2: Head to Hoof: The Mind and Mechanics of a Horse in .NET

Creation QR in .NET 2: Head to Hoof: The Mind and Mechanics of a Horse

Trot Figure 2-3: The three most common riding gaits of a horse, from slowest to fastest, are the walk, trot or jog, and canter or lope

Keep in mind the discipline you re riding in when talking about gaits English riders say canter, but Western riders say lope English riders say trot, but Western riders say jog Fortunately, both disciplines say walk!

Riding lets you feel each of the rhythms of the walk, trot or jog, and canter or lope, and you can discern which one you re experiencing Check out s 13, 14, and 15 for more information about riding each of these gaits Here s something to throw a small monkey wrench into things: Some horses have more than the gaits I describe here These talented equines are called gaited horses, and they possess one or more gaits in addition to or instead of one or more of the basic gaits 20 contains details on the breeds of gaited horses, their unusual gaits, and how to ride them

Horses come in a vast array of colors and patterns, with a host of different markings Familiarize yourself with the names of the following colors, patterns, and markings, because appearance is an important way to identify horses In other words, if your instructor tells you to go saddle up the bay pinto, knowing what color bay is and what pinto means can really help you know what she s talking about

Horses don t quite come in all the colors of the rainbow, but you may notice quite a bit of variation Here s a list of the most common horse colors: Chestnut: Chestnut is a distinct reddish color covering the entire body The mane and tail are usually the same color, although some chestnuts have what s called a flaxen (blond) mane and tail Chestnuts come in different shades, from very light (sorrel) to very dark (liver) Bay: Bay is a rich brown color on the body with a black mane, tail, and legs Bays can be dark tan to reddish brown in hue Brown: In the horse world, brown describes a horse who has a very dark brown coloration to her body with a lighter brown around the muzzle and flank and inside upper legs The mane and tail of brown horses are black Black: For a horse to be correctly described as black, she must be jet black with no light areas anywhere on the body, including the mane and tail Gray: A horse described as grey can be nearly white to dark gray and everything in between Gray horses often have dapples (circular, indistinct spots), and these horses are referred to as dapple grays Most gray horses are born dark and gradually develop their gray color

Dun: A dun horse has a gold, reddish, or tan body color and a black or brown mane and tail All duns have a dark stripe down their backs Within the family of duns, you can also see roans (see the next section) as well as grullas, which are a mousy grey dun Buckskin: A buckskin looks very much like a dun but without the dorsal stripe The color can be anything from light to dark tan, always with black leg points and a black mane and tail Palomino: A golden yellow body with a white mane and tail is characteristic of the palomino coloration

Horses come in different patterns, depending on their breed (I cover breeds later in this chapter): Roan: The term roan describes a horse who has a dark base color that s intermixed with white hairs The head and lower legs of the roan are usually darker than the rest of the body Roans come in different colorations, most often red (white hairs mixed with chestnut or red hairs) and blue (white hairs mixed with black hairs) You can see this pattern in a number of different breeds, especially the Quarter Horse Pinto: A pinto horse is marked with irregularly shaped patches of dark color against white or white irregularly shaped patches against a darker base color The dark patches can be just about any color, including palomino, bay, chestnut, black, and buckskin (see the preceding section on color) You can see pinto markings in the Paint breed, in Saddlebreds, and in certain Arabian crossbreeds Spotted: Spotted horses feature one of several different coat patterns that often consist of oval, egg-shaped spots These spots can be distributed throughout the body or blanketed over the horse s rump and hips Spotted patterns are among the characteristics of the Appaloosa and Pony of the America breeds