The Modern Sport Horse

Sport horses are type of horses and not categorized under one of the animal’s breed.  The term was coined to usually apply to horses that are bred to participate basically for Olympic equestrian sporting events.  They are bred to meet the specific quality that is required for such sports by getting the right conformation, temperament and movement.  Although the term has different and various definition from different countries, in general it applies to all horses that are physically built for activities such as dressage, eventing, show jumping and even on hunt seat disciplines.

The World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) is the one who oversees the breeding of the sport horses serving as well as connection among all other horse breeding organizations and is recognized worldwide.  Below are the characteristics that are seen common to the quality we are looking for with sport horses.

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Conformation is one of the characteristics that the sport horses share with.  What a good sport horse conformation usually is described as a breed with sloping shoulder, a “turned-over” neck, uphill build, good musculature and correct leg angles.  All these qualities combined is what makes a good sport horse almost perfect with his movement and jumping abilities.

A sport horse’s movement is what makes him qualified as well with the sports.  Although it is noted that movements among horses are various the common sport horse is bred for strides and movements that are long and athletic that uses the whole body.   Good suspension must be brought about by his trot and canter movements and he has a natural way to reach under his body and hind legs.  This way, he is easier to train during engaging, collecting and extending.  All of these are necessary qualities applied in sport horse disciplines.

Another thing is the sport horse’s jumping ability.  During jumping disciplines, he is trained to possess good jumping form which should also be with tight lower legs and good bascule. Jumping abilities needs ample time of training in order to get the perfect jumping, mid-air and landing positioning of your horse.

Last thing is to examine his temperament.  Not all horses with perfect bodily structure are deemed qualified to belong under the sport types.  Because they are to deal with required training, horses must have a good temperament so that they can easily be controlled by their riders and trainers.