Copy of `Drs Foster and Smith - Riding terms`

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Drs Foster and Smith - Riding terms Category: Health and Medicine > Equine Veterinary Terms Date & country: 27/01/2014, USA Words: 122

Vertical
Upright fence with no spread. Can be rails, planks, gate, or wall.

Walk
A slow four-beat gait.

Warming-up
The process of going through the gaits while performing suppling exercises to limber up both horse and rider in the beginning of a workout.

Whoa
A verbal command used to signal a well-trained horse to stop. Usually combined with gently pulling back on the horse's reins.

Wrangling
Rounding up; saddling range horses.

Tree
The wooden or metal frame of a saddle.

Trot
Moderate-speed gait in which the horse moves from one diagonal pair of legs to the other, with a period of suspension in between.

Two Track
School movements in which the hindlegs follow a separate track from that made by the forelegs.

Vaulting
Equestrian sport involving gymnastic exercises done on the back of a moving horse.

Traverse or Side Up
Lateral movement without forward or backward movement.

Single-foot
A term formerly used to designate the rack.

Speedy Cutting
The inside of diagonal fore and hind pastern make contact; sometimes seen in fast-trotting horses.

Spread
To stretch or pose.

Trailer
Transportation vehicle of one or more horses, which is towed behind another vehicle.

Trappy
A short, quick, choppy stride; a tendency of horses with short, straight pasterns and straight shoulders.

Serpentine
School movement in which the horse, at any pace, moves down the center of the school in a series of equal-sized loops.

Shoulder-In
Two-track movement in which the horse is evenly bent along the length of its spine away from the direction in which it is moving.

Showmanship
A class at a horse show judged on the exhibitor's ability to fit (prepare) and show a horse at halter being poised and confident while leading a well-groomed and conditioned horse through a precise pattern.

Side-wheeler
A pacer that rolls the body sidewise as he paces.

Running Walk
A four-beat gait faster than a walk, often over 6 miles per hour.

Saddle Seat
A discipline of riding which is typically used for breeds that show with high knee and hock action and a very flashy, animated way of going.

School
Enclosed, marked out area used for the training and exercise of the horse. (See also Manege.)

School Movements
The gymnastic exercises performed in the school or manege.

Rising Trot
The action of the rider rising from the saddle in rhythm with the horse's trot. (Also called Posting Trot.)

Reverse
A command used in the show ring to indicate a change of direction.

Rack
The fifth gait of the American Saddlebred - a flashy four-beat gait.

Rein Back
When a horse moves backward with the hooves being set down almost simultaneously in diagonal pairs.

Reining
Type of Western riding in which advanced movements such as spins and slides are executed in various patterns.

Pounding
Heavy contact with ground instead of desired light, springy movement.

Posting Trot
The action of the rider rising from the saddle in rhythm with the horse's trot. (Also called Rising Trot.)

Plantation Pleasure
An English class judged on manners and way of going to include Tennessee Walking Horses, which will show at the flat walk, running walk, and canter.

Pleasure Driving
A class of horses pulling carts which is judged on manners and way of going.

Pointing
Perceptible extension of the stride with little flexion; likely to occur in the long-strided Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeds - animals bred and trained for great speed.

Pirouette
Dressage movement in which the forelegs of the horse describe a small circle, while the hind legs remain in place, one of them acting as a pivot.

Paddling
Throwing the front feet outward as they are picked up; most common in toe-narrow or pigeon-toed horses.

Passage
Dressage movement in which the horse trots in an extremely collected and animated manner.

Passenger
One who rides a horse without control, letting the horse go as he wishes.

Performance Registry
A record book in which the performance of animals is recorded and preserved.

Piaffe
Dressage movement in which the horse trots in place, with forehand elevated and croup lowered.

Pacer
A horse which moves its legs in lateral pairs, rather than the conventional diagonal pairs.

Pace
A lateral two-beat gait mostly performed by gaited horses.

Overreaching
Faulty gait in which the hind foot steps on the heel of the front foot on the same side. Occurs most often when the horse is galloping or jumping.

Offside
The right hand side of the horse.

Outfit
The equipment of rancher or horseman.

Outside
When riding in a ring, the side closest to the rail or fence of the ring.

Overface
To present a young horse at a fence which is beyond his level of training, or beyond his physical capability.

Nearside
The left hand side of the horse.

Manege
An enclosure used for training and schooling horses. Also called a school.

Lope
Slow Western canter.

Line-Up
A command used in the show ring for riders to come to the center of the ring and form a line.

Jog
Western riding term for trot. Also used to describe a slow, somewhat shortened pace in English riding.

Leg Up
Method of mounting in which an assistant stands behind the rider and supports the lower part of his left leg and giving a boost as necessary as the rider springs up off the ground.

Leopard
A rope which attaches to the halter that is used to lead or tie a horse with.

Levade
A classical air above the ground in which the forehand is lifted with bent forelegs on deeply bent hind legs - a controlled half-rear.

Inside
In a ring, the side of the horse closer to the center of the ring.

Inside Leg
The legs of both horse and rider which are on the inside of any circle or curved track being travelled.

Interference
Faulty gait in which a foot strikes the fetlock or cannon of the opposite foot; most often done by base-narrow, toe-wide, or splay-footed horses.

Indirect Rein
The opposite rein to the direction in which the horse is moving. When giving an indirect rein aid, the instruction comes by pressing the opposite rein against the horse's neck.

In Front of the Bit
A term used to describe a horse which pulls or hangs heavily on the rider's hand.

In Hand
When a horse is controlled from the ground rather than being ridden.

Hand Gallop
An extension of the canter.

Haute Ecole
The classical art of advanced riding. See also Airs Above the Ground.

High School
Advanced training and exercise of the horse.

Horsemanship
The art of equitation or riding.

Hunt Seat
An English discipline which includes riding on the flat and over fences to demonstrate suitability to the hunt field.

Impulsion
Strong, but controlled, forward movement in the horse (not to be confused with speed).

Halter-broke
Term used to describe a young horse that has been accustomed to the very basics of wearing a halter.

Half Pass
Dressage movement performed on two tracks in which the horse moves sideways and forwards at the same time.

Halt
When the horse is at a standstill.

Ground Line
Pole placed on the ground in front of a fence to help the horse and/or rider judge the take-off point.

Gymkhana
Mounted games, including bending poles, sack race, musical sacks, and a variety of other games and races.

Gymnastic
Combination of fences placed at relative distances to each other, used in the training of the jumping horse.

Habit
Traditional riding attire for sidesaddle riders.

Going
Term used to describe the nature of the ground, i.e. deep, good, rough.

Green
A horse that is in the early learning stage of his particular discipline is said to be green.

Greenbroke
Horse that has been accustomed to the tack and the rider and has begun initial training. (Also called broken-in or broke to ride.)

Four-In-Hand
A team of four harness horses.

Fox Trot
A short-step gait, as when passing from walk to trot.

Gait
The paces at which horses move, usually the walk, trot, canter, and gallop.

Gallop
Four-beated gait of the horse, in which each foot touches the ground separately, as opposed to the canter, which is a three-beat gait.

Extravagant Action
High knee and hock action such as that seen in the Hackney and the Saddlebred.

Flat Race
A race without jumps.

Floating
The action associated with the trotting gait of the Arabian horse.

Flying Change
Change of canter lead performed by the horse to rebalance during turns and changes of direction.

Forefooting
Roping an animal by the forefeet.

Forging
A fault in a gait which occurs when a hind foot strikes the bottom of the front foot on the same side.

Engagement
The hindlegs are engaged when they are brought well under the body.

English Pleasure
A saddleseat class judged on manners, performance, attitude, and quality of the horse.

Equitation
The art of horse riding.

Eventing
Equestrian competition held over one or three days and including the disciplines of dressage, cross country, and show jumping. Also known as Combined Training.

Extension
The extension of the paces is the lengthening of the frame and stride. The opposite of collection.

Disunited
Canter in which the horse's legs are out of sequence.

Dressage
(i) The art of training the horse so that he is totally obedient and responsive to the rider, as well as supple and agile in his performance. (ii) Competitive sport which, by a series of set tests, seeks to judge the horse's natural movement and level of training against an ideal.

Driving
A discipline in which a horse or horses pull a vehicle such as a carriage, cart, or wagon.

Crow Hops
Mild bucking motions.

Cues
Another name for aids. Signals by which the rider communicates his wishes to the horse.

Diagonals
The horse's legs move in pairs at the trot, called diagonals. The left diagonal is when the left foreleg and right hindleg move together, the right diagonal is when the right foreleg and the left hindleg move together.

Dishing
A faulty action, where the foot of the foreleg is thrown outward in a circular movement with each stride.

Counter Canter
School movement in which the horse canters in a circle with the outside leg leading, instead of the more usual inside leg.

Courbette
One of the Airs Above the Ground. After performing the levade, the horse bounds or hops forward on bent hind legs.