A Photographic Guide to Conformation: New Edition

by Robert Oliver, Bob Langrish

A best-seller, this in-depth study of conformation examines each part of the horse in photographs and text, showing both good and bad points and illustrating differences of breed and type.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Oliver is a specialist in horse showing.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, very thorough, with lots of visual examples of good and bad conformation. All of them have descriptive and well-thought-out captions. The reader should bear in mind that while a lot of the criteria the author judges the photographed horses on are universally applicable, his subjective aesthetic judgements are written from the perspective of someone looking for a mount that will succeed in UK Hunter classes (ex: "white markings do make horses attractive, but excessive white, to the point of making the wearer appear flashy or ugly, is frowned upon" - 'flashiness' as a bad thing is a very discipline-specific aesthetic), and the book does make special note of what constitutes a good hunter throughout its discussion of functional anatomy as well.

[Caela Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Robert Oliver doesn't know about quality horses isn't worth knowing. He's been at the top of his game for longer than I care to remember, and although this book is geared mostly towards cobs and riding horses the fundamentals of conformation remain the same across the board. This book is a little gem for anyone interested in how their horse is built.