Horse glossary

The largest standard circle in dressage, 20 metres in diameter, filling the full width of the arena with four touch points.

See also: Volte

The gene locus that decides where black pigment goes. The dominant form pushes black to the points (bay); the recessive form spreads it over the whole body (black).

See also: Extension (red factor), Points, Base colour

The fixed letters along the edge and on the centre line of the arena that serve as reference points; the small arena has eight outer letters (A-K-E-H-C-M-B-F) and D-X-G on the centre line.

See also: Centre line

A very broad facial marking covering most of the face and extending over at least one eye and usually both nostrils.

One of the three colours that all other horse colours are built on: chestnut, bay or black. Dilutions and patterns work on top of a base colour.

See also: Dilution gene, Points

Bell-shaped protectors around the heel bulbs that guard the front hooves against being stepped on by the hind legs.

See also: Brushing boots

A broad white stripe running down the forehead and nose. Narrower it is a stripe; very broad it becomes a bald face.

See also: Marking, Star

A brush with short, soft bristles that smooths the coat, picks up fine dust and spreads skin oils for shine.

See also: Dandy brush

The combination of ear position, head height, tail and posture that hints at a horse's attention or tension; a single sign never proves a particular emotion.

See also: Flehmen response

Leg boots that protect the inside of the lower leg from being struck by the other leg.

See also: Tendon boots

The straight bone between the knee or hock and the fetlock, with the flexor tendons behind it; heat or swelling here is always a warning.

See also: Fetlock

A three-beat gait with three hoof beats per stride, followed by a moment of suspension; the leading foreleg sets left or right lead.

See also: Gallop

The raised back of the saddle seat; a higher cantle gives a deeper dressage seat, a lower one more freedom for jumping.

See also: Pommel

The straight line from A to C dividing the arena into two equal halves; every test starts by entering along the centre line, usually with a halt at X.

See also: Arena letters

A dominant dilution gene that dilutes black to brown and red to gold, with a typical metallic sheen, pinkish mottled skin and amber eyes.

See also: Dilution gene

A collective name for abdominal pain in the horse; risk rises with lots of concentrates, little forage and sudden feed changes. When suspected it is a veterinary emergency.

See also: Concentrates, Forage (roughage)

Concentrated, starch- and sugar-rich feed such as grain or pellets; too much at once raises the risk of colic, laminitis and ulcers.

See also: Forage (roughage)

A narrow white band just above the hoof; the lowest of the leg markings.

A dilution gene that dilutes red to yellow. One copy gives palomino (on chestnut) or buckskin (on bay); two copies give an almost white colour such as cremello. Cream is dominant with a dosage effect.

See also: Dilution gene, Heterozygous, Homozygous

The curve of the pelvis between the loin and the tail root, holding the large muscles that provide most of the push.

A bit that works through leverage via the shanks and a curb chain, often used together with a snaffle in a double bridle (Weymouth and bradoon).

See also: Snaffle bit

A handy tool with rubber or plastic nubs to loosen dirt, mud and dead hair, usually in small circles on the muscled areas.

See also: Dandy brush

A brush with long, stiff bristles to flick away the loosened dirt and dust, mainly on the large muscled areas.

See also: Curry comb, Body brush

A gene that lightens a base colour. Some dilute only red, others only black, others both. Examples: cream, dun, champagne and silver.

See also: Cream, Dun, Champagne, Silver

A trait that shows with a single copy of the gene. Cream, dun and grey are for example dominant.

See also: Recessive, Heterozygous

A dark stripe running along the topline, from withers to tail. The clearest sign of the dun gene and the main difference from a buckskin.

See also: Dun, Primitive markings

A dominant dilution gene that lightens the body and adds primitive markings such as a dorsal stripe. Head, lower legs, mane and tail stay undiluted.

See also: Dorsal stripe, Primitive markings

Small dark spots within a white leg marking, usually just above the hoof around the coronet.

See also: Coronet

The gene locus that decides whether a horse can make black pigment. Two recessive e alleles give a chestnut: the horse then makes only red pigment.

See also: Agouti, Base colour, Recessive

The professional who trims the hooves, fits shoes and helps with corrective hoof care.

See also: Horseshoe

The hinge joint below the cannon that absorbs a lot of shock at every stride, and is therefore prone to wear.

See also: Cannon

Raising the head and curling the upper lip to route inhaled scent to the vomeronasal organ; a normal sensory mechanism, not an emotion.

See also: Body language

A light, fine-mesh rug that lets air through but keeps biting insects off in summer.

See also: Turnout rug

Fibre-rich feed such as grass, hay and haylage that should make up most of the ration; it keeps digestion healthy and lowers the risk of colic and ulcers.

See also: Concentrates, Hay

The V-shaped, rubbery structure in the middle of the underside of the hoof that helps absorb shock and pumps blood back up the leg with each step.

See also: Sole

The fastest gait: an asymmetric four-beat movement in which each leg lands separately, followed by a moment of suspension.

See also: Canter

The strap that passes under the belly and holds the saddle in place.

Not a fixed colour but a process: the horse turns whiter year after year, whatever colour it was born. The skin stays dark.

See also: Roan

Dried grass with a low moisture content, a basic form of forage for horses.

See also: Haylage, Forage (roughage)

Wrapped, part-dried grass with a higher moisture and thus lower fibre content per kilo than hay, so the amount fed must be adjusted.

See also: Hay

Carrying two different versions of a gene (for example one cream and one normal). With a dominant gene a heterozygous horse already shows the trait.

See also: Homozygous, Dominant

The large angular joint in the middle of the hind leg that takes huge forces on push-off; it corresponds to our ankle.

Carrying two identical versions of a gene. With cream, homozygous (two copies) gives a cremello instead of a palomino.

See also: Heterozygous, Recessive

A curved hook to remove mud, manure and stones from the hoof, working from heel to toe and away from the sensitive frog.

See also: Frog

A usually metal shoe fixed under the hoof to protect the hoof wall from wear.

See also: Farrier

A painful inflammation and damage of the laminae that connect the hoof wall to the coffin bone; severe cases can lead to rotation of the coffin bone. Causes include carbohydrate overload and obesity.

See also: White line, Concentrates

Non-nutritive chewing and licking of the lips, often seen after a tense moment; its meaning is scientifically contested and not a sure sign of submission or calm.

See also: Body language

Calmly letting the horse enter the trailer or lorry; safe pre-travel checks of floor, lights and brakes are part of it.

See also: Trailer

Steering the horse from the ground with two long reins while the handler walks behind, slightly to one side.

See also: Lungeing

Moving the horse in a circle around the handler on a long line (the lunge), for training and exercise from the ground.

See also: Lungeing cavesson, Long-reining

A sturdy padded noseband with rings to attach the lunge line, giving more control than a halter without acting on the mouth.

See also: Lungeing

A congenital white marking on the head or legs, such as a blaze, star or white sock. Markings are separate from the coat colour itself.

See also: Blaze, Star, Snip

An auxiliary strap that limits how high the horse carries its head; a running martingale works via rings on the reins, a standing one via the noseband.

The band that runs over the horse's nose; the simplest form is the cavesson, other types are the flash, the drop and the grackle.

A posture in which the horse moves in balance with the poll as the highest point, the head near vertical and a soft, even contact with the hand.

See also: Transition

A lateral two-beat gait in which the two legs on the same side move together, instead of diagonally as in the trot.

See also: Tolt

A recessive dilution gene that shows only in double dose or together with cream, then giving a pale, even colour and sometimes light eyes.

See also: Cream, Recessive

The extremities of a horse: mane, tail, ear rims and lower legs. On a bay the points are black, and on a buckskin too.

See also: Agouti, Base colour

The highest point of the neck, just behind the ears, where the head hinges on the neck and the bridle headpiece rests.

The raised front of the saddle, where the tree comes together at the front and the leg can move freely forward.

See also: Cantle

The ancient markings that come with dun horses: the dorsal stripe, horizontal zebra bars on the legs and sometimes shoulder stripes.

See also: Dorsal stripe, Dun

A quick grooming before riding in which the rug is folded back in sections to keep the horse warm; feet, eyes, nose and dock are cleaned.

See also: Curry comb

A trait that shows only when a horse has two copies of the gene. Chestnut and pearl are for example recessive.

See also: Dominant, Homozygous

White and coloured hairs mixed on the barrel, with a coloured head and legs. Unlike a grey this does not change with age.

See also: Grey

A white pattern with irregular, ragged markings on the legs, belly and face, often with a lot of intermixed white hairs (roaning).

See also: Roan, Marking

A series of equal loops that wind from one long side to the other; at each crossing of the centre line the bend, and so the rein, changes.

See also: Centre line

A dominant gene that lightens only black, not red. Mane and tail turn silvery. On chestnut it is invisible. Linked to the eye condition MCOA.

See also: Dilution gene

A bit that works with direct pressure on the mouth, without leverage; the most common bit and the only one allowed at the lower dressage levels.

See also: Curb bit

A small white patch on or between the nostrils, separate from any blaze.

See also: Marking, Blaze

A white leg marking that reaches from the hoof to about halfway up the cannon, above the fetlock joint. White reaching higher, to the knee or hock, is a stocking.

The hard, concave underside of the hoof that protects the internal structures and helps bear the horse's weight.

See also: Frog, White line

A small white patch on the forehead. Larger, it is called a star.

See also: Marking, Blaze

A white leg marking that reaches to the knee (foreleg) or hock (hind leg), higher than a sock.

See also: Sock

Boots that cover the back of the forelegs, over the flexor tendons, against knocks.

See also: Brushing boots

A pinto pattern with large, rounded white patches that cross over the back, usually with white legs and a mostly coloured head.

See also: Marking

A comfortable lateral four-beat gait with no suspension, in the same footfall order as the walk but much faster; typical of the Icelandic horse.

See also: Pace, Walk

A towed vehicle to transport one or more horses behind a car, with a ramp for loading and unloading.

See also: Loading

A change of gait or of tempo within a gait, for example from walk to trot; in dressage it is judged on smoothness and balance.

See also: On the bit

Boots or wraps that protect the legs during transport from knocks and kicks against the walls.

See also: Trailer

A two-beat gait in which diagonal pairs of legs move together, with a short moment of suspension between the two beats.

See also: Walk, Canter

A waterproof, breathable rug for the field that protects against rain, wind and cold.

See also: Fly rug

A small circle of 6, 8 or 10 metres in diameter; a figure larger than 10 metres is called a circle.

See also: 20-metre circle

The slowest gait: a four-beat movement with no moment of suspension, with two or three hooves always on the ground.

See also: Trot, Canter

The visible junction on the underside of the hoof between the hoof wall and the sole, where the laminae attach the wall to the foot.

See also: Laminitis

The ridge where the neck meets the back; the height of the horse is measured here.