This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page
1.) Give yourself 1 point for each correct answer, half a point for a
partially correct answer, and a zero for each wrong answer.
2.) Add up all your points.
3.) Divide that score by 43 (that's how many questions are here). Use a calculator if you need to.
4.) Round that answer to the nearest hundreth.
5.) Take away the decimal point. If before rounding you are left with 1.,
that means you got 100, which is an A.
A is from 100 - 902. What is the stirrup bar for? The stirrup bar is where the stirrup leathers attach to the saddle. It is kept open to allow the stirrup leather to slide off if you fall and your foot gets caught.
3. How do you shorten and lengthen the reins? To shorten the reins, hold both reins in your writing hand and slide the other hand down the reins to the desired length and then take the reins back in their respective hands. To lengthen the reins, open your fingers slightly and let the reins slide through your fingers to the desired length. When you are very proficient at that method, minor adjustments can be made just by snaking your fingers slightly up or down the reins.
4. How do you sit on a horse in good balanced position? Head up and balanced over your shoulders, shoulders back and chest out (thereby making you back flat), let your elbows hang down naturally near your sides, keep your hands low and closed firmly on the reins, legs should lie relaxed against the sides of the horse (knees should not stick out or grip), and heels down. It should be possible to draw a straight line from heel, to hip, to shoulder, to ear, and another one from your elbows to your hand, to the bit in the horse's mouth. Your knees and ankles take up most of the shock, so they need to be be able to, and for that they need to be relaxed. Sitting in a saddle, is almost more like standing then sitting. Here is a poem that that might help you let your body fall into a good position:
Your head and heart keep up, your hands and heels keep down, your knees close to your horse's sides, your elbows close to yours.
5. What are some rules for riding in a ring with a group? Safety dictates that you always wear a secured ASTM-SEI approved helmet. Make sure your girth is snug, don't want to suddenly discover the view upside down from between your horse's forelegs, do you? That said, on to the rules. Keep about one horse length distance between your horse and another to avoid kicks or bites. Pass other horses properly (see number 12). Only ride horses within your ability to handle and keep control over. Pay attention to your mount and keep him under control. If you have to stop and fix something move to the center of the ring to stay out of everyones way, also, make sure you don't stop in front of any jumps that others are using.
6. What are the natural aids? Hands, leg, seat (a.k.a. weight), and voice.
7. What are the artificial aids and how are they used? Examples of artificial aids include whips and spurs. They should only be used to reinforce the natural aids. Spurs should only be used by experienced riders in full control of their lower legs. As for whips, only use them if the aids don't work. Take your hand off the rein and use the whip smartly behind your lower leg once. That is usually enough.
8. How do you get your mount to walk? Give pressure with both legs, give a little with the reins, and incline foreward ever so slightly, if necessary click with your tongue or say waalk. trot? Give more pressure than when asking for the walk, asking for more speed, and instead of saying walk, you say trot (in a short exclamation). canter? Urge behind the girth with the outside (outside - side closest to the outside of the arena) leg (and if necessary, say can-ter!) and hold your mount together with your hands. Once your horse is cantering, allow your hands to be elastic and follow the motion of the head with your hands. Don't give with your hands at first because that would be asking for a fast trot.
9. How many beats are in the walk? in the trot? in the canter? There are 4 beats in the walk, two beats in the trot, and 3 beats plus a period of suspension in the canter.
10. In the posting trot, when do you rise, and when do you sit? In the posting trot, you rise when the outside shoulder goes forward, and you sit when it goes back.
11. What is a lead? When a horse canters, it leads with its inside foreleg. A lead is which leg the horse is leading with. The horse should normally lead with the right leg when it is going right (->), and the left leg when it is going left (<-).
12. How do you pass another horse? When possible, always pass left shoulder to left shoulder. When the rider you wish to pass is going the same direction you are, in a loud voice say something like "passing on your left" or "heads up." This is to let the rider know you are there so neither horse nor rider are totally surprised when you pass. It is only polite, and some horses might act up when another horse passes and it is only courtious not to unwittingly put the rider in a bad spot.
13. When you are dismounting, should you keep your left foot in the stirrup until your right foot touches the ground, or take both feet out of the stirrups and slide to the ground? When you are dismounting you should take both feet out of the stirrups, lean forward a little, swing your right leg over the horse's rump, and slide to the ground. If you kept a foot in the stirrup, if the horse spooked or moved away from you, you could fall, your foot might get caught and you would be dragged, or you could be stepped on.
14. What does a red ribbon tied around a horse's tail mean? The red ribbon usually means the horse is a kicker (although little girls might put a red ribbon on their pony's tail 'cause they think it's 'cute' or 'pretty'), but some kickers aren't given a red ribbon, so you should still keep proper distance between your horse and the one in front of you.
2. How do you groom a horse in preparation for lessons and schooling? Use a plastic or rubber curry comb in a circular motion away from the direction the hair grows in to get loose hair and dander to the surface (but don't use it on the bony parts - and it might be necessary to clean it every few strokes, especially during the late spring/early summer). A metal curry can be used to clean brushes, just don't use it on your horse. Use a brush with stiff bristles in short sweeping strokes, flicking the brush at the end of each stroke (brush in the direction the hair grows). Use a soft bristled brush like a stiff bristed brush. These brushs can also get full of hair during the shedding time. To pick the hooves, stand with your side to the horse's shoulder and face in the direction of the horse's hindquarters. Run your hand down the entire back of the leg and lean into the horse. He should pick up the leg, but you need to be firm. Start picking at the heel and work to the toe (have the pick pointed away from you, a mouth full of dirt and manure is not a pleasant prospect, plus if the horse moves suddenly, you don't want to dig the pick into the frog). For hooves with dirt packed in, you can dig the pick into his foot near the shoe, and pull away a clump of dirt, once you get the first clump out, the rest comes out easier. Be sure to get the dirt out of the clefts around the frog. As you pick, note if the horse has all it's shoes, if it's missing a back shoe you could still probably ride him, however, front shoes a bit more problematic.
3. Why do we pick our horses' feet? We pick our horses' feet to get all the debris out and keep them clear of things like stones and nails that have the potential to make the horse go lame. Picking the horse's hooves out every day also gives you the opportunity to notice anything wrong such as abnormal heat, punctures, bruises, thrush, or loose or missing shoes. Keeping the feet clean helps prevent thrush (among other bad things) from happening in the first place.
4. After riding, what are the signs that your mount needs to be cooled out? Signs include raised pulse rate, hot and sweaty chest and neck, fast breathing, and veins standing out from beneath the skin.
5. What are the signs of a properly cooled out horse? Chest feels cool and dry (note in the summer the horse will be a little warm to the touch anyhow, and maybe a bit damp), pulse and breathing back to normal. If the horse is going to be turned out right away, not simply standing in his stall, he doesn't have to be totally cool and dry. It's just when he is going to be standing around in one place that it is really bad.
6. How do you safely offer a horse a treat such as a carrot? Hold the treat on the flat of your hand, fingers should be uncurled so they are out of the way and so cannot be accidentally bitten. Large apples and such should be broken into smaller peices so if the horse swallows it whole there is less chance of it getting stuck (horses can't throw up). Large apples can be held carefully for the horse to bite off part, but be sure to keep those fingers out of the way.
7. Why do we clean tack? We clean our tack because tack is expensive and cleaning keeps it nice longer. The time spent cleaning also allows you time to notice if the tack is safe and in good repair.
8. How do you tell if tack is safe or not? Signs that your tack is not safe include missing or broken stiching, splitting, cracking, dry rot, worn out elastic girth ends, and broken keepers (the little bands on the bridle that you slip the loose ends of straps into to keep them from flopping around) and stud hooks.
9. What does the veterinarian do for our horses? The vet makes sure the horse is not sick, and when the horse is sick, the vet determines what is wrong and what should be done about it. They can perform pre-purchase exams on a horse before you buy him so you know about any health problems. They can give advice on how to keep your mount healthy. Vets can also administer injections and dewormer, though the caretaker can learn to give any routine injections or dewormer. the farrier? Farriers trim, balance, shoe, and reset horse shoes, as well as sometimes taking a part in some pre-purchase exams, but usually only if you suspect something could be wrong.
10. Name some stable vices. Cribbing, wood chewing, pawing, weaving, kicking, and biting or threatening to bite.
11. Name and describe six horse coat colors Black (black all over), brown (body, mane and tail are brown), bay (brown body, black mane, tail, sometimes lower legs), chesnut(like a brown horse, but with a reddish tint to it), grey, pinto (large black and white or brown and white blotchs all over), appaloosa (white spots, usually over the rump), dun, palomino (gold-ish with white mane and tail), roan. and four white face markings Star, snip, stripe, race, blaze, bald face. and four white leg markingsStocking, half-cannon, sock, half pastern, coronet, ermine spots.
12. Why might one bandage a horse's leg(s)? To protect the legs against knocks and scrapes during exercise or shipping, for protection and treatment of an injury, for protection and warmth in the stall, and some say to prevent the legs from swelling after hard work.
13. What is a mare? a stallion? a gelding? A mare is an adult female horse or pony of 5 or more years. A stallion is an adult male horse or pony of 5 or more years that has not been castrated and can be used for breeding. A gelding is a adult male horse who has been castrated.
14. What is a colt? a filly? a foal? A colt is a male foal and a filly is a female foal. Foals are young horses or ponies under the age of 5. Saying "colt foal" or "filly foal" is being redundant as colts and fillies are foals. It's poetic, though.
15. How are horses measured? Horses are measured from the withers to the ground. When talking about a horse or pony's height, the measurements we use are called hands. 1 hand = 4 inches.
16. How is a pony distinguished from a horse? The dividing line between pony and horse is height. A pony is 14.2 hands and under, a horse is over, but not including, 14.2 hands. However to make it more confusing, some breeds are called horses or ponies even if they are a little shorter or taller then the dividing line. It has something to do with how ponies over 14.2 retain pony characterisics, while horses 14.2 and under don't gain pony characteristics. It also has something to do with each breed's history.
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page