Arabians, NSH & Pintos with
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SHOULDERS
I've hestitated on putting up a page with photos of shoulders, simply because recognizing a good shoulder isn't one of the tasks that is easiest for me. Given the opportunity, I'd rather just look at how the horse moves, and not speculate how his shoulder says he'll move. Generally, the more "laid-back", or angled the horses shoulder is, the more forward reach that horse should have. A long and well laid back shoulder should allow both extension and elevation, where a shorter, straighter shoulder limits the length of stride.
Shoulder angle is measured as with a protractor. The space between the horizontal floor and the point at which the shoulder approaches the wither is measured. The open end measures 45 degrees ideally. A shoulder that gets closer to 90 degrees is "straighter" or "steeper". Length is also desired. Take a look at these shoulders, and then the shoulders with the angles drawn on. If you have a protractor handy yourself, get it out and take your own measurements!
Shoulder #1 | Shoulder #2 |
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Shoulder #4 | Shoulder #5 |
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65 degrees |
 | 45 degrees | ||||
45 degrees | 40 degrees | 40 degrees |
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A special thank you goes out to AOL Arabian Horse Gazette for allowing me to put these the conformation clinic pages on my web pages.
Last updated December 22, 2000 by Buffy MacLeod
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