By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

Every month, I put together our Conformation Clinic department.

As someone who’s never judged horses, this department is a challenge for me to write, but it’s also a lot of fun.

With every issue that comes out and every judge I interview, I feel like I learn something new.

Never was that more true than with the upcoming August issue. We had a class of three senior Missouri Fox Trotter mares.

I knew absolutely nothing about the breed, but I definitely learned more!

Do you know the conformational differences between Fox Trotters vs. the stock breeds? If the answer is no, you’ll definitely want to check it out.

The expert judge was Linda Shaddy, a world champion trainer and handler, and she was great about giving comparisons. It’s no surprise that the differences are all related to the Fox Trotters’ specific gait.

Any guesses as to what those differences might be? (Don’t worry, you’ll find out on page 37 of the August issue!)

Not only was it educational, it was also fun to feature a gaited breed.

Do you enjoy seeing a variety of breeds in the Conformation Clinic, too? We accept all breeds, and we depend on our readers to send in the entries. Learn more about how to submit a photo and the photography guidelines in this article.