The Back Line Tool. A tool to help riders judge the level and quality of their work. The back line tool - judging collection.

November 2007 • VOLUME 27 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

The Back Line

The question often comes up: how do we know when the work of the horse is correct? When we are in the arena, when we are teaching, when we are looking at pictures and video of someone else's work, what are the markers of good and correct work?

One of the easiest and most overlooked markers that we see is the back line.

What is the back line?

The back line is watching for how much the horse works ahead versus behind himself.

It is an easy tool to use to evaluate any horse. Take any picture and draw a line going up and down vertically, so it is 90 degrees to the horizon line. The horizon line goes from left to right. Place that line at the back end of the horse placing it on the very last point of the hip that lies along the horizon line.

So what are we looking for?

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