Colors

There are many different colors of horses. There are even colors specific to equines alone.  Many equines also have different markings on their coats.  One unique thing about equines is that there are no true "white" horses. A horse may look white, but really he has black skin and is referred to as being gray.  If a horse has white skin AND white hair, it is considered truly "white." However, having a white horse is deadly.  Horseman often refer to it as a "lethal white" since truly white horses die very quickly after birth.

Chestnut, black, and  bay are the most common colors. Chestnut is a brownish or caramel color. Bay is a brown coat with a black mane and tail. A big-spotted horse is known as a pinto or paint.  Palimino is also a color popular among equines.  There are many other color combinations of horses.

As mentioned above, horses have different markings. On the face a horse can have a blaze, snip, star, or bald. A blaze is a band of white going down the middle of the face. A snip is a white patch at the muzzle. A star is a white patch only in the middle of the forehead, and a bald face is when almost the whole face is white.  On the legs a horse can have a sock, stocking, pastern, or cornet. All of those markings refer to how tall the white is on the leg.

Styles

There are two main styles that a person may chose when riding a horse. They are English or Western. English saddles are smaller and lighter; whereas, Western saddles are bigger and significantly heavier.

English style is used for different sporting events. Jumping, hunter, dressage, equitation, cross country,  horse racing, and polo are just a few examples. An English riding must wear a helmet (or hat) with a formal shirt and jacket and tall boots. The rider rises to the trot on every other beat in English.  This action is called posting.

Western style is more relaxed, but it is also used for sporting events. Pleasure, reining, cutting, barrel and pole racing, trail, and halter are a few examples. For show, Western style varies.  It can be from ornate shirts to simply a collared shirt and jeans. The rider sits deep in the saddle at all times in Western.

Each rider has a preferred style.  I personally prefer English, but I still ride Western.

Measuring

Although many people lump horses and ponies together, they are actually different.  A horse is over 14.2 hands tall or 58".  A pony is under 14.2 hands.

A hand is a term that horsemen use that equals 4 inches. An equine is measured at the withers.  The withers is the small lump on the base of the neck. You need to measure from that hump to the ground using a measuring tape and mark the number of inches.  If you divide that number by 4, you will have the number of hands your equine is.

Example: If an equine is 61", he is 15.25 hands. Correct terms for a horseman is 15.2 hands. This measurement makes him a horse.

Breeds

There are hundreds of different breeds of horses. The following list specifies a few:

• American Paint Horse
• American Quarter Horse
• American Saddlebred
• American Shetland
• American Warmblood
• Andalusian 
• Arabian
• Belgian
• Clydesdale
• Haflinger
• Hanoverian
• Miniature Horse 
• Morgan
• Mustang
• Paso Fino
• Tennessee Walking Horse
• Thoroughbred
• Trakehner 

If a horse only has one type of breeding, it is considered a purebred.  Most purebreds need to be registered in order to prove their breeding.  Registering also lists if the animal is truly considered a "horse" or "pony."  I will explain the difference between the two in my next post.

I personally have Quarter Horses and Miniature Horses. The Quarter Horses names' are Just Plain Jane and Incredible Josie (referred to as Jane and Josie).  My Miniature Horses common names' (also known as barn names) are Angel, Biscuit, Honey, Sonny, Peanut, and Little Foot.