Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up, and involves putting the tack equipment on the horse. A room to store such equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room.
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are limited exclusively to jumpers. Sometimes jumper classes are offered in conjunction with other English-style events. Sometimes, show jumping is but one division of a very large, all-breed competition that includes a very wide variety of disciplines. Jumping classes may be governed by various national horse show sanctioning organizations, such as the United States Equestrian Federation or the British Showjumping Association. International competitions are governed by the rules of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope, or the gallop. Originating from working cattle, reining is often described as a Western form of dressage riding, as it requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen, and judges the horse on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements. The horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. A horse that pins his ears, conveying a threat to his rider, refuses to go forward, runs sideways, bounces his rear, wrings his tail in irritation or displays an overall poor attitude is not being guided willingly, and is judged accordingly.
Tendinitis/tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon, often involving torn collagen fibers. A bowed tendon is a horseman's term for a tendon after a horse has sustained an injury that causes swelling in one or more tendons creating a "bowed" appearance.
Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training and exercising horses. It is also a critical component of the sport of equestrian vaulting.
Equine conformation evaluates a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Undesirable conformation can limit the ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several faults with universal disadvantages, a horse's conformation is usually judged by what its intended use may be. Thus "form to function" is one of the first set of traits considered in judging conformation. A horse with poor form for a Grand Prix show jumper could have excellent conformation for a World Champion cutting horse, or to be a champion draft horse. Every horse has good and bad points of its conformation and many horses excel even with conformation faults.
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.
Bell boots, or overreach boots, are a type of protective boot worn by a horse. They encircle the horse's ankle, and protect the back of the lower front leg—the pastern and heels—from being struck by the toe of the rear hoof.
A stable bandage, or standing bandage/wrap, is a type of wrap used on the lower legs of a horse. A stable bandage runs from just below the knee or hock, to the bottom of the fetlock joint, and protects the cannon bone, tendons of the lower leg, and fetlock joint.
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, 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.
There are many aspects to horse management. Horses, ponies, mules, donkeys and other domesticated equids require attention from humans for optimal health and long life.
The pastern is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone and the short pastern bone, which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to form the pastern joint. Anatomically homologous to the two largest bones found in the human finger, the pastern was famously mis-defined by Samuel Johnson in his dictionary as "the knee of a horse". When a lady asked Johnson how this had happened, he gave the much-quoted reply: "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance."
Horse grooming is hygienic care given to a horse, or a process by which the horse's physical appearance is enhanced for horse shows or other types of competition.
The skeletal system of the horse is a skeletal system of a horse that has three major functions in the body. It protects vital organs, provides framework, and supports soft parts of the body. Horses typically have 205 bones. The pelvic limb typically contains 19 bones, while the thoracic limb contains 20 bones.
Leg wraps and boots are used for the protection of the lower legs of horses during training, shipping, and exercise, as well as for therapeutic and medical purposes to provide support or cover for injuries.
Splint boots or brushing boots are used to protect a horse's legs during exercise, protecting the lower leg from injury that may occur if one leg or hoof strikes the opposite leg. The boots generally cover the leg from below the knee to below the fetlock. Shorter boots are called fetlock boots.
A shipping bandage, shipping boot, or shipping wrap, is a type of stable bandage or boot used on the lower legs of a horse to protect the animal while travelling in a horse trailer or other conveyance. The bandage starts just below the knee or hock, and ends at the floor, protecting the cannon bone, tendons of the lower leg, fetlock, pastern, coronet, and heels of the horse. Some boot designs extend slightly above the knee and hock, offering protection to the joints in the event the horse bumps its upper legs on the sides of the trailer.
Skid boots are used to protect a horse's hind legs during exercise and competition, protecting the fetlocks, pasterns, and other parts of the lower leg from injury that may occur from a sliding stop. Taller varieties may also provide protection if one leg or hoof strikes the opposite leg. They are commonly seen on horses in western riding sports such as cutting, reining and other events where quick stops and fast turns on the hindquarters may be required.
The limbs of the horse are structures made of dozens of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support the weight of the equine body. They include two apparatuses: the suspensory apparatus, which carries much of the weight, prevents overextension of the joint and absorbs shock, and the stay apparatus, which locks major joints in the limbs, allowing horses to remain standing while relaxed or asleep. The limbs play a major part in the movement of the horse, with the legs performing the functions of absorbing impact, bearing weight, and providing thrust. In general, the majority of the weight is borne by the front legs, while the rear legs provide propulsion. The hooves are also important structures, providing support, traction and shock absorption, and containing structures that provide blood flow through the lower leg. As the horse developed as a cursorial animal, with a primary defense mechanism of running over hard ground, its legs evolved to the long, sturdy, light-weight, one-toed form seen today.
The stay apparatus is an arrangement of muscles, tendons and ligaments that work together so that an animal can remain standing with virtually no muscular effort. It is best known as the mechanism by which horses can enter a light sleep while still standing up. The effect is that an animal can distribute its weight on three limbs while resting a fourth in a flexed, non-weight bearing position. The animal can periodically shift its weight to rest a different leg and thus all limbs are able to be individually rested, reducing overall wear and tear. The relatively slim legs of certain large mammals such as horses and cows would be subject to dangerous levels of fatigue if not for the stay apparatus.
