On the other hand of things we have the horse with a ewe neck. You wouldn’t want to pass this trait on either. These horses just look uncomfortable and I would also think that they are probably hard to control as they probably don’t take the bit very well. These horses have thin and upwardly shaped necks. To look at one I don’t think that it would be very easy to ride this type of horse either as the horse needs a balanced neck to have a balanced stride. Just look at how uncomfortable this horse looks.
11 Comments
May 4, 2007 at 3:14 pm
The sad thing is that a lot of Morgan breeders would probably *love* that neck.
June 18, 2007 at 6:32 pm
A ewe neck isn’t generally a conformation problem, it’s a training problem. It isn’t genetic and can be ‘cured’ by correct and sympathetic training.
August 4, 2007 at 4:15 am
I agree with Sophie. Much of the body structure in a horse like in the picture above is trained into the horses body by a particular style of riding. the style is too confining and rigid. The horses body lacks a look of freedom in it .
Start Riding that horse bareback and give it some of it’s head back and see just how filled out the horses body will look after about 6 months good training that way .
John Silveira
Http://Farrieritis.Care4Horses.com
February 20, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I think that it’s a genetic fault, not the training. I’m in 4-H and in all of our books it has: conformation faults, Ewe neck. I think that’s what it is.
April 1, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I don’t know if it is a genetic fault or what not, but it is not caused by training. With training and adding more muscle to the neck’s topline, the ewe neck appearance can be slightly diminished. It is a ewe neck because of the way the neck is attached into the chest and shoulder. If this horses shoulder was more laid back and the neck placed higher on the shoulder, than it would have never had the problem in the first place.
April 1, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I love how much controversy this blog has had. It’s great! I think it’s safe to say that it is a genetic fault because the horse was not born proportionately correct. A conformation fault such as this has a root cause in the physical make-up of the horse and the body only builds itself according to its genetic make-up.
December 15, 2008 at 5:19 pm
The problem with people talking about conformation is; What is considered good conformation to one person or breed is not good toe another horse breed or person. Furthermore if you look at most throughbreeds and horses breed to be athletic they are not pretty nor do they have pretty western or english conformation. This is silly.
December 20, 2008 at 8:32 am
ewe necks can be improved by training but never fully disappear.
April 15, 2009 at 11:59 pm
A “ewe” neck has long been considered a fault by Western horse breeders, but in fact is innate in some breeds. An example is the ancient breed from Turkmanistan, the “Akhal-Teke.” It is called a “swan” neck by Teke breeders and is no way considered a fault.
Please browse the slideshow of my cremello Teke stallion “Kinor,” for photos:
http://pets.webshots.com/slideshow/317620552nTWbwv
Obviously it does NOT affect his athletic ability at all, as you can see from some of the photos where he is nicely broken at the poll and moving well underneath himself (another Teke trait). If you visit my other Webshots site under Reckless Heart Ranch, you can see more albums of Tekes in motion — ALL have the “ewe” or “swan” neck and they move just great — super athletes, actually.
As for why that horse looks uncomfortable, I doubt it has anything to do with his neck. I suspect the person on the other end of that lead shank has more to do with it than the horse’s neck.
Just food for thought, as I was educated to believe this as well, but years of experience and lots of exposure to breeds like the Akhal Teke have made me realize that not all the “rules” of Western conformation are really true.
October 2, 2009 at 6:41 am
AS always with conformation you have to talk specifically about a breed and the activity you wish this horse to under take. For most beeds and for horses competitng in the olympic disiplines this would be considered a conforation fault but as Katrina O’Neal pointed out for her horses and for the activities they are undertaking these are desirable traits. A ewe-neck in a horse can be improved by correct work just as it can be worsened in a horse who is in bad condition or who has been incorectly worked.
October 31, 2009 at 3:50 am
well in fact there are two types of “ewe” necks if you would like to look at it that way, some horses can be trainned into an ewe neck due to the lack of good trainning, and there are other horses that are genetically born like that, thus with some good trainning the horse can live a normal life and still be ridden. i’ve seen a couple of dressage horses with an ewe neck, or pacing horses with this common fault, it looks weird, but its not the end of the world either. such genetic faults should be avoided in a breedeng program, it doesnt affect the animals working ability, its all in the treinning.
Now look at mexican charro horses, they look normal, yet lack alot of muscular mass in the neck, and once being ridden, since they are always ridden in such a harsh way and lack of good trainning produces ewe necked horses. a fault that can only been seen once the horse is being ridden.
this horses lack of muscular mass in the neck, making them look thin, they swing their heads up, lack of aceptance of the bit, no balance and so on….