Ya Gotta Know Proper Terms!!

(I'm on dial-up from now on so can't link very efficiently, it will take forever for me. However, you can always google or go to ask.com and find out the same things I talk about.)

My gripe today is that this morning, while I was perusing my Directv, I noticed the show Rode to the Winner's Circle (or variations thereof) on RFD-TV. Normally, if it has to do with a horse, I'm all over it but I was reading the little info banner and it stated that someone was going to remove some chips from a horse's 'ankles'.

What the hell??

The only thing on a horse that is akin to a human ankle is the hock. Now maybe the show was something to do with the horse's hock, don't know as I didn't get to watch it. However, nowadays even supposedly knowledgeable (sp?) horse folk are giving out wrong terms or never learned properly in the first place.

Most times, not-quite-horseman will compare a horse's 'fetlocks' to an 'ankle'. I'm guessing because the joint bends backwards and somehow looks like an ankle and near to the hoof. This gripes me along the lines of when politicians, who should know better, say that the USA is a Democracy. (As an aside, the USA is a Republic with strong democratic leanings. A Democracy is mob rule where the little guy has nary a say in what goes on. We elect people to represent us...well, most of the time they are supposed to represent us but...wait, back to the subject...) My point is that the powers that be, SHOULD know what the hell they are talking about and not give out bad or false information, intentionally or not.

Look up the 4-H manual about horse confo and just SEE if it mentions an ankle anywhere, other than possibly a hock, which I doubt as I've never seen that. But if you are going to be a horseman/woman you HAVE to know conformation terms and be able to use them properly. These terms are used the world over and not only a USA thing or a British quirk. They are the standard. Please take time to learn them!!

Another term that gets mixed up is the 'poll' at the top of the horse's head, betwixt his ears, and not a 'pole'. You put a halter on his head and not on his 'face' (yep, I've heard that one too many times to dismiss it). It is a coronet band and not the cornet band, like the little weird trumpet thingy. Also, there is the one that says the coronary band (same as coronet band) but I always thought if it says 'coronary', doesn't that have something to do with the heart?? Confession time, several friends and I have been flummoxed by that one.

Anywho, you see my point. It's important to know the proper terms. Do all you can to learn them. Do if for your horse.... :-)