Extreme Equestrian Study Page

This online lesson program is not intended to be a substitute for riding lessons, instead is is intended to be a thorough introduction for non-riders and a valuable educational tool to riders.  Horses can be unpredictable at times and can cause harm to inexperienced handlers, please seek a professional instructor or trainer when applying your knowledge learned during this online lesson program.

1.        Basic hoof care.

Horse's feet should be cleaned out daily before and after being worked.  In addition, if the horse is walked on gravel or turned out, it's feet should be cleaned out to make sure a stone or rock did not lodge in it.  Normally a horse will need it's hooves trimmed every 4-6 weeks.  Some horses require special shoes to prevent lameness or to help them move more correctly.  The person shown in the picture is called a horse shoer or farrier.  He/she must have special training to trim or shoe a horse.

2.        Basic horse confirmation

Confirmation describes how the horse is put together. 

This includes it's balance, structure, way of going, quality, breed and sex characteristics.  Every breed has its own standards.  This section is based on the American Quarter Horse.

 

Balance ~ Notoria Te pictured (Superior AQHA halter horse)

When evaluating the confirmation of a horse look first at the horse's profile (as in the picture at left).  The horse should have three equal parts:  the neck, the back, and the hindquarters.    The horse should also be balanced vertically.  This means the distance from the top of the withers to the bottom of the heart girth is equal to the distance from the bottom of the heart girth to the ground.  The horse pictured shows very good balance both horizontally and vertically.

 

Structure

This describes how the bones are put together.  You want to see the legs set nicely under the horse and when viewed from the front and behind the legs should appear straight.  Their are many deviations that can occur.  Another item to notice is the angles of the shoulder and hip, both are very important influences on gait and soundness (usefulness).

 

Way of going

This must be evaluated from the front and behind as well as at the profile.  You want to see that the horse's legs travel straight and do not interfere with one another.  While watching a horse "track" you should note if they throw their legs outward or inward while in motion.  Quarter horses should have a smooth flowing slow gait that is not choppy nor quick.  You want to see a balanced way of going that looks as if they a re pushing themselves forward with their hindquarters rather than pulling themselves forward with their front legs.  Quality of movement will also be  evaluated according to each individual breed standard.

 

Quality ~ Impressive Dandy pictured (World Champion AQHA halter horse)

This describes many aspects such as muscling and conditioning.  When viewing a horse from any angle you want to see well defined smooth muscling, a clean, shiny hair coat, and good overall conditioning of the horse.  As you can tell from this picture of Impressive Dandy he has well defined muscles along with quantity of muscling.  A few things to note is the nice inverted "v" in his chest muscling and the well defined muscling in his shoulder.  From this angle you can also appreciate the size of his gaskin and stifle.

 

Breed and sex character

Of course every breed has its own guidelines to follow.  Generally speaking you want a quarter horse to have quality and quantity of muscling.  Height is unimportant as long as the horse is well proportioned and not excessively short (under 14 hands).  Sex character refers to traits that make the horse appear masculine or feminine.  A stallion will have a broader head and larger jaw, and a mare should show petite well-chiseled features.  Geldings will fall somewhere in between.

 

Extra info:  a stallion is a male horse of breeding age; a colt is a young male horse; a mare is a female horse of breeding age; a filly is a young female horse; a gelding is a male horse that has been gelded (can no longer sire offspring); 

 

Extra info:  a horse is measured in hands, 1 hand equals 4 inches.  Ponies are under 14.2 (14 hands and 2 inches), horse are 14.2 (14 hands and 2 inches) and taller, and miniature horses are 36 inches and smaller.

 

Extra info:  Colors and markings

There are many colors and shades that are recognized by different breed associations.  Here are the colors recognized by the American Quarter Horse Association.

(a) BAY: body color ranging from tan, through red, to reddish brown; mane and tail black — usually black on lower legs.
(b) BLACK: body color true black without light areas; mane and tail black.
(c) BROWN: body color brown or black with light areas at muzzle, eyes, flank and inside upper legs; mane and tail black.
(d) SORREL: body color reddish or copper-red; mane and tail usually same color as body, but may be flaxen.
(e) CHESTNUT: body color dark red or brownish-red; mane and tail usually dark red or brownish-red, but may be flaxen.
(f) DUN: body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail are black or brown; has dorsal stripe and usually zebra stripes on legs, and transverse stripe over withers.
(g) RED DUN: a form of dun with body color yellowish or flesh colored, mane and tail are red or reddish, flaxen, white or mixed; has red or reddish dorsal stripe and usually red or reddish zebra stripes on legs and transverse stripe over withers.
(h) GRULLO: body color smoky or mouse-colored (not a mixture of black and white hairs, but each hair mouse-colored); mane and tail black; usually has black dorsal stripe and black on lower legs.
(i) BUCKSKIN: body color yellowish or gold; mane and tail black; black on lower legs; typically buckskins do not have dorsal stripes.
(j) PALOMINO: body color a golden yellow; mane and tail white; typically palominos do not have dorsal stripes.
(k) GRAY: mixture of white with any other colored hairs; often born solid-colored or almost solid-colored and get lighter with age as more white hairs appear.
(l) RED ROAN: more or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have red or flaxen mane and/or tail.
(m) BLUE ROAN: more or less uniform mixture of white with black hairs over a large portion of the body, but usually darker on head and lower legs; can have a few red hairs in mixture.
(n) BAY ROAN: more or less uniform mixture of white with red hairs on a large portion of the body; darker on head, usually red but can have a few black hairs in mixture; black mane and tail and black on lower legs.
(o) CREMELLO: light (or pink) skin over the body, white or cream-colored hair and blue eyes.
(p) PERLINO: light (or pink) skin over the body, white or cream-colored hair and blue eyes. Mane, tail and lower legs slightly darker than body color.

 

Markings recognized by the American Quarter Horse Association
(a) SNIP: Any white marking between the two nostrils.
(b) STAR: Any marking on the forehead.
(c) STRIP: A narrow marking extending vertically in the area between the forehead and the nostrils.
(d) BLAZE: A vertical marking of medium, uniform width extending the length of the face.
(e) STAR AND STRIP: A marking on the forehead with a strip to the nasal peak. The strip does not have to be an extension of the star.
(f) STAR, STRIP and SNIP: A marking on the forehead with a narrow extension of the nasal peak and opening up again between the nostrils. These may be connected.
(g) BALD FACE: A very broad blaze. It can extend out and around the eyes and it can extend down to the upper lip and around the nostrils.
(h) CORONET: Any narrow marking around the coronet above the hoof.
(i) HALF PASTERN: A marking which includes only half the pastern above the coronet.
(j) PASTERN: A marking which includes the entire pastern.
(k) SOCK: A marking which extends around the leg, from the coronet halfway up the cannon bone, or halfway to the knee on the foreleg or halfway to the hock on the back leg.
(l) STOCKING: A full marking to the area of the knee on the foreleg and to the area of the hock on the hind leg. It is an extended sock.
(m) ROAN PATCHES; PATCHES OF SCATTEREDWHITE HAIR: Areas with white hair scattered through the basic body color and which do not have underlying light-colored skin.
(n) PATCHES OF DARKER-COLORED HAIR: Concentrated areas in which the hair has a darker pigmentation than the surrounding hair of its basic body color.
(o) DARK SPOTS: Patches of dark hair (or basic body color) within white markings.
 

Here are some examples of colors and markings

This young gelding is sorrel in color with a sock (right hind) and pastern (left hind)

 

This stallion is sorrel with a blaze that extends down muzzle and upper lip.  He also has two hind stockings.

This buckskin gelding has 2 hind pasterns, and a front half pastern.

Half pastern marking

Pastern marking

This little pony is silver dapple, common in ponies, rare in other breeds

3.        Basic vet care of the horse

Yearly exam

            Vet will check the over health of horse and recommend changes in diet or additional steps to keep/restore horse's health.

                Tetanus

                Eastern and Western Encephalomyelitis

                Strangles

                Rabies

                West Nile Virus

A regular de-worming schedule is very important to protect the health of your horse.

de-worming methods:  paste de-wormer, feed additive, tube de-worming

4.        Oral care of the horse

During the yearly exam, the vet will check to see if your horse's teeth need "floated".  This is when a file is used to shave off sharp edges on the horse's teeth.  As a horse ages this must be done more often.  This process does not hurt the horse, although a sedative is normally given to keep the horse quiet and the vet safe.  Failure to keep a horse's teeth smooth may increase it's risk for colic and can cause weight loss.  If you notice whole grain in the manure your horse might need its teeth floated.

Young horses (usually yearlings) may need their wolf teeth removed to prevent them from being irritated by having a bit in their mouth when they are ridden.  Not all horse have wolf teeth (similar to wisdom teeth in people).

5.        The 5 rein aids

Direct rein ~ When the rein is pulled directly back.

Indirect rein ~ When a rein is pulled towards the opposite shoulder.

Neck rein ~ The horse responds to light rein pressure on the neck by turning away from it.

Opening rein ~  This describes when you guide the horse by simply taking your hand in the direction of the turn (one rein in each hand)

Pulley rein ~ This is also called an emergency stopping rein.  One hand shortens up on the rein and grasps mane or the horn, the other hand pulls directly back.  This uses leverage to stop the horse in case of an emergency.

6.        Write a paragraph on what you learned from this online program

No study help.

 

    Click HERE to take Extreme Equestrian Test

Click HERE to go back to Online Lesson Program page