Exterior - what is it? Methods for assessing the exterior

Breeds of agricultural and domestic animals, bred by people many centuries ago, determine their relevance for content and breeding, primarily due to their inherent characteristics. Many people know the word used in connection with the concept of "breed" - the exterior. What is this word and how is it related to the ability to preserve the characteristics of animals of the same breed for centuries?

The concept of the constitution of animals

About 2 thousand years ago, people first began to pay attention to the constitution of animals. It covers a wide range of features of the body, from its physique, character and ending with a reaction to the external environment and heredity.

It is with the observation of the external characteristics of the animal's body that the study of its constitution begins. External forms of the creature, closely related to its strength and value to the economy, are the basis of the concept of "exterior". What it is? Read more about this.

This is a strange word - the exterior

The animal exterior is like a business card, in which it is possible to find indications of how strong the biologically given breed is, its adaptability to a certain environment of existence and the reproduction of a full-fledged offspring. Individual parts of the body of the beast, which are taken into account in a harmonious relationship with each other, objectively indicate an irrefutable link between the productivity of a particular breed and its exterior.

The evolution of animals has led to the fact that all parts of their body are in indissoluble connection, which directly affects the productivity of the breed. The best individuals were selected, and the main tool of this selection was the exterior. What did it give? The abundance of rocks that fully meet the requirements set to them by man.

Method for assessing the exterior

Methods for assessing the exterior of the animal developed a long time ago and improved over time. There are only three of them. The first - the visual one - is based on the excellent knowledge of the parts of the animal's body and their proportional relationships. The second is probing. This method makes it possible to assess the strength of individual sites, their development, compliance with the required standards. And the third is the measurement of the body of an animal, consisting in measuring both the body as a whole and its individual parts.

About the exterior of dogs

Exterior of the dog consists of two sections - general and private. The first contains information about the appearance of the dog, its physique, structure and harmonious development of individual parts. He also notes all the characteristic deviations and defects. A private exterior - what is it? Characteristic features of specific breeds inherent in them, or atypical for them features, which are determined by firmly established norms.

Usually the visual method used in dog breeding is used in conjunction with simple biometric measurements. Appraisal of the exterior is done at various exhibitions, broods and shows. At these events, the best individuals are selected for further breeding and improvement of the breed, in accordance with the requirements of standards, regulations and tolerances.

Dogs that are used for the same purpose, have much in common in appearance, but they also have differences in the structure of individual parts of the body. Exterior of females and males has its own peculiarities - the elegant musculature of the first is clearly different from the more developed muscular mass of the latter.

Stages of development of dogs also affect the appearance due to age-related changes. Therefore, the evaluation of the ex-terrier on the above-mentioned measures always takes into account gender differences and age groups of participants.

A bit about the horse's exterior

An animal such as a horse used by a person for various purposes and tasks must have qualities and characteristics that contribute to the full performance of functions without compromising the health and life of the animal. The centuries-old breeding of horses has led to the fact that there are clear signs of a correct correlation of the forms and functions of their organism. Therefore, the right choice of the breed, designed to perform certain tasks, is determined by the features of the structure of the animal's body, which the horse's exterior will accurately estimate.

Visual assessment begins with the definition of the format of the enclosure. To do this, you must enclose the animal in an imaginary rectangle, in which its upper edge is the line from the withers along the croup, and the lateral boundaries become tangents from the shoulder and sciatic hillock, respectively. A rectangle stretched horizontally points to a horse that can walk both under the saddle and in the harness. If the virtual rectangle is closer to the square, or, moreover, is stretched vertically, then such an animal is suitable only for the saddle.

Next, we need to evaluate the parts of the body that provide a more complete picture of the animal's exterior and allow us to establish a correspondence between its capabilities and the expected functions for which it is actually selected.

The key to successfully maintaining the purity of the breed

Domestication of wild animals has its roots since the time of the Mesolithic. People constantly engaged in the selection of domesticated animals, noting in them some of the qualities that were particularly useful for the community. As a result, the exterior has become one of the main tools that allows not only to preserve the necessary qualities of individuals, but also to improve them for each breed.