Saddle Cloth: cloth under the saddle on which number denoting post position is displayed

Saddle Horse: a horse used 'under saddle'; a riding horse

Sand Colic: a digestive disorder that occurs when a horse eats sand or dirt with his feed

Scale of Weights: fixed weights to be carried by horses in a race according to age, distance, sex, and time of year.

School/arena/menage: the enclosed area used for training and riding. These may be indoor, with a roof and walls, or outdoor, where they are surrounded by a fence with no roof

School (verb): the procedure of riding and training the horse for a specific purpose

Schooling Show: warm-up or practice show early in the season

Schoolmaster: a seasoned, experienced horse

Sclera: the white outer membrane of the eyeball, seen mostly in the Appaloosa breed

Score: in roping, to break quickly to overtake the cow

Scopey/Scopy: refers to a horse's action which has 'scope' or long, free strides

Scotch: in reining, to anticipate a stop by slowing the gallop

Scratch: to be taken out of a race

Seat: the part of the saddle where the rider sits, or the way a rider sits in a saddle

Seedy Toe (white line disease): separation of white line from the hoof wall resulting in and opening in the sole allowing infection to invade the foot

Senior: a horse at least five years old. A rider at least 50 years old

Septicemia: acute generalized infection from virus or bacteria ("blood poisoning")

Serpentine: series of half circles and straight lines crossing from one side of the centerline to the other, requiring a change of direction each time the horse passes over it

Serum: the watery portion of the blood that sometimes oozes through the skin

Set-Up: putting a horse in the proper stance for the judge to evaluate him in a halter or conformation class

Set, Settle: to group a bunch of cattle into a quiet, compact herd. In cutting or team penning, a group of competitors that use the same group of cattle

Shadow Roll: usually a lamb's wool roll half way up the horse's face to keep him from seeing his own shadow

Shafts: a pair of poles that fit on either side of a horse in a single harness

Shank: lead rope or "stud" chain. Also the arm extending from the mouthpiece of a curb bit to where the reins attach. Pressure on these reins exerts leverage

Sharp Teeth: molars that have sharp points that injure tongue or cheek

Sheath: the skin folds that encase a horse's penis

Sheared Heel: hoof damage resulting when one side of the heel receives more downward pressure than the other side

Shedding Blade: metal blade with short teeth to scrape out loose hair

Sheet Cotton: cotton pressed into thin sheets, used under leg wraps

Sheet: cover (blanket) for horse made of light canvas or cotton. Useful for putting on after bathing

Shoe Clip: earlike upward projection anywhere along the outside edge of the foot surface of the shoe

Shoer: horse shoer, farrier

Shoulder-In: horse is slightly bent around the inside leg of the rider, and his inside legs pass and cross in front of the outside legs

Showmanship: an in-hand class that is judged on the exhibitor's ability to show his horse

Shying: a horse spooking or becoming startled by a movement or object. It may or may not include a sudden jump sideways, or bolting

Sickle-Hocked: a conformational fault, describing a horse with weak hocks and with the cannon bone angled too steeply forward

Side Pass: full pass: moving the horse sideways, with no forward movement, crossing one leg over another. Often used in trail classes

Side Step: the maneuver in which a horse moves sideways a step at a time

Sidebone: inflammation followed by an ossification of the lateral cartilages of the foot

Silage: fodder of higher moisture content than hay stored in airtight structure

Simple Lead Change: change from one lead to another with a walk, trot, or halt in between

Single Tree: single whiffletree

Sire: the male parent of a horse, for example, the sire of Eclipse was a stallion called Marsk

Skep: a plastic or rubber container similar to a basket which is used for collecting droppings from the stable

Skewbald: a horse that is white and one other color, usually brown

Skirt: the square or round leather flaps under the saddle seat of the western saddle

Slab-sided: a horse that has a 'flat' ribcage

Slack: loose rope or reins, or to loosen. In rodeo, the morning or afternoon performance

Sleeping Sickness: Encephalomyelitis

Sloppy: a track that is wet on surface with firm bottom

Slow: a track with some moisture in it that is not fast, between good and heavy

Smegma: accumulation of fatty secretions, dead skin cells, and dirt found in the male's sheath

Snaffle, Snaffle Bit: bit with a solid or jointed mouthpiece that has no shanks and works on principles of direct pressure only

Snatch: to jerk the reins sharply

Snip: small white streak above or on nose

"Snots": Rhinopneumenitis in foals when thick mucous runs from nose

Sock: white above fetlock

Sole: the bottom layer of the hoof

Sored: having physical evidence of inhumane training practices

Sorrel: a reddish or copper-red body with mane and tail the same color as the body

Sound: having no defect, visible or unseen, that affects serviceability; the state of being able to perform without hindrance

Spasmodic Colic: acute intermittent colic as digestive tract spasms (usually involves small intestine)

Spavin: an unsoundness of the hock which can involve soft tissues (bog spavin) or bone (bone spavin or jack spavin)

Spayed Mare: a neutered female horse

Splint Boots: protective covering worn around the cannons of the front legs to prevent injury

Splint: term commonly applied to inflammation of the attachment of the splint bone to the cannon; older cases of splints are identified as bony enlargements at various points along the splint bone

Spooky: an easily startled horse

Sport Horse: a purebred or crossbred horse suitable for dressage, jumping, eventing, or endurance

Spread: type of fence that requires jumping the width from front to rear

Sprint Race: a race run at less than a mile, generally with only one turn

Stake Out: tie an animal on a long rope or chain to a stake driven in the ground

Stakes Class: money-earning class

Stallion Syndicate: a financial investment group owning shares in a stallion

Stallion: an uncastrated male horse older than four years of age

Stake: a race for which an owner must pay an entry fee to run his horse. The fees can be for nominating, maintaining eligibility, entering and starting, and are generally added to the amount put up by the track to make up the total purse

Standardbred: an American breed of horse developed for harness racing

Standing: when a stallion is at a breeding farm to breed mares brought to him

Standing Bandage: a bandage held up by wraps down to the hoof

Starting Gate: mechanical device with stalls for horses to stand in until the starter releases the doors in front to begin the race

Steadied: a horse being taken in hand by his rider, usually because of being in close quarters

Step: a beat

Stewards: the top officials of a race meet who are responsible for enforcing the rules of racing

Stick: a jockey's whip, also called a bat

Stickers: calks on shoes which give a horse better traction in mud or on soft tracks

Stifles: the joints at the tops of the horse's second thigh bones or gaskins, the equivalent to the knee joint in humans

Stirrup: the leather covered (in the western saddle) or metal (in the English saddle) part of the saddle used to support the riders feet

Stock Horse: a Western-style horse of the Quarter Horse type

Stocking: white leg marking above the cannon

Stocking Up: thickening of the lower legs due to collection of fluid in and under the skin

Stomach Tube: tube passed usually through the nose into the stomach

Straight Bit: a simple bar bit with no breaks, joints, or projections

Straight Stall: stall with two walls and manger where horse is tied

Strain: the action of a mare when trying to expel the foal, holding her breath and contracting her abdominal muscles

Strangles: bacterial respiratory disease caused by Streptococcus equii causing swollen abscessed glands

Strawberry Roan: a mixture of red and white hairs all over a horse's body, with red, black, or flaxen mane and tail. Also called red roan

Stretch: final straight portion of the racetrack to the finish

Stretch Runner: horse who finishes fast in the stretch

Stretch Turn: bend of track into homestretch

Stride: the distance traveled in a particular gait, measured from the spot where one hoof hits the ground to where it next lands. Ten to twelve feet is the normal length of stride at a canter, for example

Strike: when horse reaches up, out, and down with front foot

Striking: a bad habit of reaching out with a front foot so as to hit the handler, equipment, or another horse. A problem calling for professional help

String Out: to move without engaging the hindquarters, so hind end looks "strung out" from the forehand

Stripe: white streak down face

Strongyle: "blood worm".

Stud Book: the book kept by different breed societies in which the pedigree of stock eligible for entry are listed

Stud: a breeding establishment or a stallion

Stud Fee: the charge for breeding to a stallion

Stud, Stud Farm: farm where mares are bred

Subcutaneous: under the skin

Substance: strength and density of bone, muscle, and tendons or an indication of large body size

"Suck Wind": the action of a mare taking air into her genital tract

Suckling: a foal that is still with its mother; it has not been weaned; usually it is under four months of age

Suitability: appropriateness for a particular purpose and/or a type or size of rider

Sulky: two-wheeled cart

Sull: to move slowly, to resist moving forward

Sullen: sulky, resentful, or withdrawn

Surcingle: the strap that encircles the heart girth. A belt or girth of leather or nylon webbing that is passed around the horse at the girth line and firmly fastened down

Sutured: caslick operation having been performed

Swamp Fever: equine infectious anemia

Sway-backed or dipped back: when the back dips excessively in the middle; this is most often seen in older horses and ponies

Sweat Scraper: metal blade to scrape sweat and water off horse's coat

Sweat: a mild liniment put on under a waterproof wrapping to "draw" swelling and infection

Swedged Shoe: horseshoe with a longitudinal groove in the bottom surface (usually including the nail holes) for greater traction

Sweet Feed: feed containing molasses

Swells: exterior projection of the fork of a Western saddle

Return to Glossary page