Our columnist takes a look at how horsemen have created their own language.

Every day on farms and racetracks, at shows and events, all across the United States and Canada, horsemen and horsewomen utter remarks, questions and phrases that make perfect sense to them but might just as well have been spoken in Swahili to an outsider.

Here are some that I happen to know. There are any number of horse-related sayings and statements that I wouldn’t know, but see how you do with these. Score 1 point for each you fully understand without resorting to Google or some horse book.

1. “I saw a long one at 7 and missed big time, but he chipped and saved my butt!”
2. “Purple’s not so bad. Hang it in the sun for five years, and you can tell everyone that it’s blue!”
3. “Cor for technique; Capitol for scope.”
4. “I nailed the twos but missed three of the ones.”
5. “Can you fix this keeper? It keeps slipping.”
6. “The water’s really spooky, so keep him in front of your leg.”
7. “He still looks poor. Maybe you should try giving him a Powerpac.”
8. “Sally never misses a distance.”
9. “Number 12: You’ve got two minutes!”
10. “Did you put the Desitin/Furazone mix on her scratches before you turned her out?”
11. “Lucky he’s scopey, because he’s a pretty bad knee hanger.”
12. “The judge at H killed me!”
13. “One is the sailboat, 2 is the yellow oxer, 3 is the pine trees…”
14. “No FEH class for him at Waredaca this weekend. He got a hot nail.”
15. “He’s a good jumper, but he’s only a 4 mover.”
16. “Anybody seen my five way?”
17. “This is his third Rolex.”
18. “Did you get into the George clinic?”
19. “I’d rather have full or 7/8ths. Less than that is apt to be too clunky for my taste.”
20. “He’s by Nothing out of Nowhere.”
21. “How did he get those scrapes on his hock. Do you have mats in your stalls?”
22. “The gender gap in Pony Club seems like it’s 20 or 30 to 1.”
23. “That new colt that Carol bought seems to jump by Braille.”
24. “Boyd, Phillip and Leslie and a token American; that would be an interesting U.S. Olympic team!”
25. “I think my paddock is 64 percent wood, 20 percent baling string and 16 percent duct tape.”

Although all horse sports share many terms and phrases, there will always be specific phrases among the specialties. For example, an event rider may not know some of the phrases that pertain to reining, driving or saddle seat riding. There are many horse care and veterinary medicine terms that are so specific and technical that even the average lifetime horseperson will not know them all.

This phenomenon of very specific lingo is found in thousands of specialties—from dog shows, ski racing, scuba diving and rose breeding to buying and selling antique glassware. Still, they’re fun to play with. See how many you can add to my list of 25.

Answers:

1. At fence 7, I thought he was going to take off too far from the jump but he knew better and shortened his stride to create a safe distance.
2. A faded seventh-place purple ribbon eventually can be mistaken for a faded first-place blue ribbon.
3. A Holsteiner truism is that jumpers get their excellent technique from Cor de la Bryere and their power from Capitol.
4. I achieved the two tempi flying changes, but had trouble with the one tempi flying changes.
5. Keepers are little rectangular leather devices meant to prevent excess leather from flapping.
6. Incite your horse to keep coming forward to the jump into water as he is apt to back off.
7. Encysted strongyles are parasites that a five-day double dose of Panacur dewormer may eliminate.
8. Sally seems to have an uncanny ability to help her horse find its ideal take-off point in front of a fence.
9. The cross-country starter will warn the next rider that his start time is approaching.
10. Horses that live outdoors are prone to scratches, a pastern dermatitis. Many veterinarians prescribe a Desitin/Furazone mix to alleviate this condition.
11. It’s lucky the horse in question can jump high to help offset his poor jumping technique.
12. In dressage there may be judges at H, C and M. Two of them may like you, but the third may have a different opinion.
13. You arrive at the in-gate a little late. Urgently you ask, “What’s my course?”
14. When your colt got shod, one of the nails pricked the sensitive lamina. So your colt isn’t sound.
15. Out of scores from 1 to 10, he may be a 7, 8 or 9 jumper. The best horses are 7, 8 or 9 movers as well.
16. Breastplates that attach in five separate places are typically known as “five ways.”
17. The horse in question will have already competed at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event two times.
18. Some names, like George, are so famous as to not need a last name. George Morris is assumed, just as you would not have had to spell out Obama after Barack.
19. I’d rather have a full Thoroughbred or a 7⁄8 Thoroughbred than a 3⁄4 or less for the rigors of speed and endurance necessary to succeed at a four-star event.
20. The pedigree on that horse leaves much to be desired.
21. Horses tend to get scraped when they lie down on cement. Rubber mats help prevent this problem.
22. Boys are becoming an endangered species in the English riding disciplines.
23. The horse touches everything, whether he knocks it down or not.
24. Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton are native-born Australians, and Leslie Law is a native Englishman. Interesting dynamic!
25. Horses thrive on fence ingestion.

Denny Emerson rode on the 1974 World Championship gold-medal eventing team. He served as the U.S. Eventing Association president twice and won the USEA Wofford Cup for his lifetime dedication to eventing. At his Tamarack Hill Farm in South Strafford, Vt., and Southern Pines, N.C., he trains horses and riders and stands stallions. An original Between Rounds contributor, Emerson began writing his column in 1989.

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