Horse & Rider USA – September 2019

Fall 2019 / 59

Ride&Train

CONFORMATION CLINIC

APHA Geldings

Evaluate and place these APHA

geldings. Then see how your choices
compare to our expert judge’s.

­THIS IS A CLASS OF YOUNG, solid-col-
ored Paint geldings with potential per-
formance careers ahead of them. When
judging, I stick to the basics laid out in
a breed’s rulebook. I look for balance
first, then structure, then breed and sex
characteristics, and finally, muscling. A
well-balanced horse will outperform a
poorly balanced horse, and I use form-
to-function criteria, keeping their po-
tential to perform at the forefront when
placing them.
I assess their structure for correct-
ness, looking at both front and hind
legs. Performance horses won’t last long
with significant flaws in their legs—they
need good, flat knees, well-set hocks,
and strong, well-sloped pasterns to stay
sound over a performance career. When
judging from photos, I can’t walk around
them, so I must place them based on the
one view I can see from their left sides.
As representatives of a stock horse
breed, they should show quality in their
heads and adequate substance in their
bodies. I like to see a deep heartgirth
and well-defined, though not overly
done, muscling in a stock breed perfor-
mance horse. →

SANDY CURL, Vero Beach, Florida, manages

Windswept Farm, where she instructs youth

and amateur all-around riders. A carded

judge for more than 30 years, Curl presides

over about 40 horse shows per year. She

holds judge’s cards with the NSBA, AQHA,

APHA, ApHC, PHBA, PtHA, IBHA, ABRA,

AMHA, AMHR, and POAC. Her busy judging

schedule has taken her out of the country to

judge in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the

Netherlands, Germany, and Canada.

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