Principles of Conformation Analysis: 3 Volume Set

by Deb Bennett

Equus Reference Guide. Vol one is horse structure and movement, how body parts work and how to maximise a horse's performance. Vol 2 focuses on a horse's back, neck, and forelimbs with more than 100 photos , highly informative book on horse confirmation. Vol 3 discusses rear and hindquarters.

Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Dr. Deb Bennett is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas, and until 1992 was on the staff of the Smithsonian Institution. Her degree is in Vertebrate Paleontology, which emphasizes the anatomy and biomechanics of fossil animals. Dr. Bennett is known as an authority on the classification, evolution, anatomy, and biomechanics of fossil and living horses. Her research interests also include the history of domestication and of individual horse breeds. She teaches unique equine anatomy short-courses and anatomy-based horsemanship clinics designed primarily for owners, trainers, therapists, and breeders.

Internationally known for her work in horse conformation, "Dr. Deb" has made a career out of conveying a kind of "X-ray vision" for bone structure to breeders and buyers. Her background in biomechanics allows her to clearly explain how horse conformation relates to performance ability. Dr. Deb's clinics often involve the use of real bones and interesting biomechanical models.



Unusual in another regard, Dr. Deb doesn't confine her work to the chalkboard, but rides and works with horses herself, having shown in almost every division of competition. In this area, Dr. Deb is a universalist, constantly reminding students that the cut of a person's hat matters not one whit to a horse. Riding clubs and organizations across the continent and around the world have enjoyed and benefited from her clinics: Arabians, sporthorses, endurance, Morgans, Pasos, Saddlebreds, Warmbloods, Quarter Horses - you name it - for she is remarkably conversant with the needs and problems of many breeds. Practical problem-solving is always a focus, whether it's stabilizing a paso llano, picking up a canter lead, or achieving flying changes, extended trot, or lateral work. Dr. Deb's goals for your horse are the same as for her own: to be athletically competent, sound, happy, confident, long-lived and free-moving.

For the past 20 years, Dr. Deb has been a consulting editor and frequent contributor to Equus Magazine, and also regularly writes for the Journal of Equine Dentistry and The Eclectic Horseman. Over a long career, she has also been invited to write for almost every other equestrian publication in North America. Dr. Bennett backs this up with a long list of technical publications. You can directly link to this site by clicking here: http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledg...

She is a major contributor to the "Elsevier Encyclopedia of Animal Science" and the Smithsonian Institution's "Seeds of Change" volume. She is the author of two major works -- "Conquerors: A History of Horsemanship in the Western Hemisphere," and "The Birdie Book: An Internal Geography of Horse and Rider." Dr. Deb founded the Equine Studies Institute in 1992. She resides in California but is frequently "on the road" teaching in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the U.S.