The Curly-coated Retriever (not always hyphenated, and often called the Curly for short) is a breed of dog originally bred in England for upland bird and waterfowl hunting . It is the tallest of the retrievers and is easily distinguishable by the mass of tight curls covering its body. Curly Coated and Wavy Coated (now known as the Flat-Coated Retriever ) were the first two recognised retriever breeds, established as early as 1860.
23-519: The Curly-coated Retriever is an active, well-muscled dog bred for upland bird and waterfowl hunting. The Curly-coated Retriever is somewhat different in structure than the more common retrievers. A Curly-coated Retriever will appear slightly leggy but is actually slightly longer than tall. It is balanced and agile with a significant air of endurance, strength, and grace. Curlies are soft-mouthed and regularly handle game with care. Show standards call for dogs to be between 25 and 27 inches (64 and 69 cm) at
46-407: A horse's conformation is usually judged according to its intended use. Thus "form to function" is one of the first set of traits considered in judging conformation. A horse with poor form for a show jumper could have excellent conformation for a cutting horse or draft horse . Every horse has good and bad points of conformation and many horses excel even with conformation faults. The standard of
69-409: A matter of marketability than performance. Among mammals, morphology of the head often plays a role in temperature regulation. Many ungulates have a specialized network of blood vessels called the carotid rete , which keeps the brain cool while the body temperature rises during exercise. Horses lack a carotid rete and instead use their sinuses to cool blood around the brain. These factors suggest that
92-403: Is also important in jumping, as the shoulder must rotate back for the horse to bring its foreleg parallel to the ground, which will then raise the animal's knees upward and get the lower part of the forelegs out of the way. Therefore, the withers have a direct impact on one of the most important points of conformation : the shoulder. In dogs , the height of the withers is often used to determine
115-425: Is the lower end of the head, and includes the nostrils, upper and lower lips, and the front teeth. Straight, upright, or vertical shoulder Laid-back or sloping shoulder The humerus (a.k.a. the arm bone) The arm bone is from the point of shoulder to the elbow, it is covered in heavy muscle and serves as a leverage point for the muscle of the front leg attached near the elbow. "Ideal" Conformation of
138-408: The withers , and for females to be between 23 and 25 inches (58 and 64 cm), however a wide range of sizes occurs, particularly in those dogs bred for the field, which generally run smaller. The country of origin (United Kingdom) breed standard calls for a taller dog and bitch, with only 27 inches (69 cm) for males and 25 inches (64 cm) for females listed. Weight should be in proportion to
161-605: The Ideal Humerus (all measurements are while the horse is standing squarely) Faults "Too long humerus" note "standing under" simply means that the horses legs are too far under his body and his chest sticks out. "Short humerus" note: that is the shoulder is too angled (less than 45 degrees) then the horse's front legs will be stilted and stiff. The Elbow Conformation Possible faults "Turned-in/tied-in elbow" "Out-turned elbow" Conformation Long forearm Short forearm The conformation of
184-551: The back [5] Archived July 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine [6] Archived November 21, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Roached back [8] Long or weak loins/weak coupling [9] Short coupling Rough coupling/widow's peak The croup is from the lumbosacral joint to the tail. The "hip" refers to the line running from the ilium (point of the hip) to the ischium (point of the buttock)of
207-436: The conformation of a horse's head influences its ability to regulate temperature. The front of a horse's face when viewed from the side will usually be straight from the forehead to the nostrils. A Roman nose is a facial profile that is convex, and is often associated with draft horses . A dished face is a concave profile with a dip in the face between the eyes and nostrils, usually associated with Arabians. The muzzle
230-459: The dog's jump height in various dog sports . It is also often a determining factor in whether the dog conforms to the show-quality standards for its breed . Equine conformation Equine conformation evaluates a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Undesirable conformation can limit the ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several faults with universal disadvantages,
253-636: The height of the dog. The breed sports a coat of tight, crisp curls. The tight curled coat of the Curly-coated Retriever repels water, burrs, and prevents damage that other sporting dogs with softer, thinner coats cannot escape. The only acceptable colours for the Curly-coated Retriever are solid black and solid liver . Occasional white hairs are permissible, but large white patches are a serious fault. Eyes should be either black or brown in black dogs, and brown or amber in liver dogs. Yellow eyes are unusual. The nose should be fully pigmented, and
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#1732797934562276-404: The horse are considered in evaluating conformation. Generally, a horse should have well-defined withers, as they are considered an important attachment point for the muscles of the torso. Withers of medium height are preferred, as high withers make it difficult to fit a saddle and are often associated with a narrow chest, and low withers (known as "mutton withers") do not provide a ridge to help keep
299-443: The horse's chest plays a significant role in his level of endurance and stamina. A horse that will do work requiring speed, power, or endurance needs as much room as possible for maximum lung expansion. The horse's ribs form the outer surface of the chest and define the appearance of the horse's midsection, or barrel, the area between the front legs and hindquarters. The thorax of the horse is flatter from side to side, as compared to
322-424: The human thorax, which is flatter from back to front. The horse's thorax is also deeper from the breastbone to the spine. This gives the horse a greater lung capacity, and thus greater endurance. Conformation Chest shape When viewing the chest from the front, the chest should be wider at the bottom than at the top. The shoulder blades should be much closer together at their tops, toward their withers, than at
345-408: The ideal head varies dramatically from breed to breed based on a mixture of the role the horse is bred for and what breeders, owners and enthusiasts find appealing. Breed standards frequently cite large eyes, a broad forehead and a dry head-to-neck connection as important to correctness about the head. Traditionally, the length of head as measured from poll to upper lip should be two-thirds the length of
368-555: The neck topline (measured from poll to withers). Presumably, the construction of the horse's head influences its breathing, though there are few studies to support this. Historically, a width of 4 fingers or 7.2 cm was associated with an unrestricted airflow and greater endurance. However, a study in 2000 which compared the intermandibular width-to-size ratio of Thoroughbreds with their racing success showed this to be untrue. The relationship between head conformation and performance are not well understood, and an appealing head may be more
391-416: The part of a draft animal that pushes against a load . The withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the 3rd through 11th thoracic vertebrae , which are unusually long in this area. Most horses have 18 thoracic vertebrae. The processes at the withers can be more than 30 centimetres (12 in) long. Since they do not move relative to the ground as the horse's head does,
414-481: The pelvis. After the point that is made by the sacrum and lumbar vertebrae, the line following is referred to as the croup. While the two are linked in terms of length and musculature, the angle of the hip and croup do not necessarily correlate. But it is desirable for a horse to have a square to slightly pear shaped rump. A horse can have a relatively flat croup and a well-angled hip. Racehorses do well with hip angles of 20–30 degrees, trotting horses with 35 degrees. Once
437-473: The points of shoulders where the front legs attach. Well-sprung ribs Slab-sided ribs Barrel chest and deep chest Chest faults Narrow chest Too-wide chest [All information is derived from "The horse Conformation Handbook" written by Heather Smith Thomas] Narrow breast Pigeon-breasted Mutton withers Hollow behind withers High withers [2] Long back [3] Short back [4] Saddle-, hollow-, low-, sway-backed/ down in
460-410: The ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped . In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle are often measured to the top of the hips. The term (pronounced / ˈ w ɪ ð . ər z / ) derives from Old English wither ("against'), because the withers are
483-401: The saddle in place. More importantly, the dorsal spinal processes provide an attachment for the muscles that support the shoulder and neck. Horses do not have a clavicle , so the shoulder can freely rotate backwards. If the vertebrae of the withers are long front-to-back, the shoulder is freer to move backwards. This allows for an increase of stride length. thus increasing the horse's speed. It
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#1732797934562506-488: The same colour as the coat as the dog. The Curly-coated Retriever was originally developed as a gamekeepers gun dog and their temperament and conformation reflect this purpose. Curly-coated Retrievers are still used in many countries as bird hunting companions, including in both upland and waterfowl hunting. A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 12.2 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds . Withers Withers are
529-442: The withers are used as the measuring point for the height of a horse. Horses are sometimes measured in hands – one hand is 4 inches (10.2 cm). Horse heights are extremely variable, from small pony breeds to large draft breeds. The height at the withers of an average thoroughbred is 163 centimetres (16.0 hands; 5 ft 4 in), and ponies are up to 147 centimetres (14.2 hands; 4 ft 10 in). The withers of
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