Tack refers to equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up. A room to store such equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room.
A knout is a heavy scourge-like multiple whip, usually made of a bunch of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle, sometimes with metal wire or hooks incorporated. The English word stems from a spelling-pronunciation of a French transliteration of the Russian word кнут (knut), which simply means "whip".
A lasso, also called lariat, riata, or reata, is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the American cowboy. The word is also a verb; to lasso is to throw the loop of rope around something. Although the tool has several proper names, such terms are rarely employed by those who actually use it; nearly all cowboys simply call it a "rope," and the use of such "roping." To most cowboys, the use of other terms — especially "lasso" — identifies the user as a layman.
A whip is a tool which was traditionally designed to strike animals or people to aid guidance or exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities, whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid or visual directional cue in equestrianism. Whips are generally of two types, either a firm stick designed for direct contact, or a flexible whip that requires a specialized swing to be effective, but has a longer reach and greater force, but may have less precision. There are also whips which combine both a firm stick and a flexible line, such as hunting whips.
Western saddles are used for western riding and are the saddles used on working horses on cattle ranches throughout the United States, particularly in the west. They are the "cowboy" saddles familiar to movie viewers, rodeo fans, and those who have gone on trail rides at guest ranches. This saddle was designed to provide security and comfort to the rider when spending long hours on a horse, traveling over rugged terrain.
A halter or headcollar is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears, and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. On smaller animals, such as dogs, a leash is attached to the halter.
A D-ring is an item of hardware, usually a tie-down metal ring shaped like the letter D used primarily as a lashing point. The term is found interchangeably spelled in different forms, such as: Dring, d-ring or even Dee-ring.
Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training horses, where a horse is asked to work at the end of a lunge line and respond to commands from a handler on the ground who holds the line. It is also a critical component of the sport of equestrian vaulting. Longeing is performed in a large circle with the horse traveling around the outside edge of a real or imaginary ring with the trainer in the middle.
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband.
A girth, sometimes called a cinch, is a piece of equipment used to keep the saddle in place on a horse or other animal. It passes under the barrel of the equine, usually attached to the saddle on both sides by two or three leather straps called billets. Girths are used on Australian and English saddles, while western saddles and many pack saddles have a cinch, which is fastened to the saddle by a single wide leather strap on each side, called a latigo.
Saddlebags are bags that are attached to saddles.
A breastplate is a piece of riding equipment used on horses. Its purpose is to keep the saddle or harness from sliding back.
Kaginawa (鈎縄) is the combination of the words kagi meaning hook and nawa meaning rope. The kaginawa is a type of grappling hook used as a tool in feudal Japan by the samurai class, their retainers, foot soldiers and reportedly by ninja. Kaginawa have several configurations, from one to four hooks. The kagi would be attached to a nawa of varying length; this was then used to scale a rather large wall, to secure a boat, or for hanging up armor and other equipment during the night. Kaginawa were regularly used during various sieges of miscellaneous castles. The nawa was attached to a ring on one end which could be used to hang it from a saddle.
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to be driven and to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat.
A lead, lead line, lead rope (US) or head collar rope (UK), is used to lead an animal such as a horse. Usually, it is attached to a halter. The lead may be integral to the halter or, more often, separate. When separate, it is attached to the halter with a heavy clip or snap so that it can be added or removed as needed. A related term, lead shank or lead chain refers to a lead line with a chain attached that is used in a variety of ways to safely control possibly difficult or dangerous horses if they will not respond to a regular lead.
A cargo net is a type of net. It is usually square or rectangle, but sometimes round, made of thick rope, with cinch ropes extending from the corners, and in some designs, the edges. It is named for its use in transferring cargo to and from ships.
The diamond hitch is a lashing technique used mainly in the field of equine packing, to secure a set of objects, for instance a pair of pack-bags, pack-boxes or other gear onto a base, for instance a pack saddle frame, in which case it requires the use of a lash cinch. In the general sense it requires the base to be equipped with at least two points of anchorage, and a rope which is used to lash the object down onto the base. There are two types of Diamond Hitches, a single, shown here, and a double diamond hitch which is not shown.
A curtain tie-back is a decorative window treatment which accompanies a cloth curtain. Within the field of interior decoration, tie-backs made of fabric are classified as a kind of "soft furnishing" while those made out of wood, metal, or glass are considered "window hardware".
A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one end of the hook is pointed, so that this end can pierce another material, which is then held by the curved or indented portion.
