Selection of Horses

1. Animal Science 1 Unit 31 Selection of Horses

2. Terms • Foal: a young horse of either sex up to one year of age • Filly: a female less than 3 years of age • For Thoroughbreds, fillies include 4 year olds • Colt: a male less than 3 years of age • For Thoroughbreds, colts include 4 year olds • Mare: A mature female four years of age or older • Stud or Stallion: mature male four years of age or older • Gelding: A male that has been casterated. • Grade: an unregistered horse.

3. Use of the Horse • 5 general • Pleasure • Breeding • Working stock • Show • Sport • Generally one horse can not be used in all 5 ways • Horses should be selected based on their major intended use.

4. Uses of Horses

5. Uses of Horse

6. Sources of Horses • Purchase from • Breeders • Private owners • Auctions • Dealers • The best sources are breeders

7. Age of Horse to Buy • 5-12 years is the prime of life • Horse in this age range are best for young or inexperienced riders • Young horses require more training and may not be safe for young or inexperienced riders.

8. Sex of Horse to Buy • Studs • Hard to manage and control • For pleasure riding geldings and mares are the best choice.

9. Breed Selection • Some breeds are better adapted to certain uses. • Therefore the intended use of the horse should be used as a tool to select a breed. • Personal preference is also a factor • For Example: I prefer QH over Paints. • People not interested in breeding or showing may choose a good grade horse. • They make excellent mounts for trail and pleasure riding and even ranch work.

10. Conformation

11. Conformation

12. Feet and Legs • Two of the most important parts • Leg conformation influences how the horse moves Correct Position

13. Feet and Legs • See fig 31-26, 27, 28, 29, 30 for the correct and incorrect positions of the front and rear legs.

14. Feet • Feet are just as important. • The horse carries it’s weight on the wall, bars, and frog. • The sole normally does not touch the ground • The hoof should be kept properly trimmed to keep the horse standing squarely and moving straight • The hoof grows at a rate 3/8” to 1/2” per month • Feet should be trimmed every month to 6 weeks

15. Feet • Feet should be kept moist • Dry feet crack • To keep feet from drying out use a hoof dressing or allow the horse to stand in a moist area • The pastern and hoof should form a 45 deg. angle with the ground • See fig. 31-31

16. The Hoof • Heel perioplium • Bulb • Frog • Central groove • Collateral groove • Heel • Bar • Seat of corn • Pigmented layer-external layer • Water line- internal line • White line • Appex of frog • Sole • Toe • How to measure width • Quarter • How to measure length

17. Body Color • 5 basic colors • Bay, black, brown, chestnut, white • 5 major variations • Dun, gray, palomino, pinto, roan • Piebald- white and black color combination • Skewbald- white and any other color • Roans • Blue roan- mixture of black and white hairs • Red roan- mixture of bay with white hair Strawberry roan- mixture of chestnut with white hair

18. Body Color- Basics Bay Chestnut (Sorrel) Black White

19. Color Variations • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equine_coat_color

20. Face and Leg Markings • Use to identify the horse

21. Face Markings (L-R): Blaze, stripe, stripe & snip, irregular blaze, interuppted stripe, bald (L-R)Faint star, Star, Star & strip, irregular star, snip, lip marking

22. Leg Markings Socks: Stocking, sock (boot), sock (fetlock) L-R: Pastern, Coronet, Partial Pastern

23. Unsoundnesses & Blemishes • Unsoundness- a defect that affects the usefulness of the horse • Blemish- an imperfection that does not affect the usefulness. • Most serious unsoundnesses affect the feet and legs • See p. 583-585

24. Vices • Develop due to idelness or poor handling

25. Cribbing • Horse bites down on some part of the feed manger or stall • Wind sucking occurs when the horse presses the upper front teeth on some object and pulls back, at the same time sucking air into the stomach. • The two often occur together • Looked down upon by buyers.

26. Other Vices • Halter Pulling • Horse pulls back against the halter while tied • Kicking

27. Gait • The movement of the horse’s feet and legs when the horse is in motion • 3 natuaral gaits • Walk, trot, gallop • Other gaits • Canter, stepping pace, running walk, fox trot, amble, rack, pace

28. Gaits

29. Walk • Slow • 4 beat • Each foot leaves and strikes the ground seperately from the other feet.

30. Trot • Fast • Two beat diagonal • Opposite front and hind feet leave and strike the ground at the same time.

31. Gallop • Fast • Four beat • Feet strike the ground separtely in this order • (1) one hind foot • (2) the other hind foot • (3) the diagonal front foot • (4) the other front foot • For a brief moment all 4 feet are off the ground. • The extended gallop is the run. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_gaits#Walk

32. Canter • Slow • 3 beat • Feet strike the ground • (1) one hind foot • (2) the other hind foot and diagonal front foot • (3) the other front foot • Western addaption is a very slow canter called the lope

33. Stepping Pace • Slow • Lateral • Four beat • Four feet strike the ground seperately • (1) right hind foot • (2) right front foot • (3) left hind foot • (4) left front foot

34. Running Walk • Slow • Diagonal • 4 beat • Each foot leaves and strikes the ground just ahead of the diagonal hind foot • Natural gait for the Tennesse Walking Horse

35. Fox Trot • Slow • Short • Broken • The hind foot strikes the ground just ahead of the diagonal front foot

36. Rack • Fast • Even • 4 beat • The time between each foot striking the ground in the same • The order of the feet striking the ground is the same as the stepping pace.

37. Pace • Fast • 2 beat • Front and hind feet on the same side leave and strike the ground at the same time. • There is a breif moment when all four feet are off the ground at the same time

38. Amble • Lateral movement • Also called the traverse,side step, or side pass • Not a show gait • The horse moves to one side with out going forwards or backwards

39. Pedigree • Of great importance when selecting show and race horses • Ancestors back of the grandparents contribute little to the genetic inheritance • See Example Pedigrees

40. Price • Will vary • Grade horses are typically lower priced than registered horses • Registered horses with the potential for showing are higher priced • Currently the price of horses is very soft due to the closing of all the kill plants in the United States

41. Summary • 75% of horses are used for personal pleasure riding • Other uses include: racing, ranching, breeding, commercial rididng • More than 5 million horses in the United States • More than $16 billion dollars spent in the horse industry annually

42. Summary • Many breeds of light horses • Horses should be selected on the basis of conformation, use, age, sex and soundness. Breed selection is a matter of personal preference • Breeders are the best source of horses, other sources include private horse owners • The five basic colors-bay, black, brown, chestnut, white • Variations- dun, gray, palamino, pinto, roan • Variety of unsoundnesses and blemishes • Unsoundness is more serious and the most serious affect the feet and legs • Gait of the horse is the way it moves