Dressage Horse Conformation: Form and Function

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What do you look for in a dressage horse conformation?
Conformation is indeed important to consider for a dressage horse, however no horse has perfect conformation. As a dressage rider and trainer it is important to consider the horses conformation but also understand how to accommodate the training to account for the conformation of the horse.
Here are a few desirable conformation traits for the Dressage horse:
1. Uphill balance - the withers should be higher than the coup
2. Good angles on the hind quarters - there should be a downward slope of about 45 degrees from the top of the croup to the point of the buttocks and another 45 degree angle from the point of the buttocks to the stifle. These angles will help the horse collect and engage the hind quarters
3. Long front legs and shorter hind legs - this helps to get the shoulder freedom for an expressive front leg and the shorter hind legs help for the collection
4. Not too long and not too short in the back - a horse that is too long in the back will have trouble collecting. A horse that is too short in the back will have trouble bending in the body.
5. Straight legs - this is important for the long term soundness of the horse
While it is helpful to have these conformation traits in a dressage prospect, it isn’t everything. Horses that have a good temperament, willing mind, and a good trainer are able to overcome a lot of conformational faults. No horse has perfect conformation and a lot of the top horses in the sport of dressage are far from ideal. More important is how the horse handles their body and how the rider manages the conformation of the horse. So don’t give up on your horse just because they don’t have perfect conformation!!!

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Is your horse square or rectangular shaped?

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Harvey for sure is a rectangle 😁

[@Lacey8246]

I ride a larger pony - he's definitely square. Also, I was semi-hoping to get the conformation of the dog at the end ;)

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

😂😂😂. I should have. Although he has bad conformation for Dressage. Very downhill and a lateral walk!!

[@jeanfish7]

@@AmeliaNewcombDressage lol!

[@horsenerd]

I have a welsh cob, she's a square 😁

[@norak7258]

My horse is imaginary shaped

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

😂😂😂

[@mehmednasuhisaml3199]

Amelia, I am really a fan of your high quality content videos. I am located in Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you for your meaningful contribution to the sport.

[@Lynne2106]

Can’t wait to go back to the ranch and look at my horse through new eyes. He is square for sure. Now I think I need to adjust my expectations of his degree of bend and praise him more. Thank you for all your wonderful videos.

[@franciscocordobacaldas702]

Beatiful woman.

[@MrsC48]

This was really good! My mare is square, uphill, hind legs longer and she has the rounded neck from her Belgian Draft side. You're right, with that kind of neck she's easy to get on the bit BUT it's also very easy for her to curl up or go behind the bit, which has been an ongoing training issues for years.

[@cathyd3012]

Very interesting. Thanks. Don Carlos looked like he was smiling when you were talking about his nice neck.

[@mshorselover77]

Good video. Great observations

[@carolinecrosby1649]

Great video, thank you! I have a slightly downhill square, with hind legs a bit longer than front. But he has great hind end angles and a lovely neck. I found this video really helpful for some more context around the things we are finding hard vs easy, it makes a lot of sense.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Yay!! Thank you for sharing! Good luck with your horse!

[@jeankemmerer6093]

Best educational video yet. I will watch it again

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Yay!! Thank you!!

[@jeankemmerer6093]

I went out and evaluated my horse. He is a square, slightly up hill (yay) and has a good back end. He does have some trouble bending but we are at training level so no worry.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

@@jeankemmerer6093 yay!! Super!

[@audreybennett6094]

Would love to see a video on good confirmation for lateral work. Love when they have a lot of reach under the body.

[@infernafirestein]

Fantastic information! Thanks Amelia! :)

[@JavierBonillaC]

Very clear Amelia. I just saw another confirmation video where the expert just kept saying things like “the neck, I like the neck, the Pasterns, he has good pasterns, the shoulder that’s,solid, he has a wonderful shoulder, the ears, nice ears, not too big, not too small, that is what you are looking for, nice expressive eyes, good mouth” ... what??? Descriptions have to be objective with as few adjectives as possible. Thank you Amelia, this video,is clear and you get a clear take home.

[@nancymartin9203]

What a great video! Thank you, Amelia

[@audreybennett6094]

So helpful thanks!

[@teresawort9124]

Really great vid. Thank you very much.

[@charmainemckinney4064]

Thanks Amelia .

[@osvaldoceja1523]

This is great information thank you 🙏🏽

[@hossammosbah5295]

Very good video, and very important information. thanks dear Amelia. 🎩 👌

[@donnahenderson511]

A Very interesting and informative video Amelia thankyou... Unfortunately the dressage bug/fascination hadn't taken hold when I bought my first horse so I ended up with a Welsh bred Welsh section D.. Not your usual breed for dressage as they are usually quite small and dumpy compared to other dressage bred horses but I wouldn't change her for the world and hopefully get her doing some of the lower levels eventually ...I think she's more down hill than up and I'm sure her front legs are shorter than her backs.. And as for angle from croup to stifle I've not got a clue.. I've never looked 😁

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Haha! Like I said, just take the conformation into account and figure out how to use it to help train and ride the horse you have!!

[@maeganmcgowen5427]

super helpful!

[@minderellafox7906]

Wow really good 👌

[@ruthkeeling-holt2031]

I really enjoyed the video about uphill conformation vs downhill conformation. I thought the idea of looking at the hip and judging if it is close to a 45 degree angle was very helpful. As a video idea ... it would be great to see saddle fitting ideas for each conformation.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Yes, a saddle fit video is coming soon!!

[@pennyallen7637]

My lovely mare seems to be an almost perfect dressage shape (she is dutch warmblood) square ish body, beautiful neck, great angles on her butt, large feet, wither & croup in a straight line but has slightly longer back legs compared to front. Lucky me! No excuses not to do really good tests !! Thanks Amelia for the vid, i love my horse even more now!! 😂🐴🏆

[@TrakRider]

Thanks Amelia. Good timing for me as I am horse shopping. Good to know.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Good luck shopping!

[@katherinebrunelle9812]

Super helpful, thank you so much for posting this. It's amazing to see how these traits relate to functionality, sending this to the barn group chat immediately!

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Awesome Katherine! I love hearing that I'm getting shared to the barn chat! Get the knowledge out there! :) Thanks so much for watching!

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Also, if you want a free mini-course to get your position in the strongest shape to execute your dressage aids, take my free, rider position mini-course here… www.ameliasdressageacademy.com/riderpositionminicourse/? I’m also on FB and IG facebook.com/amelianewcombdressage & instagram.com/amelianewcombdressage/ Also, and this is super helpful too, join Amelia’s Dressage Club on Facebook, it’s a really active and engaged community of riders and no question goes unanswered! facebook.com/groups/ameliasdressageclub/ And finally, there’s my website! www.amelianewcombdressage.com/ And you can also sign up here for weekly dressage tips sent to your inbox www.ameliasdressageacademy.com/subscribe/ Ok that’s the lot I promise. Have an awesome day! 🐴

[@bethstaiano387]

I just fell in love with Levi. Lol

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

He's the BEST dog ❤️❤️❤️

[@dogsmumm]

Really helpful. Thanks. Can you explain "on the bit" in a video? I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

[@AllisonVidroEventing]

both my TBs are square with short backs which makes saddle fit annoying lol. My younger tb is downhill, him hoping he will grow out of that

[@irenecoermann2439]

My horse is definitely rectangular, with a longer back. I ride in a 19 inch saddle so I need a longer back to accommodate that. Another thing to consider.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Good point! Thanks for sharing ❤️

[@tjitskebetty]

Such an informative video! Always wondered how to see that a horse is very suitable for dressage. I wonder, would you also be able to see these kind of things in a foal? Or do you then depend on the facts of the parents? I will also check this out for my own horse. He is 93% Friesian and 7% Arabic horse! I really like your second horse, Don Carlos, the neck is pretty :) I am struggling with if I should clip my horse. I ride him twice a week and he has so much hair and every time I ride (I ride quite intensively), he sweats so much. He also gets out of breath rather easily. So I was wondering if you think I should clip him or not. It is here in The Netherlands around 6 degrees in a day and my horse is mostly in the stable. I do hacking now and then once a week, so I guess if I clip him, he should have an exercise sheet. Of course a stable rug too.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

You can tell some how the conformation is going to turn out from how the parents are and from how they are as a foal but they can also change a lot as they develop and end up being completely different! It's all a gamble!

[@lucasa1849]

My horse has perfect conformation and he moves like a dream. His prior owner wanted to do dressage with him but sadly he has horrible feet. He's 20 now and great recreational horse. He's also sound now. His feet problems turned out to be a symptom of bad instestines.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Hmm interesting! Glad you figured that out!

[@variablestar90]

Hahaha, My horse is the opposite of when you looking for a dressage horse :D He is arabian, downhill, straight croup, but pretty strong build and large feet (for an arabian). We will probably never compete, but I still like to teach him new figures, just for training and he has soo good character so he is learning very fast and try his best :) I wish I new more exercises to bring him more uphill...

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Arabians are so smart!! You’ve got that going for you!!!

[@dzjaag6148]

Why does Don Carlos have such a prominent dip behind his whithers? The light angle is making it look worse of course, but I am still curious. Because I have been taught that a well-built horse should have good musculature there. Is it partly due to his conformation? I am leasing a horse who is quite similarly built and he too has very high whithers and a noticable hollow. Am I fighting a losing battle trying to build up some muscle there?

[@1234ghost]

Can a 15hh horse do dressage? I think my horse would be really good at dressage but he is short(only 4 though). Also thinking western dressage.

[@AmeliaNewcombDressage]

Yes! For sure! There is no size limit. My best Grand Prix horse was 15.3!

[@1234ghost]

Amelia Newcomb Dressage Thank you for replying! Great videos!

[@barbaramoeller8082]

Lots of beautiful dressage ponies (check out the German Riding Pony page on FB). T