Welcome back equestrians!
As you start to hangout around horse more, you’ll start to hear more and more horse terms. Here we have a list of common horse phraseology in alphabetical order. All of these are great words to know as you are doing more with horses.
And who knows, if you study it you might even impress your instructor next time you go to ride! 😉
Aids: The ways in your body that you communicate with your horse. The 5 different natural aids are: seat, hands, voice, legs and weight. The artificial aids would be a whip or spurs. They should be used to reinforce the natural aids.
Balk: When a horse refuses to do an action that the rider requests.
Barn Sour: The terms that means a horse doesn’t like to leave his buddies or the barn.
Bending: Bending your horse is something you start working on once you learn the basics of riding. It sounds weird, no you’re not actually “bending” you horse but in a way your sort of are. When in a circle for intense, you’d want your horse to have nice inside bend meaning your horse is bending around your inside leg. You should see the corner of their inside eye without them turning or floating off the rail. That’s where the inside leg comes in. It helps them engage all parts of their body and stay balanced.
Broke: A term that means the horse is trained and no longer wild. “Dead broke” means the horse is well trained and obedient.
Broodmare: A mare used for breeding.
Bucking: When a horse rounds it’s back and kicks out with it’s back legs. This is not a good behavior to had and you should seek help if you’re having trouble with this.
Canter: A canter is the horse’s third fastest gait. It’s a three beat gait and has a smooth, rocking motion to it.
Canter Lead: This refers to what leg goes out more forward when a horse is cantering. If you’re on the left lead, you’re horses left leg should be reaching farther then the right leg. Your horse’s inside leg should be the one reaching out farther, as it helps them balance better around turns and circles.
Colic: When a horse colics, it’s basically a serious belly ache. If you are seeing signs of a horse colicking, you should immediately call for help.
Colt: A colt is a young male horse under the age 4.
Conformation: A horse’s conformation refers to how the horse is built. How their body is structured and positioned. A horse with good conformation should be balanced and supported, with an even back and a supportive shoulder, neck and pasterns. A horse with bad conformation has bad balance, short and choppy gaits, etc.
Dam: A female horse that is/has been a mother.
Diagonal: A diagonal is the which horse’s leg you are posting off of while doing a posting trot. If you’re on the correct diagonal, you’re rising when the horse’s outside leg goes forward and sitting when their inside leg goes out.
Equine: The scientific term for the horse species.
Farrier: A trained professional that works on horse’s hooves.
Feathers: The long hair coming from a horse’s fetlock, right above their hooves. They’re usually on draft horses.
Filly: A young female horse under the age of 4.
Flying Lead Change: When a horse changes canter leads while cantering.
Foal: A baby horse that’s still dependent on their mother.
Forehand: A horse’s forehand refers to the front part of the body, head, neck, shoulder and front legs.
Gait: A horse’s gait refers to their movement. The horse’s gaits are: walk, trot, canter, gallop.
Gallop: This is the horse’s highest gait. It’s the equivalent to us running. A horse’s gallop has four beats to it.
Gelding: A castrated male horse above the age of 4.
Groundwork: When you train and work with your horse on the ground as opposed to while riding them. It’s a great way to build trust and understanding of your horse.
Half Halt: A half halt is a squeeze-release pressure on the reins. It’s usually done to help collect a horse that has strung itself out, or to help slow down a gait. It doesn’t mean to stop completely, just reminding the horse that you’re there and helping him to carry his weight to the hind end.
Hand: A hand is what’s used to measure a horse’s height. A hand is four inches.
Hand Gallop: The hand gallop is not really considered a gait when people list them because it’s just a controlled version of the gallop. It’s faster than a canter and slower then the gallop.
Hoof: A hoof is a horse’s foot.
Lame: Your horse beings lames means that their gait is off due to pain in a part of the leg.
Leg up: One of the ways to get on your horse. it’s when another rider or your instructor takes your lower leg as you push of the ground to mount. It gives you a little help instead of pulling yourself up all the way.
Lunging: Lunging your horse is when you attach a long line to their bridle and have them go around you in a circle. Some reasons for lunging would be to exercise the horse if you cannot ride, to help calm down a crazy horse before you get on or to help a rider fully focus on their seat and balance without worrying about controlling the horse.
Mane: The horse’s hair that comes out of the base of the neck.
Mare: A female horse above the age of 4.
Mucking out: Mucking out your stall means to remove manure and soiled bedding from your horse’s stall and anything else to get it ready for your horse to come back in.
Near side: The left side of your horse.
Off side: The right side of your horse.
Posting: You might hear the phrase “a posting trot” or a “rising trot”. It’s the same thing, and oftentimes English riders are best known for doing it although every horse rider should learn. It’s when you rise and sit to your horse’s outside leg so when that goes out you stand up in the saddle. When their inside leg goes out, you sit. It’s as simple as that. It takes some getting used to but eventually you can do it automatically. It’s more comfortable for your horse and for you since the trot can be very bumpy. It also helps balance and stable them around turns and circles.
Rearing: When your horse’s front legs come off the ground and they rise up onto their back legs. It’s not an encouraged behavior should be handled by an experienced rider.
School horse: This is a mount that is very calm and experienced, usually pretty old and used for lessons.
Serpentines: This is called a lateral movement. There’s many of them and they’re basically exercises to do for your horse. They help you and your horse warm up your muscles and get your horse listening to you leg cues. A serpentine is basically a big “S” in the arena, with how every many loops you want to do.
Shying: when a horse responds to a sound, movement, or object by suddenly jumping to the side or running off. A horse that shies a lot is said to be “spooky.”
Spooky: A spooky horse is one that has a tendency to be easily scared by moving objects or sounds.
Stallion: A male horse above the age of 4 that has the ability to breed.
Tack: Tack is the equipment used on your horse. It could include a saddle, bridle, girth, saddle pad, halter, boots, etc.
Thrush: Thrush is a fungal infection that happens in a horse’s hooves, and begins to eat away their hoof. It usually accrues if the horse was standing in manure or water for long periods of time.
Trot: A trot is the horse’s second fastest gait. It’s a two beat gait where the horse’s legs go out in a diagonal pair (left front leg w/ right back leg, etc.)
Walk: A walk is what it sounds like, it’s the horse’s slowest gait. It’s also a four beat gait, meaning all of the hooves touch the ground separately.
Weanling: A young horse that has been weaned off from it’s mother so that it can be independent. This process usually takes about 6 months.
Yearling: A yearling is a young horse that is 1 year old.
Well, we’re at the end! I hope you learned something from this list. Of course, this doesn’t include disciplines, different kinds of gear and tack, breeds or horse parts. I will probably eventually do separate posts on these topics. This was just the basic terms for horse management and riding. Let me know if this if something you’d be interested in!
Thanks for reading! Keep riding! <3
Lucy