United States Eventing Association

It was a packed house at the Marriott Courtyard Ocala on Monday morning for the first day of the “Evaluation of the Young Event Horse Prospect” symposium. The symposium, which consists of classroom sessions in the morning and live horse demonstrations at Longwood Farm South in the afternoon, is presented by the USEA in support of the Future Event Horse and Young Event Horse programs.

Future Event Horse judge and committee chair Susan Graham White spoke about conformation flaws and ideals to look for in young horses. Since the FEH program evaluates yearling through three-year-olds, their bodies will change dramatically over time, but despite growth, a lot can be seen about the future athletic ability of a horse by their conformation as youngsters.

Susan explained that the overall balance and harmony of the frame of the horse should be observed first. The horse should be proportionate in his head, neck, body and legs. “There is such a thing as a horse with too-long legs,” she said.

The ability to jump and gallop is, of course, essential for event horses. The power for the jump comes from behind, so it is important to look at the “rear triangle” measurements, and the top show jumpers have ilium and femur measurements that are essentially equal. Also, the jumper typically has a stifle that is well below sheath level because it results in an increased range of motion of the hind leg, which in turn, gives the horse more scope.

Susan also showed attendees through photos the following structural flaws to be aware of when breeding or buying a young horse for eventing:

• Ewe Neck
• Club Foot
• Soft pasterns
• Parrot mouth
• Severe wry tail
• Curb
• Small Feet
• Concave hoof walls
• Very thick throat latch
• Extremely wide body
• Behind at knee
• Bench knee
• Roaring (a breathing defect)
• Plaiting (a movement defect)

Next, FEH committee member Faith Fessenden spoke about pedigree evaluation and the practical aspects of breeding event horses.

“Define your breeding goals,” she said to prospective breeders. “If the use is for eventing, you need conformation and movement that will support galloping, jumping and flatwork, but more importantly, durability and soundness.”

If breeding is your goal, seek out the performance and reproductive record for both the sire and the dam. The dam’s career is just as important as the stallion’s, but is often overlooked. Find out about major health problems on both sides. Are the parents going to genetically predispose the foal to certain health problems? “[The offspring] aren’t all going to be superstars,” said Faith. “A superstar is a gift from God. But a good breeder is someone that consistently produces above average horses.”

She also outlined the Tesio Method of Sport Horse Breeding (outline from Sport-Horse-Breeder.com):

1. Learn the pedigree (it is your horse's genetic map) - so that you can understand the genetic strengths your horse possesses.
2. Have a breeding goal and determine which bloodlines will help you get there.
3. Linebreed - by finding a mate who will multiply the lines of superior ancestors in your horse.
4. Sex balance those lines- find a mate with the daughters and sisters of your good male lines, or the brothers and sons of your female lines.
5. Reinforce the bloodlines by engaging the background strength of the pedigree.
6. Bring in siblings - full if possible, or 7/8, 3/4, 5/8 or 1/2. Statistics show that full or 3/4 siblings send the genetics into high gear.
7. Repeat the breeding - to insure the best sport horse outcome in one of your foals.

Then, Faith highlighted a few notable breeders that have been successful in producing event horses. Nina Gardner has 30 years of experience with breeding. She carefully manages their upbringing and exposes them to proper nutrition and handling, which is just as important for young horses as conformation or pedigree. Nina knows her mares very well, understands their strengths and weaknesses, and knows what bloodlines cross well. Her advice to new breeders: have patience and money! Otherwise use the FEH and YEH to find and buy your new horse.

Mary Hazzard also has 30 years in breeding. She believes that mares need to have performance credentials (unless they are injured), really good conformation and feet, and prefers Thoroughbreds. She likes nicks with Seattle Slew, Never Bend and Hail to Reason. She recommends talking with other owners and breeders, have patience, try for consistency, be firm while working with horses in hand, and let young horses live outside.

Robin Walker spoke about the introduction of the canter and free jump evaluations for three-year-olds at the Future Event Horse Championships.

“Personally, I’d never buy a young horse without seeing it canter and jump,” he said. As such, it is an important part of evaluating Future Event Horses, but safety is paramount.

“There will be a day before that the qualified Championship horses are allowed to come and school,” said Robin. “I don’t want to create any adjustment at the canter at this stage, I just want to see what the horse does on his own.”

At the FEH Championships, the jump chute will have a ground pole followed by three jumps on a related distance. The maximum height of the first fence will be 2’7”, the second, 2’9”, and the third (an oxer), 3’ in the front and 3’6” in the back with a max width of 4’. The jumps will be lower to begin with, however, and slowly build up.

Robin explained that the free jump is a skill that should be practiced at home and not introduced at Championships, but practice should be easy and gentle on the young horse. “It is important to read the horse and to keep the number of repetitions to a minimum. We want the horse to think this is fun and have a good result. Free jumping should only be done once a week.”

Stay tuned for our afternoon coverage of the live horse demonstrations from Longwood Farm South!