Quality is often referred to as type and style. Quality is a major selection criteria when evaluating breed and sex character, refinement and the horse's "general appearance." Breed character refers to a horse having distinct characteristics of its breed (ie: an Arabian horse usually has the characteristic dished face). Sex character refers to a horse having feminine or masculine appearances (ie: a mare or filly will generally be smaller in the jaw than that of geldings or stallions). Areas to be evaluated include the head, throat latch, neck, withers, bone, feet, hair coat and general condition.

Head The horse's head should be expressive in both breed and sex character. A horse's ear should be relatively short and erect. Horses should be short from eye to muzzle, displaying width between the eyes and having a tapered muzzle with large, flaring nostrils. The eyes should be prominent and located on the corners of the face to permit a greater range of vision. The ideal head is "finely chiseled," showing the bony framework and vessels under the thin layer of skin.

Stallions should show masculinity about the head while mares exhibit a degree of femininity.

Throat Latch Horses should be clean and refined through the throat latch to allow more flexibility at the poll. This flexibility is a must when riding horses. Horses that are thick and deep in the throat latches will be limited in their ability to flex at the poll and may have difficulty breathing.
Desirable throat latch	Undesirable throat latch

Neck
As mentioned under balance, the horse's neck should be long, clean and trim, tying smoothly into the wither and high into the chest. Horses with short, thick, cresty, low-tying necks will lack flexibility and suppleness. A horse may exhibit a characteristic referred to as being "ewe" necked. This neck attachment looks like the neck was put on upside down. Ewe necked horses will generally have high head carriage and a hollow backed appearance during performance.

<Insert> Good Neck and Ewe Necked Horses

Withers
Horses should have prominent withers as opposed to thick, heavy, rolling withers commonly referred to as "mutton" withers. Prominent withers are preferred for proper saddle stability and fit.

<Insert> Withers slide

Bone
Due to the absence of muscle, bone refinement can be evaluated in the horse's lower legs below the knees and hocks. Joints should be clean and free of connective tissue. Bone should appear "flat," showing well defined tendons. A course heavy-boned leg with large "meaty" joints is undesirable.

Feet
A horse's hooves should be medium in size while being rounded at the front with width and depth at the heel. Extremely large hooves may cause the horse to travel awkwardly, whereas extremely small hooves "mule feet" will not expand and contract properly and may predispose the horse to navicular disease and other unsoundnesses.

Haircoat
Haircoat of the horse should be fine, silky and lustrous. Horses with high quality haircoats seldom grow thick, heavy winter coats with excessively long hair on the lower legs and under the abdomen and jaw. Horses with low or poor quality haircoats will tend to grow longer, heavier coats in the winter and will require more clipping and brushing to be properly fitted.