A School Horse Legacy, Volume 1: ...As Tails Go By. Anne Wade-Hornsby
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Shades of gold from pale to dark bronze, with white or pale mane and tail.
Pinto/paint –
Pintos are any unregistered, spotted horse. Can be base white with colored markings or colored base with white markings. Paints are registered offspring of Thoroughbreds or Quarter Horses with more white on them than the registry allows. All Paints are pintos in color, but not all pintos are Paints.
Points –
Ears, legs, tail, mane
Sorrel/Chestnut –
Solid shades of reddish brown, might have a flaxen mane and tail.
Stockings/socks –
Colored area (usually white or black) of the leg from where the hoof joins the leg as high up as just past the knees(front legs) or hocks(back legs).
Equipment
All the school horses used English tack: a saddle, bridle, and breast collar – the neckpiece that kept the saddle from slipping back when jumping or climbing hills. However, we also used specialized equipment for specific results.
Bits –
These come in two basic types. Snaffles can be solid or jointed, smooth or twisted with D-rings, loose round rings, integrated rings (Eggbutt) or have full or half metal stops (shanks) between the lip and the rings to keep the rings from sliding through the mouth. These are considered the less severe class of bits. The others, and there are mind-boggling numbers of these, have the commonality of using a curb chain under the lower jaw for more leverage. In other words, besides the pressure exerted by the direct pull on the mouthpiece, the pressure from the rider’s hands also tightens the chain under the horse’s jaw. These range in severity from mild to overwhelming. Most of the horses in my school used snaffles. Some didn’t listen to any bit at all.
Double reins –
Sometimes a horse may have two bits or a bit with two rings on each side for reins. Then there are two reins in the riders hand, the snaffle rein and the curb rein. The snaffle is less severe and the curb more severe. The use of a bit requiring double reins can be decided by the type of class (upper level dressage, saddle seat) the rider is in or the type of control the rider wants or needs. Usually double reins are associated with more control of the horse when the snaffle doesn’t seem enough. In my classes, they were seldom used. For one, they weren’t needed. For another, if I were using draw reins in association with the regular reins, the rider already had two sets of reins to deal with.
Draw reins –
These long reins go from the rider’s hands through the bit rings and attach to either a ring on the breast collar or to the girth. They assist in keeping the horse from pulling at the bit and make keeping the horse and rider balanced easier The rider also uses the reins on the bit. There are two sets of reins in the rider’s hands.
German draw reins(martingale) –
The reins attached to the bit have four or more evenly spaced rings attached along about two to two and one half feet of their length starting about three inches from the bit. A second element, a partially split piece, attaches to the girth or to the breast collar. Each part of the split goes through the two bit rings and snaps to the appropriate rings on the reins. The horse is encouraged not to pull. The rider carries one rein, and can easily loosen the hold on the reins or not. Under direct instruction, that is, with me watching one on one the rider and the effect of the reins on the horse, draw reins are a valuable aide to helping both horse and rider understand how to collect and balance.
Jumps –
Whatever you ask your horse to jump over. The side pieces, called standards hold the cups that hold whatever is the top of the obstacle. It could be a rail or a plank or a banner… Besides the height, jumps are designated by width, shape, and solidity. Rail jumps, simply made up of rails or poles, can be:
One rail wide – a vertical.
Two rails wide – an oxer.
Top rails parallel
Back rail higher than front
The two rails make a high “X” - Swedish oxer
Three rails wide – a hogsback
Middle rail is highest
Or, a really wide oxer
Planks – are used instead of rails
Naturals – any natural object, like a log
Brush – brush, sticks, compose the body of the obstacle.
Bullfinch is a special type of brush jump that is higher than the horse. The horse jumps through it on faith!
Wall – brick, stone, wood painted to look like brick or stone. Usually has a flat top between the two parallel sides.
Coop – the two solid sides of the jump meet at a point on top that is narrower than the sides at the base. The sides slant in at the top.
Ditch – may be natural or constructed with stone or wood lining.
Trakehner – a ditch with a rail over the length of the center of the ditch. Bank – the horse jumps up or down a terrace of some sort.
Water – the horse jumps over or into water. It may have a rail above the water or not.
All other jumps are a variation on these. As a rule, jumps in an arena are more man-made looking than jumps on an outside or cross-country course, though course designers are the ones responsible for all the competition obstacles that horses are asked to clear. During a Hunt, horses and riders may jump all sorts of naturally occurring phenomena that pop up in front of them, some that defy exact definition: geese and boulders come to my mind!
Longe line –
A long or “lunge” line is at least a 20 foot rope or web line, preferably with a swivel at each end, that the trainer can snap to a halter or bridle, pay out, and ask the horse to work around her in a circle while she stands in the center. I used mine with a surcingle for specific training goals and not just for exercise, since I had turn-out pens for that, and riders were expected to exercise the horses.
Running martingale –
A forked (split) piece of nylon web or leather that attaches to the breast collar on one end with rings for the reins to pass through on the other. It keeps the reins from flipping over the horse’s head if it tosses it around, and also helps with leverage and balance should the horse want to take off.
Side reins –
Used to connect the horse’s halter or bridle/bit to the rings of the surcingle. I used elastic side reins or bungee cords. Basically, the horse learns to deal with the consistent pressure on the bit that the trainer has set with the attachment and length of the side reins. This is a technique used in training from the ground, i.e., when the trainer/rider is not on the horse. German draw reins perform much the same function if the horse is being ridden.
Surcingle –
A four to eight inch “belt” or girth of nylon web or leather that can be buckled around the horse’s barrel. All of them have strategically placed rings on the sides, top, and under the belly to which you buckle or snap reins, bungee cords, or cords. Some have extra attachments, like handles, so a rider can grab onto them and vault onto the horse. Often seen at circuses.
General Health and Other Terms
DMSO –
Dimethyl sulfoxide – in gel or liquid form, a treatment that greatly helps reduce soft tissue swelling. I use it as a first treatment when I am concerned about leg problems.
Colostrum –
A milky, waxy appearing substance produced by a mare for the foal to suckle right