Judging the Arabian Beauty: What are the Relationships Between Different Scoring Categories?

• The judges used small range of available scores. The scoring showed low variability between horses. • The correlation with the total score was the strongest for the score for type, and the weakest for the score for legs. • Head and neck had strong effect on the score for type. The effects of remaining categories were negligible or insignificant. • For yearling and junior classes, we observed no relationship between the score for legs and the score for movement. In senior classes this correlation was weak. • The relationships between scores varied within sex and age classes. Arabian show horses are well known for their exceptional beauty and elegance. The breed type, body conformation and movement are assessed during horse shows by licensed judges. The 5 judging categories are type, head and neck, body and topline, legs and movement, which are scored on a 20 point scale. It can be hypothesized that the scores in different categories are related to each other, and that the score for the most subjective type category depends on the scores for conformation categories. We analyzed 762 sets of average scores obtained by 583 unique horses at the World Championships. Correlation analysis and general linear models were used to explore the relationships between the scores in each of the 5 categories. Despite the 20 point scale, only scores from 14.5 to 20 were observed. The correlations between the total score, and the scores for each category within the whole sample varied from r = 0.413 for legs to r = 0.907 for type. Regression analysis of the scores for type showed a strong, significant (P <.001) effect of the scores for the head and neck. The effect of scores for body and topline as well as for movement was negligible, while significant; the score for legs did not affect the score for type. The correlation values between score categories varied between sex and age classes. The estimated levels of correlations were different than expected, based on the known relationships between the phenotypic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]