Glossary
The horse world runs on its own vocabulary. Here it is in plain English. Every term has its own link, so you can point someone straight to the one they need.
Buying
- Gelding#
- A gelding is a male horse that has been castrated. Without the hormones of a stallion, geldings are generally more even-tempered and easier to manage, which is why most riding and leisure horses are geldings. An entire (uncastrated) male is a stallion; a young male is a colt, a young female a filly, and an adult female a mare.
- see also: colt, stallion, mare, filly
- Green#
- A green horse is one that has been backed but is still early in its education: it knows the basics but lacks the miles and confidence of a schooled horse. Green is not the same as young, and it is not a fault, but a green horse needs a confident, experienced rider. The common warning green plus green equals black and blue means a green rider on a green horse is a recipe for accidents.
- see also: unschooled, backed
- Pre-purchase exam (PPE)#
- A pre-purchase exam is an independent veterinary assessment carried out before a sale, paid for by the buyer. It ranges from a basic five-stage clinical check to a full workup with flexion tests and X-rays. It does not pass or fail a horse; it reports findings and risks so you buy with open eyes. Skipping the PPE is the single most expensive mistake first-time buyers make.
- see also: vetting, vet check, pre-purchase examination
- Warmblood#
- Warmblood is not one breed but a category of European sport horses, such as the Hanoverian, KWPN, Oldenburg, and Holsteiner, bred over generations for rideability and athletic ability. The name is a contrast with hotbloods (Arabians and Thoroughbreds, bred for speed and stamina) and coldbloods (heavy draft breeds bred for pulling). Warmbloods dominate the upper levels of dressage and show jumping.
- see also: hotblood, coldblood, sport horse
Anatomy & gaits
- Hand#
- A hand is 4 inches, measured from the ground to the highest point of the withers. Heights are written as hands and inches: 15.2 hands means 15 hands and 2 inches, or 62 inches. The dot is not a decimal, so 15.2h is followed by 15.3h and then 16.0h, not 15.9h. Anything 14.2 hands and under is a pony; above that is a horse, with a few breed exceptions.
- see also: hands high, hh
- Withers#
- The withers are the bony ridge at the base of the neck, between the shoulder blades. They are the fixed high point of the back, which is why height is measured there rather than at the head, which moves. Saddle fit starts at the withers: a saddle that pinches them causes back pain that often shows up as a ridden behavior problem.
Riding & training
- Canter lead#
- The canter is a three-beat gait with a leading foreleg that reaches further forward than the other. On a circle to the left the horse should be on the left lead; picking up the wrong (outside) lead unbalances the turn. A horse that consistently struggles with one lead may have a training gap or a source of pain on that side, which is worth ruling out before drilling.
- see also: lead, wrong lead, counter-canter
- Contact#
- Contact is the light, consistent feel on the reins between the rider's hands and the bit. Good contact is elastic and following, like holding hands, not a fixed pull. The horse should seek and trust the contact rather than brace against it or hide behind it. Harsh or unsteady contact teaches a horse to lean, gape, or come behind the bit.
- Forehand#
- The forehand is everything in front of the girth: the head, neck, shoulders, and front legs. A horse carries roughly 60 percent of its weight on the forehand by default. Much of flatwork training is teaching the horse to shift weight back onto the hindquarters so the front end lightens. A horse that is heavy on the forehand feels like it is pulling you down and forward.
- see also: on the forehand
- Half-halt#
- A half-halt is a near-invisible, momentary aid, a coordinated use of seat, leg, and hand, that rebalances the horse and prepares it for what comes next: a transition, a turn, or a change of pace. It asks the horse to carry more weight behind and lighten the forehand for a stride, without actually stopping. It is one of the most useful and most misunderstood tools in flatwork.
- Impulsion#
- Impulsion is the energy a horse pushes from its hindquarters, contained and channelled rather than let out as raw speed. A horse with impulsion feels powerful and springy and steps well under itself; a horse merely going fast is running, which is different. Impulsion is what lets a horse lift its back, carry itself, and come off the forehand.
- On the bit#
- A horse is on the bit when it carries itself with an arched, swinging back, the poll as the highest point, and a soft, elastic contact on the reins - not when its nose is simply pulled in. True roundness comes from the hindquarters stepping under and lifting the back, so a horse forced into the outline by the hands alone is not on the bit, it is behind it.
- see also: on the aids, round, outline
Care
- Colic#
- Colic is not a single disease but a symptom: pain in the abdomen. It ranges from mild gas that passes to a twisted gut that needs emergency surgery, and you cannot tell which from the outside. Signs include pawing, looking at the flank, repeatedly lying down and getting up, rolling, and going off feed. Because the serious forms are life-threatening and time matters, colic is always a call-the-vet situation, not a wait-and-see one.
- Farrier#
- A farrier trims and balances the hooves and, for shod horses, makes and fits shoes. Most horses need the farrier every 5 to 8 weeks whether they are shod or barefoot, because the hoof grows continuously. Good, regular farriery is preventive medicine: bad balance and long toes cause lameness and can push a horse onto the forehand. It is a recurring cost every owner budgets for.
- see also: trim, shoeing
- Girthy#
- A girthy horse reacts badly to the girth being done up: swishing the tail, pinning the ears, nipping, or moving away. It is often labeled a bad habit, but it is frequently a pain signal - gastric ulcers, girth-region skin sensitivity, or saddle-fit pressure. The honest first move is to rule out ulcers and fit before treating it as behavior.
- see also: girthiness, cinchy
- Laminitis#
- Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae, the tissue that anchors the pedal bone to the hoof wall. When it fails, the bone can rotate or sink inside the hoof. It is agonizing and can be permanently disabling, and it is a genuine emergency. Warning signs include a rocked-back stance, reluctance to move, heat in the feet, and a bounding digital pulse. It is common in overweight ponies and horses with metabolic conditions.
- see also: founder
- Livery#
- Livery (in the US, boarding) is paying a yard to keep your horse. It ranges from grass or DIY livery, where you do the daily care yourself and pay mainly for the land, to full livery, where staff do everything. It is usually the single largest monthly cost of owning a horse, and the level you choose drives how much time the horse takes as well as what it costs.
- see also: boarding, board, DIY livery, full livery
- Native breeds#
- Native breeds are the hardy ponies and horses that evolved in a particular region, such as the British and Irish natives (Shetland, Welsh, Connemara, Dartmoor, and others). Bred to survive on sparse grazing, they are easy keepers that hold weight readily, which makes them economical but also puts them at high risk of obesity and laminitis on rich modern pasture. Careful weight and grazing management is the price of their hardiness.
- see also: native pony, easy keeper
- Sound#
- A sound horse moves evenly on all four legs with no sign of pain or lameness. Soundness is the single most important thing a pre-purchase exam assesses, because a horse that is not sound cannot do the job you are buying it for. A horse can be sound in one context and not another, so soundness is often described for the intended use: sound for light hacking, sound for competition.
- see also: lame, lameness, unsound
Tack
- Snaffle#
- A snaffle is a bit that applies pressure directly to the mouth through the reins, with no leverage. It is the mildest common family of bits and the one most horses are started and ridden in. It contrasts with a curb or leverage bit, which multiplies the rein pressure through a shank. Mildness depends on the hands using it: any bit is only as gentle as the rider holding the reins.
- see also: bit, curb
- Tack#
- Tack is the collective word for riding equipment: the saddle, bridle, bit, girth, stirrups, and pads. Well-fitting tack is a welfare issue, not just a comfort one, because a pinching saddle or a badly fitted bridle causes pain that often shows up as a ridden behavior problem. Tacking up means putting this equipment on before a ride.
- see also: tacking up, saddlery