| There are many parts to a horse and do I really have | | | | helpful to be able to tell the veterinarian in horse terms, |
| to bother to know them all? Well, that all depends on | | | | where on his body he hurt himself. "He hurt himself on |
| who is doing the asking. Certainly a person who owns | | | | his leg"; the foreleg, the hindleg, the knee or the hock; |
| a horse would know about the horse. Any person | | | | where exactly? |
| wanting to ride a horse needs to know a number of | | | | The most significant time to know the parts of a horse |
| parts of the horse. | | | | is when you are buying a horse. When you buy a |
| When you learn to ride a bicycle, some one tells you | | | | horse, you have to look at his conformation. How well |
| to hold onto the handle bars, sit in the seat and put | | | | is his body put together? Does he have sickle hocks, is |
| your feet on the peddles. Horse riding is very much the | | | | he over at the knee? |
| same. When you are around horses people are going | | | | Conformation goes hand in hand with body parts and |
| to be using the language of horses including the parts | | | | the horse's anatomy. If the horse has conformational |
| of a horse that make up his anatomy. | | | | faults and you can point them out to the owner, with |
| The most common ones to know are head, back, tail, | | | | the correct use of 'horse lingo', you may be able to |
| hooves. Pretty straight forward, knowing the parts of | | | | negotiate a lower price. |
| a horse really pays off in a number of areas. For | | | | By no means buy a horse that's anatomy is less than |
| example when you take riding lessons, the instructor | | | | desirable, if his fetlock sinks to the floor when he is |
| may say to "engage the hindquarters". What are | | | | walking, walk away from the horse and do not look |
| hindquarters exactly? | | | | back. Some conformation faults can be overlooked |
| When you tack up a horse, certain straps and buckles | | | | and forgiven, some must be avoided at all costs. You'll |
| go in specific places on a horse. If you read any book | | | | only know what faults to look for and where to look |
| on fitting tack correctly, it will tell you exactly how and | | | | for them by knowing basic horse anatomy - the parts |
| where with the use of the parts of a horse. For | | | | of a horse. |
| example a sentence in a book may say something like | | | | People who are around horses will not think that you |
| this: The headpiece should lie comfortably behind the | | | | are showing off when you start naming or using the |
| horse's poll. When you are putting on a bridle you do | | | | names of parts of the horse. In fact more than likely |
| not want the headpiece to go anywhere else, so it | | | | they will expect any horse person simply to know |
| helps to know exactly where the poll is. | | | | them. When you know the horse, you'll know all the |
| Anytime your horse injures himself, it is very useful and | | | | parts that make him whole. |