The first impression should be that of an event horse “type”, meaning a horse that appears naturally structured to become an all-around athlete.
The horse's conformation must allow for it to stand up to a career that will consist of training, competition and performance at the upper levels of the sport of eventing. Therefore, conformation defects which may indicate early unsoundness will lower the scores.
Blemishes should not count. It is future performance that is being determined.
Anatomically correct limbs and good feet are key. Weaknesses or faults predisposing a horse to unsoundness or difficulty with training should be penalized.
Overweight and/or under nourished or under muscled horses of any age are undesirable.
Gaits should be pure (regular), basically correct and unconstrained. This is more important than a flashy movement. Event horses must show a willingness to move forward and cover the ground. Judges are to look for horses who swing through the back and who show an uphill tendency.
Unsound horses will be dismissed and disqualified. The decision of the Judge stands.
If there are two judges they will judge separately and there will be separate score sheets. The average of the two sets of scores will be the final score. Scores may not be changed following submission to the scorekeeper and the posting of the results.
