Any horse can be good to learn from. If you are pursuing a higher education within the academic art of riding, there are horses that are more suited for this work than other horses. A summary of a few of these items:
Hindquarter
A good horse for the high school work is a horse good in collection, carrying the weight on his hind legs. The first thing to look at with a high school horse is the hindquarter. For a high school horse the most perfect hindquarter is a hindquarter that is easy to collect. That means that every angle in the hindquarters of the horse: the hocks, the knees, the hip – are supple and easy to bend. Then the horse can lower its hindquarter easily and place his hind legs under the point of weight for collection.
When in standing the hock should not come behind the seat bone, it should be directly under the seat bone. Even if they stand a bit in front of the seat bone it is not a big problem for a high school horse.
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Tail
If you have a horse that will lower its tail when he is frightened, it is easier to get him into the piaffe. So a horse suited for high school work is a horse that should lower the tail and therefore should be born with a lower input of tail.
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Hoofs
No horse can do well with bad hoofs.
If walking in the riding arena only, a horse does not need irons
If your horse walks on asphalt or in a rugged terrain, that would be a reason for irons..
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Back
A short back is more able to carry and you can easier use a collecting seat on a short back.
But a short horse is limited in its ability of how fast it can go forward.
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Neck
It is very seldom to have a horse with a short back and a long neck. Normally the neck and spine are connected with each other in such a way that a long back makes a long neck and a short back makes a short neck. But the most beautiful barocqu horse is a horse with a short back and a long neck.
We want the head not to be too narrowly connected with the neck. A longer and more raised neck will often give more freedom to the jaw and therefore the salivary and parotid glands, throat and windpipe have the space to function properly during full collection.
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Head
The shape of the head is the only thing that cannot be changed.
The most beautiful baroque head is small and has a slightly bowed nose.
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.Teeth
For a good mouth you need good teeth. Good teeth are very important for a good horse. If the horse cannot eat his food well then you won’t have it for long time. Good teeth, but also having a good tongue and a good mouth is important.
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Shoulders
A long flat shoulder might give a more beautiful movement of the front legs, but a long shoulder on a short back will often give the problem that the front legs in movement will reach under the saddle. The beautiful movement of the horse will only be there when the horse is not ridden! So sometimes a shoulder standing more upright and flat, is the ideal shoulder.
Most important it is not the place of the shoulder, but the position of the front legs. If the upper part of leg is very long the front legs might be placed very far backwards under the horse, then the horse will carry more weight on the front legs. This is an important aspect to take into account when looking at the shoulder.
Size
A good high school horse should fit the rider, your height and stature is just as important as the stature of the horse. In general you can say that the horse should be 20 cm lower or smaller than you are.
So if you are 1.76 m tall, you should have a horse from 1.56 m.
If the horse is only 1.50 m and a bit heavy, that will still be a good fit. If it is bigger it must be slimmer, a more elegant horse.
In general you can say that a smaller horse lives longer than a big horse. A big horse probably doesn’t live long enough for a full education in de academic art of riding. A complete education takes six to eight years. As you start with a horse when he is four, at least he will be twelve when you finish the ground basic education. You would like a horse to become at least 22, so you have at least 10 good years with the horse.
Spirit
If you want to keep a good spirit in the horse, you must ask the horse to do the exercises which it can do easily. To develop that horse to the high school level, it will take a very long time for the horse that is not well built for it.
Any horse might be good to learn from, you can always learn from your horse! So in the beginning of your education be happy about the horse you have and even if it has a lot of problems: that is how you will learn.
If you want to go into the higher education and the higher exercises, then it is easier to do that with a horse built to do that work.