Alberta Horse Evaluation System

• Front limbs
• Hind limbs
• Head, neck, body and balance
• Athletic movement, and
• Type.

• Scores of 18, 19 or 20 are considered excellent and reflect correctness or excellence. These scores tell the breeder he is approaching the ideal.
• Scores of 15, 16 or 17 are considered good and reflect that little is wrong but there is considerable room for improvement.
• Scores of 12, 13 or 14 are considered fair and reflect the faults that at present do not greatly affect usefulness but will greatly reduce value.
• Scores of 9, 10 or 11 are considered poor and reflect serious faults that affect the horse's usefulness, soundness and marketability.

Front Limbs (20 points)

Evaluators appraise the front feet, front legs, knees and shoulder from the front and side at the walk, trot and standing.

• Horses score 18, 19 or 20 for moving and standing particularly straight, for having exceptional bone, short cannon bones, long forearm, long sloping shoulder, etc.
• Horses score 15, 16 or 17 for minor conformation faults which do not normally lead to unsoundness.
• Horses would score 12, 13 or 14 where faults exist that may not greatly affect soundness but may limit performance.
• Horses would score 9, 10 or 11 for major conformation faults which affect soundness and performance (evaluator's opinion).

Minor Faults		Major Faults
toe in or out		contracted heels
winging or paddling		excessively upright pastern
upright pastern		excessively fine bone
straight shoulder		calf knees
base narrow		offset knees
base wide		excessively tied-in behind
small feet		base narrow, toe out
slightly calf kneed		excessively small feet
slightly offset knees		club foot

Evaluators appraise the hind feet, hind legs, hocks, gaskin and hip from the side and back at the walk, trot and standing.

• Horses may score 18, 19 or 20 for moving or standing particularly straight or for having exceptional bone, muscle or form to function.
• Horses score 15, 16 or 17 for minor conformation faults which would not normally lead to unsoundness or limit performance.
• Horses score 12, 13 or 14 for conformation faults that may not affect soundness but may limit performance.
• Horses score 9, 10 or 11 for major conformation faults that affect soundness and performance (evaluator's opinion).

Minor Faults		Major Faults
slightly coon-footed		coon-footed
camped behind		sickle-hocked
cow hocks		post-legged
bandy-legged		cow hocks
slightly sickle-hocked
slightly post-legged
lack of muscle
toe out or in
rope walking
small feet

Evaluators appraise head, neck, body and balance during movement and while standing. Balance is relative to body proportions.

• Horses score 18, 19 or 20 for exceptional characteristics and balance.
• Horses score 15, 16 or 17 for minor conformation faults or unsightliness (e.g. long head, roman nose, pig eyes, ewe neck, thick throatlatch, cresty, thick neck, short neck, improper angulation, long back, shallow girth, goose rump, high tail-set).
• Horses score 12, 13 or 14 when conformation faults become more exaggerated thus limiting performance.
• Horses score 9, 10 or 11 if, in the opinion of the evaluators, the horse has a combination of faults that would make the horse potentially unusable, being excessively out of proportion, downhill or over-reaching.

Evaluators will appraise athletic movement at the trot. Athletic movement will be assessed using four components; length of stride, rhythm, lightness, and impulsion. Length of stride is the distance the horse moves while one foot (any foot) is off the ground. Rhythm refers to how well the movement of each foot is in balance and in time with each other foot. Lightness is a coordination of stride and rhythm so that movement appears to take minimum effort. Impulsion is the use of the hind quarters to provide momentum to the movement.

• Horses scoring 18, 19, 20 would be noted as having a long stride with excellent rhythm, lightness, and impulsion.
• Horses scoring 15, 16, 17 maybe slightly deficient in one or two categories but overall movement is good.
• Horses scoring 12, 13, 14 would have at least one undesirable movement trait or be somewhat deficient in all categories.
• Horses scoring 9, 10, 11 would have an excessively short, choppy stride lacking rhythm, be heavy movers with no impulsion.

Evaluators appraise type on the basis of overall eye appeal characteristics and breed standards while standing.

• Horses score 18, 19 or 20 for refinement, presence, fitness, ideal size and athletic appearance.
• Horses score 15, 16 or 17 for lack of refinement, fitness and type.
• Horses score 12, 13 or 14 for coarseness, a poor eye or poor turnout or for being too large or too small and off type, etc.
• Evaluators may score type at 9, 10 or 11 if, in their opinion, it has no useful athletic function.