SPC - Conformation Discussion Thread

For this month, the SPC is focusing on conformation, both on EV and in real life! 

This is the discussion thread for conformation. If you are looking for the Learning Centre and the Games thread, take a peek here. 

If you're stuck for what to write here, here are a few ideas:

Have you bred for confo in the past? 
Do you know any cool facts about it in real life? 
What's you're best confo - bred horse?
Best confo from a foundie?
Your horse's highest and lowest areas for conformation?
Are you looking for tips for on EV?
Let the discussion begin! 


Last edited on 2018-02-01 at 09:49:34 by 🌙 Io

I bred for conformation when it was a discipline! In ancient times of EV Conformation was just another discipline that focused on ALL stats at once. I used to breed my Arabians, Shetlands, Brumbies and Minis in Conformation. When that was removed we had the more complicated system of qualifiers where Perfect was the best. Sample horse traits from an old screenshot of one of my previously conformation bred brumbies(now western Chincoteagues xD): Link to Image
I paired up my horses to try to maximize my chances of making their traits closer to perfect but also still focused on stats as a priority and color secondarily in the breeds that had it. Those 6P (6 perfect) horses amazing people were able to breed are what came to be our very high confo horses right of the bat in this recode.

I don't personally breed specifically for conformation myself, but it is one of the factors I consider when pairing up horses. One of the reasons I don't breed for conformation is because in my lines I never focused on it heavily before so some of my breeds have very poor conformation as a result when we switched to this system, most notably my Dutch warmbloods(formerly Swedish Warmbloods) and Trakehners(formerly Oldenburgs) that usually average on the lower end of 50 overall despite having many generations under their belts.


Lowest conformation: is an Abysmal 36.38 for poor Mischief Moon, one of my pre-recode Trake stallions. the poor guy has a 12.00 Awful for withers. and another 20.00 for shoulders, with the remaining all in the poor range, Except his head, he's got an Excellent head! 

Highest Conformation: is a current breed topping 85.50 for darling Emerald Sunshower my best Teke Stallion, all excellents and only one good!
Also notable is Bobbi, the current highest conformation-ed Shetland
and Kemeray with his two perfects and 85.29 overall as the highest on this account

I want to see more personal records for people, show me your ponies!

Have you bred for confo in the past? No, never. Haha

Do you know any cool facts about it in real life? The slope of a horse's shoulder will impact its smoothness of gaits.  A more upright should will generally mean less smooth gaits .

What's you're best confo - bred horse? Hehe I have no idea!

Best confo from a foundie? Mine is 62, but I've seen horses with 64!

Have you bred for confo in the past? I started breeding for confo with my current lines.
Do you know any cool facts about it in real life? Not an expert, but I know enough to get frustrated when I see terribly conformed stallions at stud.
What's you're best confo - bred horse? Sagitta Pyxidis 63.93 (from 60.88 and 63.13 parents)
Best confo from a foundie?  Tyrondras 71.88 but he's pre-recode. Post re-code I have Dyzunt ☙ 63.38
Your horse's highest and lowest areas for conformation? It's a pretty consistent spread over my herd which areas are high/low.
Are you looking for tips for on EV? Not really.

@marigold
62 is great for a foundation! Do you go through a lot of horses in order to get such good conformation or was it just luck? I seem to have rather abysmal luck in the EC no matter what I'm searching for which is why I buy most of my foundations from others xD 

@Almare
Congratulations on your awesome kiddo! Sagitta Pyxidis looks quite beautiful with her trails background too xD But her conformation is really all goods, so consistent! Same question though have you gone through a lot of foundies to get that great conformation or are you one lucky duck? In either case best of luck getting more great conformation in your lines!

Have you bred for confo in the past? 
I breed for confo currently with my Akhal-Tekes. While stats are something I care more about, I pair my horses up in a way so that their poor confos are paired up with a good one. From there, I breed two foals and keep the one with the best confo.

What's you're best confo - bred horse?
Its only been recently that I've started breeding my Tekes, so I'm still only on my 1st generation. The best confo that I have bred so far is re. And I'm Godly, who has a conformation of 61.98. It's not amazing, but it is an excellent start for a 2nd generation.

Best confo from a foundie?
When I was just a general rescuer, I used to own a TWH named "Whippin Up Misleads". He is no longer mine but after some digging of an old conformation contest he was entered into, I found his link. His conformation was 69.25. I almost regret selling him, but honestly I don't think I had much of a use for him. 

Your horse's highest and lowest areas for conformation?
I've noticed that a lot of my Tekes have lows in the head and back/withers area, so when I am out hunting in the RC, goods in those areas is what I really like to see.

Are you looking for tips for on EV?
I'm always open for tips, anything that will help bring my horses to the top.

Last edited on 2018-02-03 at 14:06:55 by RemRem

Sabriel - I bought him from another player but yes I do that sometimes haha. But usually only have to go through about 10 til I get the stats and confo I want (I just use coat randomized on them)

I picked her parents up from the rc just after silver was added to GVs and there were a looot of 60+ confo GVs floating around. 

@RemRem
Do you pair for individual conformation stats or just overall conformation high-low? I know I tried to pair individual traits back when it was just the 6 traits, but I'm lazy now and only use overall instead of all 8 pieces. It might be fun to try both though and see which way produces better foals. In any case congratualtions on you Tekes' conformation, along with Shetlands Tekes have one of the lowest average conformation scores overall, so if you're above 60 you're doing great!

@marigold
10 is not a bad number! I'm just glad the last time I had to buy foundations from the store I had 5 disciplines to sort into so I only ened up with 2 extras(one of which I kept anyway!) Coat randomizers are really great though for not having to get the best color from the store. 

@Almare
oh man I can only imagine how many GVs ended up in the RC, I'm glad I'm not a Gypsy breeder so I wasn't tempted to pick up a bunch!