 A halter class is defined as a class where a horse is judged based upon its confirmation. The purpose of this class is to preserve breed type by selecting well-mannered individuals in an order of their resemblance to the breed ideal. Those that are the most positive combination of balance, structural correctness, quality in terms of breed and sex characteristics, and adequate muscling are placed first. In this video, we will give you a good and bad example of each trait so that you can learn what to look for when judging halter. It is important to understand the parts of a horse when you begin judging halter. This picture shows you the parts of a horse. Balance is the most important characteristic in equine selection. It is determined by the skeletal framework of the animal being judged. When judging, it is important to attempt to visualize and evaluate the skeleton of a horse underneath its muscle. The ideal horse should be divisible into thirds, is matching in the shoulder and hip angles, is equal in depth of heart in relation to length of leg, and has a short strong top line in relation to a longer underline. When looking at the two horses presented here, horse number one is more proportional through his thirds and blends more smoothly from his shoulder, barrel, to hip. He is shorter and stronger in his top line and has more gradual turn in his croup. This makes a more ideal trapezoidal shape from his angle of his shoulder to hip and length of his back in underline. Horse number two has a more upright shoulder. More concerningly, he is longer in his middle third, meaning that he is a longer back than his shoulder and hip. Additionally, his back is weaker with more daylight visible if we draw a line from his weather to hip. Horse number one is more balanced than horse number two. Structural correctness of the feet and legs is very important in judging. It is important to view the structure of the horse from the profile, front, and rear views. When viewing from the front or rear, you should be able to drop an imaginary line from the point of shoulder or point of hip to the ground, evenly bisecting the leg. Ideally you want horses to stand straight and square on a sturdy column of bone. Horses should have an ideal slope to the past turn that mirrors the slope to the shoulder. Additionally, joints should be flat, clean, and free of swelling or blemishes. When tracking, you can evaluate how straight and sound a horse travels at the walk or trot. Lameness is scored on a zero to five scale. When a horse scores a three-year grader on this scale, lameness is at least visible at the trot under all circumstances. This warrants placing last in the class. Focusing on structural correctness, looking at horse number one, his front legs from the fetlock joint is deviated to the inside. This is called pigeon toad, deviation inward of a straight line. This could possibly interfere with tracking, compared to horse two, who has straight knee joints, fetlock joints, and hoops, allowing for a straight line down the front legs. Horse two is more structurally correct than horse one when viewed from the front. Between these two horses, focusing on horse number one, rear legs, at the point of the hawk, his legs begin to turn in from the hips, causing the past turn joint to turn out slightly. Compared to horse two, who has straight hawks and square past turn and hoops, causing his rear legs to both point straight forward towards the horse's head. Horse two is more structurally correct than horse one when viewed from the rear. Bloody breed and sex character are terms that describe the eye appeal of a horse with specific attention to the head and neck. Horses should have large bright eyes that are wide set and small pricked ears. They should also be shorter from eye to muzzle with the throat latches on a high tying neck. When assessing breed character, ask yourself if the horse in question has the type of character of the class being judged. For example, we expect a quarter horse to have a square hip with greater muscling than an Arabian, which would showcase a flatter croup and a high arching neck. Lastly, assessing the sex character of the horse, mares and fillies should be feminine in appearance. For example, with a more petite muzzle, stallions and colts should be masculine. Example of this would be a more powerful and wide set jaw. Stalkings often do not have characteristics that are clearly defined as the other sexes because they are not breeding stock. Mare number one is higher quality and more feminine in appearance. She has a more petite muzzle and a cleaner, trimmer throat latch and attractive neck. Overall, she is the more complete and attractive mare. Mare two does not display the quality and femininity of one. She is larger in her ears and although slightly shorter from eye to muzzle, she is larger in coarser about her muzzle. Additionally, she is thicker through her throat latch. Mare one would be placed higher than mare two in terms of quality and sex character. Although these are both feminine and attractive mares, mare number one has greater breed character for stock type horse. This is a breed character ideal for breeds such as quarter horses, paint horses, and apollousas. Horse one has breed character such as a sloping shoulder, square hip, and appropriate muscling. Horse two, the gray, would be best suited for a hunter in hand class. Although muscling is the lowest on the hierarchy of judging criteria for a halter class, it is important to evaluate if horses have adequate muscling for the breed. You can evaluate muscling on the profile, front, and rear views. Horse number one is more even in his muscling and blends smoothly throughout. This is especially evident over his shoulder. Horse number two is considered adequate, but he is lighter in his muscling compared to horse one. These horses are both performance horses, so I would expect them to be lighter muscled from a true halter horse fit for showing. However, we still judge them the same, remembering to evaluate horses on the best overall combination of characteristics. When looking at the front view, horse one has a greater muscling in the pectoral region than horse two. The difference in muscling between these two horses is more evident when viewing from the rear. Horse number one is more expressive in his gaskins and is fuller and more rounded throughout the hind quarters. Remember we are evaluating horses on their confirmation and not on their performance potential. For example, when judging quarter horses, we are comparing them to the standard set forth by the American Quarter Horse Association. We want to find the positives in each horse and reward the horses with the best combination of positive traits. Don't forget the judging criteria of balance, structural correctness, quality breed and sex character and muscling. Thank you for watching. Be sure to check out our other livestock and horse judging videos at the Alabama Cooperative Extension YouTube channel.