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In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle are often measured to the top of the hips. The term (pronounced / ˈ w ɪ ð. ər z /) derives from Old English wither ("against'), because the withers are the part of a draft animal that pushes against a load. [1] [2]
The path this horse takes through the air is an arc. Bascule / ˈ b æ s k juː l / is the natural round arc a horse's body takes as it goes over a jump. The horse should rise up through its back, stretching its neck forward and down, when it reaches the peak of his jump. Ideally, the withers are the highest point over the fence.
The horse's thorax is also deeper from the breastbone to the spine. This gives the horse a greater lung capacity, and thus greater endurance. [4] Conformation. A horse's chest is measured from the bottom end of the neck to the tops of the front legs. Ribs play an important role in the shape of the chest, whether they are narrow or wide.
The term may also refer to the horse's center of gravity. For the best performance by the horse, as well as for better balance of the rider, the rider must be positioned over the center of balance of the horse. The location of the horse's center of balance depends on a combination of speed and degree of collection.
Thus, a horse that measures 60 inches is 15 hands high (15 × 4 = 60) and a horse halfway between 15 and 16 hands is 15.2 hands, or 62 inches tall (15 × 4 + 2 = 62) [5] [7] Because the subdivision of a hand is a base 4 system, a horse 64 inches high is 16.0 hands high, not 15.4. [2]
On horses, the mane is the hair that grows from the top of the neck of a horse or other equine, reaching from the poll to the withers, and includes the forelock or foretop. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] : 247 [ 3 ] : 311 It is thicker and coarser than the rest of the horse's coat, and naturally grows to roughly cover the neck.
The breed standard calls for a correct horse; heavy, with the legs about half the horse's height, and a rectangular frame, with the body from point-of-shoulder to point-of-buttock about 10% greater than the height of the horse at the withers. The topline is level, muscular neck set on fairly high, and the loins and haunches are broad and powerful.
The history of warmblood horse breeding - that is, a horse that was neither draft horse nor Arabian nor Thoroughbred - in Mecklenburg is similar to that in the rest of Germany. Mecklenburgers prior to World War II were all-purpose utility horses. Individual sires, families or breeders might specialize, but the most economically efficient horse ...