P.O.P. Purified oxytocin principal

Pace: the pace is a two-beat lateral gait in which a horse moves both right feet and then moves both left feet. In a pace the front and rear foot are picked up and then set down simultaneously making only one beat. A pacing horse will move its head side to side to counter the motion of its feet

Pace-Walk: the pace-walk is a lateral four-beat gait in which the horse will pick up both the front and rear foot simultaneously, then moves the rear foot faster than the front foot and sets the rear foot down before the front foot. This allows the pace-walker to have an up and down head shake, and have a four-beat cadence. The pace-walk is much closer to a flat foot walk than a pace, having both a head shake and a four beat cadence

Pacer: a harness horse which races at the pace to a lightweight sulky

Pacing: when the horse moves its legs in lateral pairs at the trot; i.e. off fore, off hind together, followed by nearside pair

Pack: a horse or pony used to transport goods on its back, usually in a pack saddle, which is designed for this purpose

Pacy: slang term that is used to refer to a horse that is moving in a fashion that is between the gait desired at the time and a pace. Most common when referring to a horse that is walking with a rhythm that is more lateral than a correct flat foot walk

Paddock: a small pasture; area where horses are saddled and kept before post time

Paint (1): a breed of horse with large blocks of white and black or white and brown

Paint (2): coat pattern on any breed of horse that is similar to that on a Paint Horse

Palomino (1): a breed of horse that has a golden body color and a light to white mane and tail

Palomino (2): a horse with coloring similar to that of a Palomino Horse

Panic Snap: a safety snap often used in horse trailers and cross-ties. The design allows the snap to be released even if there is great pressure on it

Parade Horse: a horse trained to carry ornamented tack in parades

Parascarid: the ascarid of the horse

Parasite: Internal: a living multicelled organism inside another animal, usually intestinal worms; external: an organism that lives on the outside, most usually the louse

Park Horse: a horse with a brilliant performance, style, presence, finish, balance and cadence and usually animated gaits

Parrot Mouth: an unsoundness of the teeth characterized by an extreme overbite

Part colored/coloured: either a skewbald or a piebald horse

Passage: very collected, elevated, and cadenced trot characterized by a pronounced engagement of the hindquarters, more exaggerated flexion of the knees and hocks, and a graceful elasticity of movement

Pasteboard Track: lightning fast racing strip

Pastern: area and joint between fetlock and hoof

Pasture Breeding: when a stallion is pastured with mares and breeding takes place as in the wild

Pattern: a prescribed order of maneuvers in a particular class such as reining or trail

Pawing: a bad habit usually caused by nervousness and/or improper ground training; can also be a sign of colic

Pecking Order: social rank of each horse in a group; one horse is the boss and the others find their place

Pedigree: a listing of a horse's ancestors

Pelham Bit: a combination of snaffle bit and curb bit requiring two reins, used in English riding

Pen: the show ring or an outdoor living space that is at least 24 feet long and 24 feet wide. Also to corral cattle, as in team penning

Performance Horse: a horse especially accomplished in showing, jumping, and dressage

Performance: exhibition of gaits or other required routines

Periodic Opthalmia: moon blindness

Periople: external covering of the hoof wall

Piaffe(R): highly collected and cadenced trot in place

Picket Line: rope tie rail

Piebald: a horse which is black and white in color

Pigeon-toed: a horse that has its hooves turning inwards; this is a conformational defect

Piggin String: a short, narrow rope used to hogtie a calf or steer

Pinto: the American term for a part-colored horse, such as a skewbald or a piebald, which is when the coat is white and has patches of another color

Pinworms: Oxyuris equi; parasites

Pirouette: circle executed on two tracks with the radius equal to the length of the horse, with the forehand moving around the haunches and maintaining the exact rhythm and sequence of footfalls of the gait being used

Pitch: to loosen the reins abruptly and completely, or to toss a rope

Pivot: a crisp, prompt turn on the hindquarters

Placenta: (afterbirth), the membrane attached to the inside of the uterus which takes nutrients from the mare's blood to the fetus through the umbilical cord

Pleasure: rail class designed to showcase smooth movers

Plenty of Horse: a horse that has a generous measurement of the circumference of the bone below the knee; this is generally taken to be eight inches or more in the horse

Pocket: a comfortable, secure place in the saddle. In timed events, the area where you collect the horse and start your turn around a barrel or pole

Points: normally meaning mane, tail, and lower legs, although it is also used to mean 'part, e.g. the points (parts) of the horse

Pole: markers at measured distances around the track, marking the distance from the finish. The quarter pole, for instance, is a quarter of a mile from the finish, not from the start

Pole Barn: a barn built on poles set in the earth

Poll: the area of the top of the head that lies between the ears

Pommel: the wide uplifted front of the saddle (forming the fork in the western saddle)

Pony Club: a national organization that teaches youngsters to care for and ride horses

Pony: technically, a horse under 14.2 hands, but for practical purposes, individuals of one of the classic pony breeds such as Shetland, Welsh, Connemara, Pony of the Americas (P.O.A.), etc.

Pool: mutuel pool, the total sum bet on a race or a particular bet

Post: to rise from the saddle in rhythm with the horse's trot; starting point or position in starting gate

Posterior Pituitary Extract: hormone produced by the pituitary gland causing milk letdown and contraction of the uterus at foaling

Post Parade: horses going from paddock to starting gate past the stands

Post Position: position of stall in starting gate from which a horse starts

Post Time: designated time for a race to start

Potomac Fever: disease caused by a rickettsia (Ehrlichia equi), with acute projectile diarrhea, laminitis, and usually death: its means of spread from animal to animal has not been determined

Pre-Potent: a stallion that passes on more than the usual number of traits

Premolars: the teeth that are located in front of the molars

Presence: personality, charisma. A proud carriage and alert attitude that causes the individual to stand out in the crowd

Primitive Feature: a horse which exhibits characteristics associated with the primitive horse breeds such as the Tarpan and the Przewalski

Professional: the definition varies among associations but most term professional the following activities of a person over eighteen: being paid for riding, driving, or showing at halter; for training or boarding; for instructing; for conducting seminars or clinics; in some situations for being employed as a groom or farrier; for use of name or photo in connection with advertisement; for accepting prize money in classes

Progesterone: the hormone produced by the corpus luteum, which helps to maintain pregnancy and control the estrus cycle

Prop: in timed events, a pole or barrel

Proud Flesh: protrusion of tissue from wound that will not heal

Puarter: usually refers to the portion of the wall of the hoof such as inside rear quarter, inside front quarter, outside rear quarter, etc

Pulling the Mane: the process by which the mane is thinned and shortened by removing hairs from the underside of the mane. Tails can also be 'pulled', the hairs are removed from the side and underneath of the top section of the tail to improve the appearance

Pulse: heart rate. Normal adult resting heart rate varies among horses but is usually 40 beats per minute

Pupae: the stage of development between the bot egg and the bot fly

Purebred: a horse with both sire and dam of the same breed

Put Down: to euthanize

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