Everything you said, Heidi, has been my experience
except that I think relatively inexperienced riders will notice these traits
better when the horse is conditioned. My older horse, Suni, has a power
walk to die for. But when I first got him, he either bucked or stumbled
every step as he learned to balance a rider. Also, once on the trail, he
bucked the saddle (with me in it!) up on his neck. In a couple of years,
his chest and shoulders filled out some. Once at a vet check, I hopped off
and loosened the girth. When I left the check, I just hopped on without
tightening the girth. A few minutes later, going down a steep hill, I had
this odd feeling that you get when you have a flat tire in the car. I
leaned down and felt the girth. It was hanging down about six
inches. Point is, Sun's conformation had changed and the saddle didn't
move going down that hill, just felt somehow a little odd.
>How does conformation influence the way they go downhill. Can you
give an example? What makes a good "downhill" horse. Thanks!
They have to be well-balanced, with good backs that lend themselves to
natural self-carriage and natural rounding with a rider on-board, as well as
having strong loins and properly angulated hips to be able to drive the rear
end underneath themselves. Normal hind limb angulation is also a
must--this is a tough thing for a posty-legged horse to do. I also
suspect that horses with proper conformation of the front part of the back and
the shoulders (the ones with good withers that tie well back into the
back and with shoulders that lay back properly and are properly
set on so that the saddle does not work forward and impinge) have a big
advantage here, too. The same conformation that makes a horse agile and
catty and generally athletic is the key here--it is these same traits that
make saddle fit a piece of cake as well, btw....
