United States Eventing Association

Conformation Critique with Chris Ryan: Teagan Van't Jordenshof

It’s a while since we’ve engaged so it’s possibly a good time to press the "refresh" button! As the title suggests, good conformation can assist good soundness and, therefore, good longevity which is obviously in the best interests of both equine and human partners.

I love and value the very wise statement, “If you can’t measure, you can’t improve…”

Well, regarding conformation, there is a measurement tool we use, namely, linear profiling. If you Google equine linear profiling, you will find some great articles with explanations of its procedures and value. The KWPN Studbook has been at the forefront of developing linear profiling, and we in the Irish Sport Horse Studbook (ISH) attended a linear profiling seminar in Germany recently at which over 10 studbooks were present and gave some excellent presentations.

I am on the Horse Sport Ireland Stallion and Mare inspectorate. The data being collected on our high-profile sport horses and on our breeding stock is already proving its value through good breeding selections. I’d respectfully suggest that the great reputation of the soundness of the Irish Sport Horse is aided by these inspections.

The profile included here is of Valent (Hors La Loi x Sarnike), a sire recently promoted to five-star status for his eventing progeny through his progeny. Some examples include his 10-year-old daughter Cooley Rosalent (Valent x Bellaney Jewel) who finished in third at last year’s MARS Maryland 5 Star with Oliver Townend. His 12-year-old son Jewelent (Valent x Bellaney Jewel) is a full sibling to Cooley Rosalent and has had quite a successful career with Irish rider Clare Abbott up to the four-star level before being purchased by U.S. rider Phillip Dutton and placing second in his first four-star on U.S. soil at Bouckaert Equestrian H.T International (Fairburn, Georgia).

I’d love the opportunity to linear profile his progeny and compare them to his own profile. Is the stallion stamping his stock? Can they jump like him? I think Valent can be a strong influence. Try and compare his measurements to his picture, because this is what I must do with a lovely 5-year-old Belgian warmblood following!

Teagan van’t Jordenshof

First Impression

This is a mature horse who fills the eye. His head-to-neck connection is a fraction strong but leads down to a good light connection of neck to sloping shoulder, though the neck is a degree or two on the horizontal side of average. These connections would advocate, for me, a loose and rangy stride which helps a scopey jump when combined with the loose elbow connection I see here.

Conformation

The letter E on the linear profile is average, and letters D and F represent that one degree, plus or minus, and are acceptable; two degrees are worth a mention. I see this horse is a fraction back at the knee and tied in below the knee (possibly one degree or less). My eye is drawn to the off forefoot which suggests a flatter foot, a longer toe, and a shorter heel (two degrees minus). Photos can be deceptive, but I’d have another look at this. He has good pastern angles of 45 degrees, so that is an E. The front leg and its loading are all important for me as the front leg can be responsible for the highest proportion of unsoundness.

There is good body depth and muscling over loins in this individual. I am concerned at the lack of depth I often see in the modern pan-European horse. Good depth represents good heart and lung function. It is a measurement you will see missing from the standard sport horse linear profile sheet. I would like to see it added along with a length of cannon bone. Interestingly, we have it on our Irish Draught sheet but not on our ISH. I accept we possibly need more body depth in the racehorse and the eventer than the show jumper and more slow twitch muscle and stamina and all these attributes I see diminishing in the modern event horse leading to horses not traveling easy at four-star, especially four-star long, and five-star levels with more emphasis by many on the dressage and show jumping phases. It’s fascinating.

I’d prefer this horse to have his near hindfoot about eight inches further behind him to help assess his hind end and the true angle of his hock (130 degrees for an E). I note a little tapering of his hindquarter where it enters his second thigh, which is generous. The hock and the whole formation of the hind leg is so important as the horse is or should be, "rear wheel drive’" with the engine (heart and lungs, etc.) delivering the power to the back end. If the horse is built downhill, this power is inclined to push him into the ground and a loading of the front end. Ideally, he should be horizontal or better again, for me, slightly uphill. My measurement, of body direction, is a line from the point of the buttock to where the jugular groove goes into the chest.

Movement