ALAMAR KNOT:
decorative knot used to tie a mecate around a horse's neck.
In traditional Old California horse training, when a horse
had graduated to become a finished bridle horse, the
alamar knot
was tied from two coils of a mane hair mecate draped over the
horse's neck and the knot worn
on the horse's chest to denote him as a bridle horse.
Link to a site showing how to tie the Alamar Knot |
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| At the ropes:
horses are gathered at a ranch into a rope corral. They
are trained to stand with their heads facing the rope and and
are roped by the jigger or cowboss for the cowboys from behind
using a hoolihan loop. The cowboy asks for his horse for
the day according to the work to be done. |
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| Bell Mare:
generally older mares wearing a bell, used as leaders in
pack trains or put in a remuda to locate where horses are grazing
at night. |
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Bell: To trim an animal's
tail into a distinctive bell shaped pattern. Often
used on mules. The pattern is used for identification,
for instance to show where a horse or mule should be in a pack
string.
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Broom-tail: a class of range
horses that are considered not worth much.
Bangtail:
Mustang mare, (not necessarily limited to mares).
In older days, uncombed tails were a sign of an unbroken horse. |
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| Bronco: an animal that has
never been broken to saddle or harness use. Also bronc.
(Spanish: rough) Bronc:
Rodeo term used to designate the bucking horses that are
ridden with a saddle.
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| Buckskin: a tan or yellow colored
horse with black mane & tail. |
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(Caballada): Spanish for
a band of horses. Saddle horses maintained by a
ranch. Also see remuda or cavvy.
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(Caballo): Spanish for horse
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Cavvy:
(caviada) Buckaroo term for a
ranch outfit's saddle horses. The cavvy horses are gathered
by a horse wrangler and brought "to the ropes." This is
a rope corral, sometimes temporary, at which the "day horses"
are roped. The jigger boss, second in command, does the
roping. The buckaroo calls out which horse he wants based
on the instructions the cow boss has given for the day's work.
Term used mainly in the Great Basin and northwest.
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Cayuse: a range-bred horse.
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Cold-backed:
A horse that has a tendency to buck when initially
mounted in the morning.
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Cow horse: a horse that is trained
to roping, cutting, working out a cow-herd.
Cow sense:
What a horse has when it has a natural ability to use for
roping, cutting and general cow work.
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Critter: often in speaking of
cows or horses a cowboy calls them a "Critter." Other
animals can also be critters.
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Croup: The croup is the
rump of the horse, the top of the hind quarters from the tail
to the kidney area (loin).
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Cutting horse: certain cow-horses
used at a round-up in cutting out cattle for ownership and brand;
today, a whole branch of horsemanship and horse use.
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Donkey: common name for
a member of the ass family. The Spanish brought donkeys,
called "burros" in Spanish, to North America beginning
in the late fifteenth century. They were the favored beast
of burden used by prospectors in the desert Southwest of the
United States.
A male donkey (jack) can be
crossed with a female horse to produce a mule. A male
horse can be crossed with a female donkey (jennet or jenny)
to produce a hinny.
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Dun: "Dun factor doesn't
not mean dun color, it's a type of gene inheritance. Dun factor
acts on the base coat color and usually lightens it a shade
or two. Also, many dun factor horses have a stripe down the
back and lines on the legs, neck, and ear tips, etc."
courtesy of Kathy Kadash-Swan
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| Flaxey: Blonde
colored or flaxen mane or tail on a horse. |
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| Glass-eyed:
Blue or white eyed horse.
An old-wives' tale says blue-eyed horses
do not see well or are night blind, but most see as well as
any other horse.
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Gouch eared: Having
ragged or cropped ears. Sometimes a horse will lose part
of an ear to frostbite or an accident.
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| Gelding:
it is a range custom to let a male colt run
on the range until he becomes a 2-year old. He is then
castrated and becomes a gelding. The old way was that
only geldings were used by cowboys. Mares were turned
out with a stallion in stud bands to raise a new crop of
colts. |
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| Ground-Tie:
The horse is taught to stand still with the reins dropped on
the ground rather than tied to an object. Handy,
but not fool-proof. |
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| Grulla: (pronounced
groo-ya) a mouse colored horse, a mousy-dun.
The dun version of a black horse. (Mexican: grullo)
Note the dark dorsal stripe, tiger striped legs and white ear
tips. |
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| Hazing: Rodeo term referring
to bulldogging. The bulldogger rides his horse on the
left side. The hazer rides on the right. When the steer is released
from the box, the hazer attempts to keep the steer between his
horse and the bulldogger's horse so that the bulldogger has
a better chance to get off on the steer and throw it down. The
word "haze" is used to mean push or herd the animal. |
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Locoed: horses and
cattle become addicted to the eating of Loco weed, thereby causing
the victim to become thin; with injury to eyesight, muscular
control and brain; causes an abnormal growth of hair on the
mane and tail of horses - on cattle an extra increase of hair
on flanks.
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Weedy: same as above,
but caused by eating too much black sage or other plant
instead of a normal diet and causing malnutrition, often
effecting an animal's thinking.
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| Malapai: A kind of volcanic
rock. The rock is often closely strewn across the ground
and difficult for animals to negotiate. |
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| Mule: cross between a male
ass and a female horse (mare) Sure footed and hard working
animal. |
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| Mustang: (MESTEÑO) a feral horse.
From the Spanish word mestizo meaning mixed blood.
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Owl-headed horse: A horse
that looks around a lot.
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| Palomino: a golden colored horse
with a light or white colored mane and tail. |
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| Parada: a relay of horses
and the place the change is made. Similar to cavvy.
Group of broke horses. |
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| Pinto: a paint or spotted horse. |
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Rafter-hipped: horses with
a low tail set. Mustang types lacking a rump often show this
fall-off from the hipbone to the tail. Arabs and Tbreds have
a straight topline (flat croup), but some Quarter Horses show
a lot of slope from the loin down to the tail.
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| Remuda: all saddle
horses on a roundup that are thrown together and constitute
the remount horses for the cowboys. The remuda is in the charge
of a cowboy whose duty is to herd and bunch the animals when
the cowboys want a fresh mount. This term is used most
often in the southwest and Texas. North of U.S. Highway
50 the term most often used is cavvy or cavvietta.
Also see 'caballada', cavvy.
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Re-ride:
To ride again, such as to check a pasture or
allotment for cattle not gathered the first time.
Also with
reference to riding a bronc or bull in a rodeo, if the animal
does not buck as should be expected, the rider is given a different
horse or bull in the hopes they can score their best.
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Rim-fire:
When a cowboy gets his rope caught under his horse's tail,
usually while roping cattle. This can cause a severe wreck
when the horse takes exception to the position of the rope.
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Rocky Mountain Canary: a burro,
sometimes called a Colorado Mocking bird.
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Rollers: "blowing rollers"
A snorting, rattling sound made by a horse when he is spooked.
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Rough string: saddle horses that
buck every time they are saddled. Some never become gentle.
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| Stray: an animal found strayed
away from its owner or from the range where it belongs. |
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Stallion: an adult male
horse.
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Peppy San Badger,
one of the most famous American quarter horse stallions at 27
years old. He is now deceased.
(click for larger view)
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String: A group of several
horses designated for use by a cowboy. Each horse has
a different athletic ability and disposition. A cowboy
chooses his mount for the day according to the work to be done
that day: corral work, big-circle, gather, etc.
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String: a cowboy's rope
or a line of pack-animals.
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| Stud Band: a group of
mares turned out on open range with a stallion. In the
days before Taylor Grazing and lots of fenced deeded ground,
most horses and cattle were run this way. |
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Sun fish: when a bronc bucks
and twists its body into a crescent, and throws head alternately
to right and left...looks as though he is trying to sun both
sides of his body.
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| Swap ends: when a bronc is bucking
and goes up facing one direction but lands facing the opposite
direction. |
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| Tattoo on a thoroughbred horse.
These numbers are tattooed on the inside of the upper lip and
registered with the Jockey Club. This is a permanent manner
of identification, however not easily seen. |
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| Two-rein horse:
In the vaquero tradition, the "two-rein" is a step in the horse's
training progression. The horse goes from snaffle bit
to hackamore to two-rein to bridle. A "bosalito" or thin
bosal, used with a mecate goes under a second headstall that
uses a half-breed bit with California-style rawhide reins and
romal. |
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War Knot:
tail knot used to keep the horse's tail out of the way while
working. Used by buckaroos and vaqueros. |
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| Wheel Team : first
team attached to a wagon that requires more than one team, such
as in a "four up" or "six up".
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