>I'd agree that strength of loin and overall construction of the back are
also immensely important.....No horse is perfect, and often strengths in one area can overcome weaknesses in another, such as a strong loin and good coupling making up for a back that is longer than ideal. All horses have to be evaluated by looking at
the whole horse, not just a collection of parts. Nonetheless, I've gotten
to the point that backs, loins, and couplings are the first place I look
when evaluating a horse (along with overall balance), even before looking at
legs. I've found that a poorly balanced horse or one with an inadequate
back/loin/coupling is more apt to eventually go lame than is one with an
outstanding body and back but a few minor leg faults. (Not advocating poor
legs, either--just making an observation.)
Heidi<
I've been a bit confused by the topic of coupling myself. I've only had 3 horses in my short time as a horse owner (a mere 5 yrs), all Arab or Arab-X mares, & have been through 3 different back scenarios. I think I can see where each of their strengths & weaknesses are now but certainly not well enough to explain it. However, I think I understood it well enough to choose a strong backed horse this time. My riding instructor has tried to explain but it gets pretty tchnical with the names of the vertebraes & all. Well, I just found this website that explains it pretty well... see if this helps.
http://www.equinestudies.org/conformation.htm
Good luck!
Bany in chilly (yeah right!) So Fla.