Body Confirmation

• Wide set eyes with eyelashes that curl up
• Ears that are short to medium in length with curls inside(ear hair does not totally shed out in the summer)
• A medium length neck, deep at the base of the neck where it joins the base of the shoulder
• Noticeably short back, deep through the girth
• An appearance of a long under line and belly cut high in the flank
• Heavy boned legs and short cannon bone as compared to the forearm
• Medium withers and a flat croup with a shallow slope to the base of the tail.

Curly Characteristics

• Body (Fine, soft hair)
• Ringlet (can be several inches long)
• Marcel Wave (deep soft wave in the body coat)
• Crushed Velvet (soft dense pile of curls in body coat)

Mane

• Extra fine hair
• Kinky -preferable
• Wavy
• Should shed all or partial in the summer 
• Split mane (hangs on both sides of neck)

Tail

• Ringlets
• Wavy
• Should shed partial at the head of the tail in the summer or some horses may shed tail completely

Fetlocks

• Curly – preferable
• Wavy
• Should shed in summer but still retain some long hairs

Hooves

• Almost perfectly round in shape
• Very hard and dense
• Proportioned to the size of the horse

Size and weight

• Average size – 15 hands; there are some exceptions from 13.3 hands to 16 hands
• Average weight – 800 to 1000 pounds; some curlies may weigh up to 1200 pounds

Unique Characteristics

• Curly coat can be hypoallergenic(the horsehair is round instead of flat and testing has shown the hair to be closely related to mohair)
• Can completely shed the mane and/or tail in the summer, only to grow back in the fall with the winter coat
• Noticeably short, strong back, indicating five lumbar vertebrae
• Even-tempered disposition
• Quick pulse and respiration recovery
• Very dense bone in the legs