the A, B, Cs of a Horse Addict’s Vocabulary:

These words may have other meaning elsewhere, but amongst horsemen, we all know what we’re really talking about!
Aid- attempts to communicate with the horse with any body part available
Bit- a steering mechanism
Curry- the thing that breaks up the mud-encrusted spring coat
Dandy- the thing that sometimes gets some of said mud out from in between the hairs
Engaged- when you and your horse are finally going in the same direction at relatively the same speed
Filly- a female horse under four years old
Girth- what holds the saddle on
Hand- a linear measurement equaling 4 inches (10cm) used to measure horses from the ground to the top of their withers
Irons- what you put your feet in… and having absolutely nothing to do with laundry!
Jog- a short-paced trot
Keeper- what keeps the long ends of an ill-fitting bridle from flapping all over
Lunge – to move a horse in a circle on a long rein (or for the horse to move you in a circle, if you’re not that good at it)
Mane- the last thing to grab at before hitting the ground
Nicker- a sound of contentment or recognition
Off- not sound… exhibiting an uneven gait
Piaffe- trotting in one place
Quitter- runs just fast enough to tease the trainer, but not long enough to ever win
Rear- for a horse to rise up on its hind legs
Shy- to freak out… run sideways or backward with no notice
Tack- the stuff you put on a horse (also the stuff you spend a good part of all your money on)
Unseated –no longer on top of the horse
Volte- a horse’s pirouette
Withers- the highest part of a horse’s back (hopefully)
X- the one who’s given up on ever competing with your horse for affection
Y ... because we can’t help it
Zebra- the one in stripes, but not 'cause he's in trouble