Cowgirl - Vocabulary

If you read 20 Terms For Every Horse Lover To Learn, than you know that equestrians practically have their own language. They may speak vocabulary that sounds foreign to anyone outside the equine industry. Here’s your chance to brush up on your knowledge or even learn a word or two. Be prepared these words are a little more challenging.

  1. Breaking – The process of training a horse to ride or drive.
  2. Bronc – The bucking horses in the rodeo.
  3. Cold-Backed – The horse tends to buck in the beginning of the ride.
  4. Cooling Out – After working a horse, the handler helps him lower his body temperature through walking, sponging, and offering small amounts of water.
  5. Cow Horse – A horse trained to maneuver cattle, to include cutting and roping.
  6. Cow Sense – When a horse seems to have a natural ability while working around cattle.
  7. Crow Hops – Mild buck.
  8. Cutting Horse – A horse drives a particular cow away from the group.
  9. Driving – The discipline in which the horse pulls a cart or carriage.
  10. Forging – The hind hoof strikes the bottom of the front hoof.
  11. Glass-Eyed – A blue-eyed horse.
  12. Ground-Tie – Horse stands with the rope lying on the ground rather than tied to a post.
  13. Gymkhana – Speed pattern racing and timed games, such as barrel racing, pole bending, and keyhole races.
  14. Jog – Similar to an English trot, the horse moves in a diagonal two-beat motion.
  15. Lope – Much like a canter, there is three beats to this movements.
  16. Mule – A cross between a male donkey and a female horse.
  17. Offside – The right side of a horse.
  18. Paddling – The front feet are thrown outward when picked up. It can be a sign of a conformation issue.
  19. Tree – The frame of a saddle.
  20. Whoa – The verbal command for a horse to stop.

These 20 vocabulary words will put you in the right direction of learning to speak like a true horsewomen. You might hear them at the rodeo, local western barn, or even amongst your cowgirl friends.