Body shape & breed type

I have a system I use for understanding breeds that are unfamiliar to me. I start by collecting conformation photos of typical examples. What I am looking for are images where the body is straight (not angled away or taken from above or below), the lower legs are visible (not covered by grass or the horse’s tail), and the head is facing forward. The goal is a complete, undistorted profile.

Making Silhouettes

Once I have several profiles, I print the images out on ordinary copy paper. If you have access to photo editing software, you can reduce the image’s opacity to save toner.

Step 1: Outline the horse using a fine-tipped black pen. You only need to include the nearest set of legs. Try to get an accurate line for the neck, but do not include the mane. Leave enough of the tailbone to indicate where and how the tail attaches to the body, but otherwise omit the tail. If there is feathering on the legs, do not try to guess the shape of the legs and hooves under the hair; include the feathers in the outline.

Step 2: Using a Sharpie or other thick black marker, color in your outlined shape. When you are done, you should have several silhouettes of the breed you want to know more about. The image at the top of this post shows a pair of finished silhouettes: one Saddlebred (front) and one Kladruber (behind).

What makes silhouettes useful

By outlining the profile of the horse’s body—and just the body—and coloring it black, you are removing distractions like tack, turnout, and color. All that is visible is the shape of the body. Most importantly, the proportions of the body parts to one another, and the angles at which they connect, are easy to see. Breed type is primarily determined by these variations.

Silhouettes like the Brazilian Campolina below can help train your eye to recognize what makes a particular breed distinctive.

Along with a distinctive head, Campolinas have significant bone while also looking tall and lanky.

It is also true that without the distraction of superficial things like turnout or color, similarities (and differences) between breeds become more obvious. 

Although also Spanish in origin, the Criollo has a very different silhouette than the Campolina.

Returning to the pair of breeds at the top of this post, here is a Kladruber (left) and a Saddlebred (right). The two breeds are not closely related, but they are similar in some respects. Both have high-set necks, an upright carriage, and long, tubular bodies. 

When comparing silhouettes, it is sometimes helpful to add a guidelines for anatomical landmarks.
Here a baseline insures the horses are standing level, and the withers and top of the croup are marked. 

The Saddlebred shares these similarities with another carriage breed. Here, the same Saddlebred silhouette is paired with one of a Friesian. Once again, both breeds have high-set necks and long, tubular bodies. You can also see the similarity between the Friesian and the Kladruber above. 

Both the Friesian and the Kladruber were originally ceremonial carriage horses. When the Czech Republic revived the black strain of Kladrubers, one of the stallions used was a Friesian named Romke. Although the two breeds were developed separately, their body shape comes from the breeding goal, which was the creation of a stylish driving horse. 

In that respect, their purpose is not that different from modern American “hitch” horses. That is why so many draft horses in the United States have a similar upright, tubular body shape. Their form comes from the purpose for which they are most often bred. 

By American standards, this Percheron is more moderate in type. Some are even more "hitchy" than this. Photo courtesy of Kim Smith. 

Saddlebreds have never been primarily bred for harness, but breeders have prioritized a similar upright frame and style of movement. That has given them an outline that is a little different from the other American saddle breeds that are more closely related to them. Here is the Saddlebred compared to the silhouette I most often use in publications to represent American saddle-type horses, which include Morgans, Walking Horses, Foxtrotters, and Mountain Pleasure Horses. 

Saddlebreds are more closely related to these breeds than to either the Kladruber or the Friesian. They share bloodlines and similar show and turnout traditions. However, their body shape is slightly different. That is why Breyer’s ‘Hamilton’ mold is not necessarily suited to other breeds that can be trained to rack. The body shape of that mold fits the typical silhouette of a Saddlebred, which looks different from the other saddle breeds. 

Comparisons like this can help model horse hobbyists develop their eye for breed type. That leads to better breed assignments. I also believe using body shapes like this can give a more rational breed list. I am going to post one more example of what body shape can tell us about breed relationships. After that, I will explain how body type was used to create the breed list.