Texas A&M Horse Judging Manual Vocabulary

Terminology and definitions extracted from the ANSC 316 Equine Evaluation and Selection manual for horse judging.

Bay

A coat color ranging from tan to reddish-brown with six black points: the mane, tail, and lower legs.

Palomino

A yellowish body color ranging from gold to copper with a white mane and tail.

Dun

A light-yellowish body color with a dark mane and tail, featuring a dorsal stripe and sometimes barring on the shoulder and legs.

Rabicano

A color pattern where white hairs are present mainly on the flank, barrel, and tail head, distinct from a roan.

Roan

A coat color resulting from a mixture of the base color with white hairs evenly disbursed throughout the body, while the face and legs often remain the solid base color.

Blaze

A wide white facial marking that covers most of the forehead and bridge of the nose.

Coronet

A white leg marking that forms a thin band just above the hoof.

Stocking

A white leg marking that extends from the hoof up to the knee or hock.

Balance

A halter judging criterion evaluating how a horse's body parts fit together, typically looking for equal depth of heart girth and length of leg.

Structural correctness

The straightness of a horse's legs and the squareness of the hooves in relation to the frame.

Modern profiling

A term describing the desirable combination of quality, muscling, and stature, emphasizing leanness and a taller frame than halter horses of the past.

Cadence

The specific pattern of footfalls within a stride for a particular gait.

Self-carriage

A combination of consistency in the horse's frame and the degree of collection, characterized by the horse moving "uphill."

Tracking up

A movement where the horse's hind legs initiate contact with the ground well underneath the body for propulsion.

Flat kneed

A movement style where the horse swings the front legs from the shoulder with minimal lifting at the knees.

Bascule

The rounding of the horse's back to follow an arc over a fence during jumping.

Scope

The ability of a horse to jump a fence with ease, demonstrated by roundness over the back.

Chipping

Also known as a "short" jump, this occurs when a horse takes off too close to the fence.

Two-point position

In Hunt Seat Equitation, a position where the rider's weight is off the horse's back and transferred to the legs, creating two points of contact.

Spin

In Reining, a forward motion around a semi-stationary pivot foot.

Rollback

A 180-degree turn over the haunches, executed immediately following a sliding stop, with the horse exiting at a lope.

Boxing

A maneuver in Working Cow Horse where the contestant proves the ability of the horse to hold a cow at the end of the arena.

Flanking

In Tie-down Roping, the action of the rider dismounting and tossing the calf on its side.

Header

In Team Roping, the roper who catches the front of the steer around the horns, neck, or half-head.

Heeler

In Team Roping, the roper who catches the steer by its hind feet.

Dally

Wrapping the rope around the saddle horn at least one complete turn to secure it.