More Dr. Deb

The February 2010 Equus brings an article in the conformation insights series by Dr. Deb Bennett. “Seeing excellence” is another sensible, clearly written article. “A judge should be knowledgeable concerning bone structure, yet I have seen champions made of horses with a massive silhouette but insubstantial or badly articulated limbs.” And I say: yeah, tell me about it!
In discussing halter classes, Dr. Deb notes that often the horse is given less than two minutes’ total evaluation. “This leads to what I consider a cardinal sin in livestock judging: picking faults (because they can be enumerated quickly) rather than picking horses”. She is also concerned that people new to the horse world and looking for a family or all around mount, often mistake champion halter horses as the best in the show. Again I quote Dr. Deb: “When the top prize is given to such a horse, we know nothing certain about his temperament, trainability, aptitude for a particular type of work or potential for ongoing soundness”.
Personally, I am a wee bit worried about any changes in inspections of Irish Draughts. The current inspection process is less than ideal but it is far better than judging them as if they were just livestock. Livestock are not asked nor are they expected to do even a fraction of what horses are.
I was speaking to a long time friend of mine about the series and I found out that Dr. Deb Bennett was at Upmier’s Stables in the ‘80s. (It was at a time before I made the fateful decision to buy a pregnant thoroughbred mare and plunged back into the horse world). Dr. Deb used the TB stallion Weather Ruler as the equine model for her talk. I sure wish I had been there for that session. I had the honor of meeting Weather Ruler at one of our Beaver Dam Riding School reunions at Upmier’s. He was one heck of a nice thoroughbred. Those who are used to European TBs can’t appreciate just how difficult it is to find a good riding TB horse here – particularly in Iowa. Weather Ruler had a leg at each corner, good bone, balanced conformation, fabulous rear engine and a decent temperament. I have one very mediocre photo of him and that’s all unfortunately.
I just have to add this little bit from Dr. Deb’s November 2009 Equus article. “The expected useful life span of racehorses, especially stayers, has declined greatly in recent years. In the last quarter of the 19th century it was not unusual to find stayers who were still winning not only races but championships past the age of 12. Today according to Jockey Club statistics, the average number of lifetime starts for Thoroughbreds is between 6 and 10 races. Obviously, durability is not an important factor in racehorse selection.”

It is reassuring to have your thoughts and ideas validated by respected experts.