasterns more upright, average (angle of pastern is fairly close to the

                         angle of the hoof), or sloped?

pastern length - are the mare's pastern's (bone between the ankle and hoof) shorter

                           or longer than what we typically see?

post-legged - opposite of sickle hocked, there is very little curvature produced by

                       the hock, giving the hind leg a 'post' appearance from the side view

sickle-hocked - from a side view, do the hocks produce excessive curvature in the

                          hind leg, resulting in a 'sickle' shape?

slope of shoulder - imagine a straight line drawn from your mare's withers down

                               to the point of her shoulder.  Is there a lot of slope, or is she                                almost straight up and down?

toes in - (or toes out) as your mare travels, do her feet land pointed markedly outward

             or inward?

width of chest - from a front view, how wide and powerful is your mare's chest?

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