How to look at your animal standing

It is interesting to look at your animal standing from the front, the side (both), the back and the top (mainly for dog and very small pony).

View from the front:  

➡️ Head carriage: is the head carried more the left or to the right?  

➡️ The front legs: are they vertically underneath the animal’s body or more sideways towards the inside or outside of the body?

Front paws/hoofs position: are they straight or rotated internally/externally?

➡️ Muscular mass: is there the same amount of muscle on both shoulder? Are both side of the pectoral muscles symmetrical?

➡️ Eyes: are they aligned horizontally?  

➡️ Abdomen: Can you see the ribs and/or abdomen more to one side?  

View from the side (needs to be done on both sides):  

➡️ Front and back legs: how are they compare to the body? Aligned vertically underneath the pelvis/shoulder (blue arrow on photo), brought forward, backward compare to the vertical (red arrow on photo)?

➡️ Head carriage: Is it low, high?  

➡️ Back: is the back straight? Hollow? Arched?  

➡️ Tail: is the tail held high ? (not as significant for dogs)  

View from the back:   

➡️ Pelvis: does one side of the pelvis looks higher than the other? 

➡️ Back legs: are they aligned underneath the body or are they held to the outside or inside of the body?  

➡️ Back foot: are they straight or rotating internally, externally?  

➡️ Tail: is the tail held to one side more than the other?  

➡️ Muscle mass: Are the gluteals muscles symmetrical on both sides?  

➡️ Abdomen: is the abdomen more to one side or another? 

View from the top (mainly for dogs):  

➡️ Back: does the back have and S shape or does it look straight?  

Abdomen: is the abdomen more to one side?  

➡️ Muscle mass: Are the gluteals, shoulder muscles, back muscles and neck muscle symmetrical on both side?  

➡️ Pelvis: does one side of the pelvis seem forward compare to the other?

➡️ Shoulder: does one shoulder seems forward compare to the other?  

This is a lot of information so if something doesn’t seem clear, please feel free to ask for more details :)