Horse Judging is a useful skill for many people, not just those in the horse industry. As a 4-H'er, horse judging will help you develop valuable life skills from learning about horses, such as, how to evaluate and select a horse for a suitable purpose, learn what 'form to function" means, make choices and form opinions, have confidence in your horsemanship skills, defend your ideas and take other ideas into consideration.

Before you begin judging, it is important that you know the basics of horse anatomy. Identify the parts of the horse by practice. Being able to describe common coat colors and markings is also important. Knowledge of the ideal or standard for each breed is also key.

Judging means to form and opinion or estimation after careful consideration. When you judge a horse, whether it be in a show, individually, or in a contest, you form an opinion or estimation about that horse. In order to form a valid opinion, you must be familiar with the horse and its 'standard or ideal', know the criteria used to judge horses, and be able to recognize conformational faults. With these skills, you are on your way to successful judging experiences! Judging should be enjoyable and fun. If you are just beginning, do not become discouraged if you don't get everything correct the first time. It takes some time and practice.

As a 4-H'er, you will judge conformation (where a horse is shown in a halter or 'in hand') and performance (the horse is 'under saddle or harness', ridden or driven). During a 4-H judging contest, there will be four horses labeled #1 through #4 that you will be judging. There are two types of performance classes to be judged, those based on the horse and those based on the rider (equitation). Performance classes based on the horse are designed to show a horse's suitability for certain types of work. It is best to refer to the specific breed association rulebooks for specifics.

During a conformation class, there are four horses that are judged, labeled #1 through #4, #1 being on your very left, #4 to your very right. There are five key characteristics of judging conformation, which include balance, structure and travel, muscling, quality and breed/sex characteristics. You break down the class of four horses into pairs, your top pair, middle pair and bottom pair. As you begin to place your class, your top horse should be compared to the ideal or standard for its breed, your second horse compared to the top horse and so on. It is within these pairs that you form your opinion/estimation of how you think the class should be placed. The official judge will judge the class, place the class and then your placing is compared to the judge's placing. The correct placing in a judging class is a score of 50 points. Points are deducted from 50 for placings, which differ from the official judges score. The amount deducted is based on the relative difference between the animals being judged.

The judge assigns points or “cuts” to each pair. A small point/cut would indicate that the horses being compared are very similar, large cuts indicate that considerable and obvious differences exist. Cuts/points can range from 1-7 points.

Example Class Placing: 4 2 3 1

Cuts within Class Placing: 4 (cut of 2) 2 (cut of 2) 3 (cut of 1) 1

Oral Reasons is a method where you learn to explain how and why you placed a particular class. You defend your placing by organizing and presenting the facts in a confident manner. During a judging contest you may take written notes on your opinions during the class, then afterwards, you review your notes, then using descriptive terms, you give your oral reasons to a judge or panel of judges. Many times, even though you placed the class differently than the judge, the confidence and way in which you present your oral reasons will render you a higher score overall.

Resource Materials:

Horses and Horsemanship Revised & Expanded by Ray J. Antoniewicz Available in the 4-H Supply Catalog, 301 961-2937 or 4-H Mall. This book is not shown in the 2008 catalog but is available under Item #CO200 for $4.50.

Conformation & Performance by Nancy Loving DVM Breakthrough Publications

Horse Conformation by Juliet Hedge DVM, Globe Pequot Press

Competitive Horse Judging and Conformation, The Relationship of Form To Function AQHA PO Box 200 Amarillo, TX 79168 or the American Quarter Horse Association

Horse Judging Manual by Craig Wood & Stephen Jackson Found on the University of Kentucky website.

Texas A&M Online Horse Judging Practice Site

Arabian Horse Judging