Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

No conformation has a lot to do with soundness but conformational defects are not a given and there are degrees of which are critical. 10 horses with nearly identical conformation can have completely different soundness levels in their lifetimes due to a huge amount of outside influences including where they are raised, the weather and soil content, the manner in which they are raised including how much time they spend outside or in larger paddocks or with other horses, the diet they are on, the type of grass they consume, if they are prepped (worked) for a sale or left alone till they are broke, the way they are broken including different styles and the amount of time spent on each horse, the surface on which they train, the amount of time given when minor non conformational issue occurs (cuts, step on rocks, kicked by other horse), how hard they are pushed to make a race early in their career versus allowing them t develop at their own speed, etc...