YEH conformation?

[summerly]

I hope to show my 4 yr gelding in the YEH classes this summer, he has good conformation with good bone, a very nice shoulder and hip, great feet and overall correctness. But as he is still growing, and I think at the moment he is in a growth spurt now, his butt is higher and seems slightly downhill. He does not feel this way to ride, nor does he look that way when you trot him out on a lead freely. How does this effect his score? Do the judges take this immaturity into consideration this or deem it as a fault?

[yellowbritches]

I know that in the FEH classes, the judges do take into consideration the fact that these are GROWING horses that aren't at their full, physical maturity. I would hope the same could be said for the judges in the YEH classes, considering that a lot of 4 yr. olds especially can still be very weedy and growing like mad. Of course, this is one of the reasons why I didn't take my then 4 yr. old in any YEH classes last year...he was so weedy, although correct, I was afraid they would count that against him.

But, there are people here who have for more experience with these classes than I, so hopefully they can give you a better answer.

[retreadeventer]

Young horses grow and change from week to week practically!
I wouldn't worry about it. A horse in correct training will have proper muscling and carriage no matter what their individual conformation. It's a very good idea to have someone stand him up for you and assess him fairly from a few paces each week, to see what you think, and ask a good horsemen you know to take a look as well.

What they are looking for is correct, straight limbs free of defects. An uphill build with correctly muscled topline (ewe neck, goose rump, etc. not desirable). Movement with suspension and activity and overall straightness. Nice swing with the hind leg from the hip.

These young horses really should be prepared diligently in order to show well. You will be surprised what regular, daily work will do, so do not worry about it now - just keep your nose to the grindstone on his training and wait until it's time to compete - and see what he looks like then.

Most of the YEH stuff isn't going to happen until later in the season, so you can wait if he doesn't look right for the early events and try some later. In my opinion, work is the key to getting the baby look to disappear. Steady, regular, not hard, not three hours one day and nothing for a week type work, but just increasing difficulty as weather and footing and time allow.

They are looking for type and conformation counts for only a part of it. There's the dressage, the jumping and the gallop that are all a part of it as well. Good luck!

[purplnurpl]

From what I have experienced, the judges marked off for 'butt high' at most of the YEH I participated in or watched.
It's just so subjective.

I entered my client's horse in one last year and the conformation judging was a joke.
This was a 5 year old TB jumping around barefoot. The most perfect feet I have ever seen. The horse was 16 hands with size 2 feet. He even had that wonderful ridge that bordered the bottom of his hoof for perfect horsie foot grip.
She gave him a 6 on his feet with the comment, 'proportional'.
The horse trotted out on gravel BAREFOOT without a mis-step for pete's sake.

This judge also took off for geometry in one of the other competitor’s dressage test. In theory geometry is not the point of the test at all.

So, if you receive any poor scores don't take them to heart. Some judges do a better job then others.

For instance Mary D'Arcy judged one competition here in Area V. I scribed for her all day and she was AMAZING at looking at the horses and picking out talent underneath. She was very fair.

Just like Dressage, I still love the YEH competitions. Subjective is always tough. : )

[goodpony]

That was not our experience at all. We felt the quality of both the judging and the quality of horses participating was well above average.

We showed our pony Stallion in YEH last season. He won the conformation and type section and scored very well in the dressage/jumping too. He finished in 5th out of 11 and was in superb company (all horses). The young horse that won it was one we had sold on...I have no doubt he was the right choice on the day. If you are interested in doing the YEH I suggest looking at the scores that are published from YEH across the country on the USEA website....just a quick perusal and I think you will find the judging to be very consistent.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

You will get marked down but that is only part of their score. The judges have to judge what they see that day....and if your horse is down hill that day, he will get marked down compared to the horse that is not down hill that day. That is the crap shoot of showing youngsters! There have been many top TOP event horses who are down hill as mature horses....or have other conformation flaws. But they are judging on an ideal. It will just be part of the score and if you kick butt in the other parts, you could still be competitive.

[mademoiselle]

Yep, you will get marked down. Like other said, they will judge what they see that day compare to an ideal.
Like purplnurpl said sometimes the judging is very 'subjective'.
My stallion got marked down for a 'high tail set' :eek: and 'cresty' neck (btw he actually doesn't have a big neck for a stallion):eek:.
This horse got really high score in conformation at many YEH events including the finals (he was second overall on conformatio) but at one show, he got the worst score ever on conformation and placed last, far, far behind. Go figure.
I like YEH classes, they are great for experience, just don't take anything personally.

BTW, the last FEH show I entered with my YEARLING, here is what I got for comments : 'wither not defined ... elbow lower than stifle ... not uphill build ... Not uphill (for the walk) ... The balance of his frame is awkward'.:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
I guess I should get rid of him.
Oh wait, he finished 4th in the nation as a weanling and yearling for his breed (highly rated WB registry).
Ok, I guess I'm going to keep him a little bit longer:winkgrin:. If he still looks like this at 5 YO, I promise I will not try to take him to Rolex:lol::lol::lol:

[JER]

BTW, the last FEH show I entered with my YEARLING, here is what I got for comments : 'wither not defined ... '

Um, that's like being at a beauty pageant for 5 year-old girls and getting the comment 'breasts not defined'.

:lol:

[RoeVee]

JER - that made me belly-laugh! great analogy! :lol:

[goodpony]

Well, I would have to say the comment "Pony Type" was fair and accurate for our litt'l guy who is ALL PONY. :)

[seeuatx]

So what I am taking from this is that perhaps the judging needs to work more in the manner of a "best in show" type... where the judge has to be able to hold each entry to their own standard. In other words, in the same way you could not hold my dalmatian to the same standard as my jack russell, neither can you hold a yearling to the same standard as a 3 yr old, or the 3 yr old to a five yr old, and the judge should be able to account for growth phases of different types (WB vs TB).

But the FEH itself is still a baby yet, and has some development left to do. I won't hold their own lack of definition against them... yet. ;)

[goodpony]

Just my two cents but there may be a difference between what inspectors/judges reward as being "ideal" with respect to "breed type" in those events and what the YEH judges are looking for in an upper level/amatuer Eventing Prospect. Definitely not saying that the two venues are mutually exclusive....certainly they overlap...just that there may be distinct differences in what the judges are looking for and reward.