1. Objective: Know the Proper terms to use when talking about horses.
Be able to recognize some of the different color patterns of horses.

2. Roles of Vet Tech in Equine Industry
1) Assist in Diagnosis/Treatment of:
-Respiratory Diseases
-Digestive Diseases/Colic
Lameness
Reproductive Diseases
2) Assist with pre and post op surgery in the clinic and field
3)Assist with pre-breeding exams (mares and stallion)
4) Coggins
5) Heard Health
-vaccines
Deworming/pasture management
Sanitation/ventilation
Neonate care
Nutrition
6)Research
…and much more

3. Horse Terms

4. Anatomical Terms

6. terms

7. Drive horse harnes

8. Saddles
English Western

9. Ferrier

10. Mare
Female horse
Usually after having an offspring.

11. Brood Mare
Mare that is used strictly for breeding

12. Stallion
Male horse
STUD
(Rig- cryptorchid)

13. Gelding
Male horse castrated before reaching sexual maturity

14. Colt
Young male horse

15. Filly
Young female horse

16. Foal
Young Horse male or female

17. Jack
Male donkey

18. Jennet (Jenny)
Female donkey

19. Mule
Offspring of a mare mated to a jack

20. Hinny
Offspring of a jenny mated to a stallion

21. Zonie
Offspring of a jenny mated to zebra stallion

22. Zorse
Offspring of a stallion zebra mated to a mare

23. Hand Unit of measurement for horses A hand is equal to 4 inches.
The height of a horse is
measured at the withers.

24. Light Horses
Most horses, usually riding breeds; small bones and thin legs
Above 14.2 hands
900 – 1200 lbs.
AQH, Arabian, Thoroughbreed, Morgan, Standarbreed,
Tennessee walking….

25. Draft Horses Was developed in Northern Europe as war horses
Above 16 hands
1,500 – 2,500 lbs
Large bones and thick
Percheron, Clydesdale, Belgian

26. Pony A breed of horse that is under 14.2 hands. <800 lb.
Welsh, Pony of Americas, Shetland

27. Breed registries with color requirements
Do not breed true
American paint horse, Pinto, Appaloosa,
Palomino, Buckskin…

28. Horse Colors

29. Horse Colors Continued

30. Bay A brown, chestnut or sorrel horse
Black lower legs mane and tail is bay
Black ‚“points“
May have white on face and legs

31. Black Completely black- muzzle, ears, flanks, main and tail
Appear bluish to violet in direct light

32. Brown Appearance of a black horse that looks brown
Anywhere on the body during the year usually
on the muzzle and flanks

33. Chestnut
A brown horse with a red hue

34. Sorrel Brown horse with a dull red hue
The only breed that recognize this color is the AQHA

35. Gray
The skin of most of the horses is black
Flea bitten or Dapple

36. Paint
A color breed, but is a foundation of a stock type horse, ie- Thoroughbred, Quarter horse, no 5 gaited horses
Further breaks down into
color patterns

37. Overo- white does not go over horses back
Tobiano- white comes up legs, and over back
Piebald- black and white
Skewbald- anything not black
To make it more confusing- you can have a combo of both Overo and Tobiano

38. Spotted and Blanket

39. Palomino Golden in color with white, silver, or ivory mane and tail
Also a color breed. Quarter Horse

40. Pinto
Similar to a paint, BUT is all other breeds including 5 gaited horses and Q-horse and Thoroughbred
must have four square inches of cumulative white in the qualifying zone and underlying pink skin

41. Dun
Yellow than as the main body color and the same black lower legs, mane and tail as a baby
Has a dorsal stripe
(washed out bay)

42. Buckskin Same color as a Dun but does not have a dorsal stripe
(varation of a light bay)

43. White
Born white, remains white, pink skin

44. Roan - Red, Bay, or Blue Blue- Black with white hairs
Most Roans tend to have whitish body with solid color heads

45. Bay Roan
Bay with white hairs

46. Strawberry or Red Roan
Chestnut or Sorrel with white fur

47. Brindle horse

48. Markings
The accurate description of coat color and white markings is the most common method used to identify horses. Although there is some regional or breed variation in the terminology used, the basic terminology is fairly standard.
Page 117 LACP

49. Markings
Full Stocking
¾ Stocking
½ Stocking

50. Star A star is any white marking on the forehead of the horse.
A star can be small, large, regular or irregular in shape, in the center of the forehead or off to the left or right side of the forehead.

51. Stripe or Strip
A stripe or strip is a white marking on the bridge of the horse's nose, below the level of the eyes and above the level of the nostrils

52. Connected Star and Stripe
A star is often connected to a stripe and is described as a connected star and stripe.
A stripe or strip can be long, short, wide, narrow, centered on the face of the horse or off to the left or right side.

53. Snip
A snip is any white mark that is located between the nostrils of the horse.
A snip may be small, large, centered or extend into one or both nostrils. A snip is often connected to a stripe, and many times with a star and stripe.

54. Blaze
A blaze is a wider white marking that usually covers the region of a star, stripe and snip, but extends to the width of the bridge of the horse's nose.

55. Bald
A bald face is a very wide blaze that extends to and may cover the eyes, nostrils, and upper lip
Bald face with white extending to lower lip.

56. Heel.-Horses will commonly have a white marking that covers one or both heels.
Coronet.- White covering the coronary band or coronet

57. Half Pastern White extending approximately half way up the pastern
Pastern A white marking which includes the entire pastern.

58. Fetlock or Ankle A white marking that extends to and covers the fetlock.
Sock A white marking that extends half way up the front or rear cannon. Often called a Half Stocking

59. Stocking A white marking that extends from the coronet to the knee or hock

60. Identification -Natural Markings -Branding -Microchip -Tattoo-
-often difficult, a lot of horses look similar, scars
-Branding
Hot- skin is burnt and hair doesn’t grow back
Freeze- dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. Hair Grown back white. Often considered the more humane of the two
-Microchip
Goes in nuchal ligament. Need correct scanner to find chip
-Tattoo-
- Lip or neck
Race horses, Mustangs, Arabians, EIA
-Bloodtyping $
-DNA testing $

61. Resources