Examining and Judging a Horse - With Information on Breaking and Training Horses

By Nelson S. Mayo

This antique volume contains a guide to the examining and judging of horses, with additional information on breaking, training, and caring for horses. It includes a comprehensive list of the various aspects of the horse that would be looked at during an examination, and provides information on what one can expect to find, and what the different findings denote. Written in clear language and profusely illustrated, this is a text that will be of much interest to all manner of equestrians, making it a worthy addition to collections of equine literature. The chapters of this book include: 'Age', 'The Teeth of the Horse', 'Names of the Teeth', 'The Diseases of Animals', 'Teeth of Horses and Cattle', 'Contrasts with Cattle', 'Colour of Horses', 'Style', 'Points in Horses', 'Unsoundness in Horses', 'Warranty', 'Examination of Horse in Stable', 'Examining out of Doors', etcetera. We are proudly republishing this book now complete with a new introduction on the care and maintenance of horses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473354371

Book preview

Examining and

Judging a Horse

With Information on Breaking and

Training Horses

By

Nelson S. Mayo

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the

British Library

CONTENTS

Horses – Care and Maintenance

THE HORSE—JUDGING AND HANDLING

AGE

THE TEETH OF THE HORSE

CONTRASTS WITH CATTLE

COLOR OF HORSES

STYLE

POINTS IN HORSES

UNSOUNDNESS IN HORSES

WARRANTY

EXAMINATION OF HORSE IN STABLE

EXAMINING OUT OF DOORS

FITTING HORSES FOR MARKET

SHIPPING HORSES

GREEN HORSES

TRAINING AND HITCHING UP HORSES

BREAKING COLTS

WILD OR VICIOUS HORSES

BALKY HORSES

REARING, OR RARING

HALTER PULLING

PULLING ON THE BIT

RUNAWAY HORSES

Horses – Care and Maintenance

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family ‘Equidae’. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. We, as humans have interacted with horses in a multitude of ways throughout history – from sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, to working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment and therapy. Horses have also been used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. With this range of uses in mind, there is an equally extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colours, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behaviour.

Looking after horses is a time consuming, as well as moderately expensive task – only to be embarked upon seriously. Horses can consume approximately 2% to 2.5% of their body weight in dry feed each day. Therefore, a 450-kilogram (990 lb) adult horse could eat up to 11 kilograms (24 lb) of food! Sometimes, concentrated feed such as grain is fed in addition to pasture or hay, especially when the animal is very active. In practical terms, horses prefer to eat small amounts of food steadily throughout the day, as they do in nature when grazing on pasture. Although this is not always possible with modern stabling practices and human schedules that favour feeding horses twice a day, it is important to remember the underlying biology of the animal when determining what to feed, how often, and in what quantities.

Aside from these more basic requirements – food (and water), horse grooming; the hygienic care given to a horse, is a very important practice. Grooming is an important part of basic horse care, essential for horses used in competition. Regular grooming helps to ensure the horse is healthy and comfortable. At a minimum, horses are generally groomed before being worked, and are usually groomed and cleaned up after a workout as well. This helps improve the health of the skin and coat, decreases the chance of health problems such as thrush, scratches and chaffing – as well as giving the groom