Horse Basics

Basics

There are numerous basics to horses, such as colors and height.

Height

Horses are measured in "hands", which basically means that they are measured from the ground up to their withers.  A hand is 4 inches.  If a horse is 16hh, that means that the horse is 64 inches high, which means that the horse is 5'3".

Colors

Horses come in many different colors, such as gray/grey, fleabitten grey/gray, dappled gray/grey, bay, black, chestnut, liver chestnut, sorrel, brown, roan, blue roan, strawberry roan, dun, palomino, spotted, piebald, skewbald, pinto, cream, white markings, and brindle.  Horses either start out as black or chestnut.  More colors are created upon other genes' interactions with other genes.  These variations turn horses lighter or darker in color.  There are also different names for piebald and skewbald.  The Lipizzaner is a breed of horse whose foals are born black, but turn gray over a few years.

Markings

Horses can have many different markings on their faces, bodies, and legs.

Terminology

Ponies: "What's the difference between ponies and horses?" you ask.  Well, ponies are small horses, usually no higher at the withers than 14.2hh.

Foals: Foals are baby horses, usually up to one year old.

Filly: A young female horse usually under three to four years of age.

Colt: A young male horse usually under three to four years of age.

Mare: A female horse older than four years of age.  Used to refer to a female horse who has given birth, regardless of her age.

Stallion: A male horse older than four years of age.  These horses aren't gelded, and are also referred to by different names, such as stock, stud, and stud horse.

Gelding: A male horse older than four years of age.  Geldings are different from stallions in the fact that they have been neutered.

Tack

Riders have to have several pieces of equipment, also known as "tack", that they need to put on their horses in order to ride them.  These include a saddle, bridle, saddle blanket, and a girth.  The saddle blanket goes directly on the horse's back.  The saddle goes on top of the saddle blanket.  The girth is attached to the girth straps on the sides of the saddle.  The girth stops the saddle from moving around on the horse's back, so it is important that it is tightly secured.  The bridle is then placed on the horse's face.  There is a metal bar in the middle of two rings on the bottom of the bridle.  This metal bar is called a bit.  The bit goes into the horse's mouth.

Saddles and Saddle Blankets

There are two types of saddles, English and Western.  The saddle pictured below is a Western saddle.

The saddle pictured below is an English saddle.

A saddle blanket is pictured below.

Bridles

There are two different types of bridles, English and Western.

The bridle pictured above is an English bridle, and the one pictured below is a Western bridle.

Girths

Horse Blankets

A horse blanket goes on the horse in winter to keep it warm.  Some horses have two blankets on when it gets really cold outside.

Gaits

Horses have four gaits: walk, trot, canter, and gallop.  The walk is a four-beat gait.  The trot is a two-beat gait.  The canter is a three-beat gait.  The gallop is a four-beat gait.

http://instagram.com/p/iSMPgMGiSy/  The horse in this video starts at a canter, turns around, and then trots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCBrg8P7mlM  A 3D animation of a horse trotting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq0Q7lIXw8c  An Ehow movie that tells you how to walk, trot, and canter your horse.

Some terms that the lady in the video mentions:

Seat: Your butt bones and crotch.

Softening the reins: Loosening your grip on the reins so that way the horse knows it can go forward.  Loosening your grip does not mean to completely let go of the reins.  If you do that, the horse can go wherever it wants to!

Posting: An up-and-down motion that goes with the rhythm of the horse.  The trot is bouncy, and the horse naturally pushes you up as it trots.

Sit-trot: This is where you sit down while trotting.  It may feel odd, but you have to sit up straight and tall in order to avoid bouncing around.

Legs: Horses respond to pressure by avoiding it.  If you push on a horse from the left, it will go to the right.  If you push a horse from the right, it will go to the left.  Putting pressure on the horse from both legs means that you want it to go faster/forward.

Lead: The leg that the horse picks up the gait with.  If you are going left, you want the left lead trot or canter.  If you are going right, you want the horse to pick up the right lead trot or canter.