Breeds, Breeds, and More Breeds!

Stock Types

-The American Quarter Horse

  Uses: Plowing, pulling, racing, herding, roping, and cutting

  Sometimes crossed with Thoroughbreds for English style riding

  The shorter horses used with cattle

-The American Paint Horse

   Variety of colors and markings

         Tobiano: flanks covered in dark markings, all 4 legs are white, splotches

         Overo: White typically does not cross over the back between withers and tail, all legs dark and face white, tail usually one color

         Tovero: one or both eyes are blue, color on mouth, chest spot, flank spot, other small spots

-Appaloosa

  Uses: used by natives for war and hunting (first people to breed for specific traits, markings thought to be mystical)

  Eyes show more white, hoof vertical stripes, distinguished coat pattern, skin around lips, eyes and genitals have highlights

Light Type

-The Arabian

  Developed for stamina and endurance

  Distinguishing features: Dip in the face below eyes, ears dip in, high arched neck, arched tail, one less rib, one less lumbar vertebrae, shorter tail bone

   Foundation breed for development of other breeds

   Not as animated in Western and Hunter seat

   Saddleseat: head held higher

-The American Morgan

  Founder of the Breed: Justin Morgan

  Similar to QH but has higher/more crest

  Calvary and pulling horses

  Crossed with Saddlebred today

  Typical stretched out stance

  Flat croup, higher held tail, elevated neck, thickness in neck

  Judging (Highest degree of perfection)

     -basic conformation

     -strong moving, eagerness

     -slightly dished face, eyes and ears set far apart

     -14.1-15.2 avg.

-The Thoroughbred

  Originated in England

  Typically English (Jumping, racing, dressage)

  Bred for long distance

  longer, smoother muscling

  Man-O-War was a thoroughbred racer and had a 28ft stride. Watch this video to see it! You can jump to about 1:27 to see him actually racing  ------------>https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=tScwlWdpep8&feature=fvwp

Basic Terminology To Know

These are some basic terms to know when it comes down to working with horses:

Mare: A fully mature female horse.

Filly: a young female horse under the age of four that has yet to foal.

Colt: a young male horse under the age of four

Foal: young horse especially under 1 year of age or still nursing mare. This can apply to either a filly or colt.

Suckling: foal that is still nursing

Weanling: a young horse under 1 year of age that has been removed or weaned from it mother (dam)

Covered by a stallion: A term that means a mare was bred by a stallion.

To foal: to give birth

Stallion: an intact adult male horse, esp. one used for breeding

Gelding: a castrated male horse

Dam: the mother of a foal

Sire: the father of a foal.

Short yearling/Long yearling: short yearling is a yearling horse that is just turned a year old. A long yearling is a horse that is closer to two than one year of age. Note: registered horses change age with new calendar year, not on their birth date. For example, a foal born in January and a foal born in August will be considered the same age in January when they are called yearlings.

Maiden: this term is used with race horses and is a horse that has never won a race

Maiden Mare: female equine over 2 years of age that has not been covered by a stallion. The term filly could also be used with the female that is 2 or three years of age.

Open Mare: a mare that has had foals previously but is not pregnant now

"In foal": pregnant female

Castration: to remove the testicles of a male

Intact: a male horse that has it testicles and has not been castrated.

Cryptorchid: failure of one testicle (unilateral) or both testicles (bilateral) to descend into the scrotum.

Equine Flehmen Response: This horse is exhibiting the flehmen response, which horses do in response to several stimuli. Most frequently this response can be seen in stallions when they smell the urine of a mare in heat. This response can also be seen in response to other smells as it allows the horse to clearly smell, analyze and process the scent. The lifting of the upper lip helps a horse more clearly smell, analyze, and process a scent in their environment.

High Flanker: a male in which the testis descend into the inquinal canal but not into the scrotum.

Estrus/in heat: time during the estrous cycle when the mare is receptive to the stallion

Diestrus: the time during the estrous cycle when the mare is not receptive to the stallion

Estrous Cycle: the entire cycle including estrus and diestrus.

Anestrus: a phase where the mare is not showing an estrous cycle. Typically associated with the winter season.

Barren: bred several cycles in a season without pregnancy or lost pregnancy

Halter and lead rope: made of rope, nylon or leather. Used to catch and lead horse

Horse: typically considered to be an equine over 14.2 hands

Pony: Typically considered to be an equine equal to or shorter than 14.2 hands

Hand: measurement used to calculate horse height. Equal to 4 inches. Measured vertically from withers to ground.

Cribbing: An obsessive-compulsive behavior horses exhibit by grabbing a stationary object (fence rail) with the top teeth, extending the neck by pulling backwards, while swallowing air and grunting. It is thought this activity releases brain chemicals that make the horse feel better.

Flake/leaf of hay: one section of hay

Horse Behavior and Safety

To understand and be safe around horses you need to understand their behavior
Reactive Behavior: anything a horse does to interact with its environment

• Find shelter, "socialize"
• Body Language
• Ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tail set, legs, headset

Ingestive Behavior: natural, eating, drinking, all day grazers

Eliminative Behavior: act of defecating (2-3 hrs) and urinating (4-6 hrs)

Sexual Behavior: courtship, mating, maternal behavior, mares in heat, mares more dominant in herds

Epimeletic Behavior: care-seeking and care-giving behavior, grooming each other, vocalization after separation

Agnoistic Behavior: Dominance, Flight or Fight, horses view humans as predators
Herd Behavior: like being in groups, dilike being separated from others, (herd bound)
Pecking Order: Where do you stand in the herd?
Mimicry Behavior: Copycat behavior (colts with mares)
Investigative Behavior: Curiosity, learning
Grooming Behavior: Self grooming, grooming each other (socialization)
Sleeping and Rest Behavior: Horses sleep standing and lying down
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS NORMAL SO WE KNOW WHEN IT ISN'T NORMAL
Anatomy Influences Behavior
Vision and Hearing: Blindspots are directly in front of them, directly above them (their back), and directly behind them. Their eye placement is for grazing and because of their prey animal behavior, alarm noise= high pitch and loud noise, Calming Effect= lower pitch

Understanding these and using them to understand how to move around a horse will keep you and the horse safe. Getting kicked, knocked over, bitten, etc. can be avoided. Another thing to understand is reading the body language of the horse which I will go over in a later post.

Thanks for reading! Hope you find this helpful!
God Bless and have a good day!
Andrea