Sometimes capable of hiding when the horse is relaxed, a pointed chin clearly stands out when there is stress involved. The small rounded point will pull flat against the bottom of the jaw. As the chin pulls tight the lower lip extends like a platter sticking out around the mouth. The extent of the upset is shown by how far the lip is sticking out. The chin pulled flat is usually accompanied by the skin around the eyes drawing tightly downwards leaving wrinkles and a gap at the lower eye.

This chin type is distinctive not only in looks but in the things it can tell us about the horse’s body. There is no other chin type, that I am aware of, that also shows physical traits.

A pointed chin always accompanies extremely sensitive skin. Bugs will drive these horses crazy and leave welts across the body. The fine thin hair offers little protection from them. That same fine hair and sensitive skin also allows the horse to be more expressive than most as the skin pulls into wrinkles at the eyes and nostrils when bothered or enjoying a scratch.

This appears to be one of those cases where genetics for completely different traits are mixed together. We often breed for one trait only to accidentally be breeding for a separate and seemingly unrelated traits. This happens most often with head shape where breeding for delicate, dished heads accidentally also breeds for high strung, hot horses. Or where we breed for big, tough, quiet, and dependable and accidentally get Roman noses.

No one has purposely bred for pointed chins. They occur seldom enough that they don’t seem to be something that accompanies something we are heavily breeding for. They do clearly accompany physical traits though. I see them most often in mares. Especially in mares who also have a slight dish to their profile and other delicate, sensitive traits. They do show up once in awhile on geldings, so they aren’t purely a mare trait.