- Comparatively small head with a straight or preferably concave profile, small muzzle, large nostrils, round expressive dark eyes set well apart, small thin and well-shaped ears
- Long arched neck set high, moderately high withers, short straight back, deep chest, comparatively horizontal croup, natural high tail carriage
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| Arabian mare |
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| Arabian mare |
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| Arabian stallion |
The Placings:
🥇1st: Horse B - G3 Arabian
In first place, I pinned the G3 Arabian, which was a surprise to me, as I've personally never been a fan of the mold. The G3s are very cartoony, with thick limbs and feet. It's understandable - they were sculpted specifically to be toys! Breyer was marketing the Stablemates line heavily at children at the time, and they needed to stand up better to playtime than the delicate legs of the G2s (and G1s, whose licenses had expired and who the G3s were definitely replacing in the lineup.) But outside of her slightly clubbed feet and potential DSLD, the G3 Arabian isn't bad anatomically or biomechanically. She's thick but functional, and she's not a bad example of an Arabian. She's got the long arched neck, deep chest, and horizontal croup. Put her on the table against the three Love Arabians in the Stablemates line and she probably won't do well. But here? Here she's a horse who's muscles and limbs are in the correct places, and that's enough.
🥈2nd: Horse A - G4 Arabian
The G4 Arabian was pinned second. Her conformation isn't bad (apart from her slightly triangle shaped head). Like the G3 Arabian, she has the short back, arched neck, horizontal croup and high tail carriage. But compared to the G3, she's less biomechanically sound. She's in a bit of an awkward pose - countercantering on a turn - and it makes her muscles look out of place. She's not immune to the Moody Muscle Curse either - that shoulder on her show side is bulging a bit. She's also missing some detail in her legs and hooves. Compared to the rest of her sculpt, they're very softly sculpted, and her back legs also seem a little noodle-y. I may personally love this mold and have a complete conga, but as a judge I admit she's not the best put together for breed.
🥉3rd: Horse C - Galloping Arabian (Darley)
In third place, we have the Galloping Arabian (also known as Darley). His placing is much the same as my reasons for placing Cigar third in a past judging clinic: his biomechanics are not sound due to the limitations of molding this pose in plastic without a stand. If I recall correctly, the intent with his sculpt was an endurance Arabian galloping up a hill (think Cougar Rock at the Tevis Cup). Alas, his sculpt is not positioned in that way, and he is instead running flat. His left front leg is hyperextended to the point his hoof is lifting off the ground, and his right front leg is overly bent, giving the illusion that if you put him in a standing position his legs would be different lengths. The same principle can be applied to his hind legs as well. Like the other two in the class, he's not bad conformationally (though personally I am not fond of his head), but from an anatomical and biomechanical standpoint, he's easily the third place horse in the class.
How did you place the class? What made you pick one horse over the other? Are you looking at the functionality of the horses first?
Aside from the thick legs I like the G3 Arabian. The Darley just looks painful to me but now that you mention it is supposed to running up hill or doing cougar rock I can see that. As for the G4 I never understood breyer and the cross cantering horses! She would be a cute Arabian if we could get her legs organized!
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