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23-430: The Griffon Nivernais is a medium-sized dog, 55 to 60 cm (21.7-23.6 ins) at the withers , with a distinctive rough (shaggy) coat, long drop ears, and a long tail carried up and in a slight curve. The body is longer than most French hounds, and is constructed more for endurance than for speed. As a reconstructed breed, the breed standard goes into much more detail with regards to body proportions, structure, and coat than

46-409: 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

69-411: 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 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,

92-660: A small white spot on the chest. The Griffon Nivernais was a breed kept by French noblemen which disappeared after the French Revolution. The breed was reconstructed beginning in 1925, by some hunters in Morvan , modeling on the ancient types that came to Europe with the Crusaders and the type called "Canes Segusii" or the Celtic Hound by early dog writers. The original dogs were used to hunt wolves and wild boar in

115-415: 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 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

138-447: Is described in the breed standard as being courageous, and it is also described as obstinate and independent. Temperament of individual dogs may vary. Withers Withers are 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

161-425: 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

184-446: Is usual for a working dog. Colour of the coat is grizzled in general appearance, gris clair to gris sanglier, light grey to boar grey. The coat is agouti, with each hair darker at the base than the tip. White hairs are scattered through the coat. Colours are fawn very slightly overlaid with black (poil de lièvre, hare coat), sable overlaid with black (gris loup, wolf grey), and fawn overlaid with blue (gris bleu, grey blue). There may be

207-605: 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

230-512: The ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several faults with universal disadvantages, 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

253-551: 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

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276-436: 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

299-548: The fourteenth century, and were much larger than the modern-day breed. The reconstruction of the breed was done based on the Grand Griffon Vendéen . Other breeds used were the Otterhound and Foxhounds . The breed was small in number for many years, but is now experiencing a revival. No unusual health problems or claims of extraordinary health have been documented for this breed. The breed's ideal temperament

322-443: 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

345-424: 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

368-408: 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

391-479: The most important points of conformation : the shoulder. In dogs , the height of the withers is often used to determine 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

414-555: 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

437-481: 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

460-473: 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

483-403: The shoulder is freer to move backwards. This allows for an increase of stride length. thus increasing the horse's speed. It 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

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506-428: The top of the hips. The term (pronounced / ˈ w ɪ ð . ər z / ) derives from Old English wither ("against'), because the withers are 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

529-432: 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, 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

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