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Word rarity: = commonly used = occasionally used = obsolete


Words with two dots are between categories.
Total words in this section: 18

D-RING

A type of bit that has rings (the roundish part that attaches to the bridle) that are shaped like a D. Used Western or English.

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DAM

The name for a mother horse. A horse's father is said to be its sire, while its mother is its dam.

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DANDY BRUSH

A stiff brush used on the horse's body to remove dry mud and dirt. Not used on the main or tail because it will pull out too much hair.

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DAPPLE

A pattern of light spots surrounded by darker hair. Occurs on most coat colors-- grey, bay, palomino, black. Reverse dappling is rarer; this is when dark circles are surrounded by lighter hair.

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DEE's or D's

Metal d-shaped rings on the saddle used to attach a breastcollar or other piece of tack.

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DEWORMER

A medication given to a horse to kill and remove worms. It comes in pill, paste, and

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DIAGONAL

English riding term. The 'diagonal' a person is riding on is the leg pair that they raise during posting with-- if you're on the left diagonal, you rise up each time the horse's left leg moves forward.

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DISHED-FACE

A curved facial profile, usually found in Arabian horses.

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DISHING

A gaiting fault, usually in pidgeon-toed horses. The horse throws his foot, or feet, outward when moving instead of stepping straight forward.

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DISMOUNT

To get off a horse, pony, etc.

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DOCK

The flesh and bone section of a horse's tail. Also, the act of chopping off part of the horse's tail; sometimes done in draft horses for style or to keep the tail from getting caught in a harness. A docked horse is one who has had part of his tail (not just the hair but also the skin/bone) removed.

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DONKEY

An equine that resembles a horse, but smaller. Also some other conformational differences.

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DORSAL STRIPE

A dark stripe that runs down the horse's back along the vertabrae. This stripe is also called an eel stripe, and is seen in dun horses. Sometimes it is accompanied by other 'primitive' markings, such as leg bars (zebra stripes) and bars on the withers.

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DOUBLE BRIDLE

An English bridle that uses 2 bits in the horse's mouth, rather than 1. Each has its own set of reins.

DRAFT (DRAUGHT)

A heavy, large-boned horse bred for pulling loads and farm work. Some examples would be Shire, Clydesdale, Italian Heavy Draft, and Jutland.

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DRAGOON

From 1660-1700, Dragoons were men drilled as infantry who rode cobs and fought dismounted with shoulder firearms. From 1700 Dragoons were increasingly used as armed Cavalry.

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DRESSAGE

An event where the horse must be trained to be very collected and move elegantly and responsively.

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DUN

A coat color. Generally used for the common 'yellow dun' color: yellowish-gold, like buckskin, only with a dorsal stripe (and sometimes wither and leg stripes). Dun is one of the four dilution genes present in the horse. It dilutes red pigment to yellow (or lighter red), much like the cream gene, but it also dilutes black pigment AND adds 'dun factors' to the horse. Dun on a bay is a yellow dun; dun on a chestnut is a red dun; dun on black is a Grullo or Grulla or Lobo dun; dun on a palomino is called Dunalino, and dun on most other colors is just refered to as "dun" (for example, a silver dapple bay with dunning would be reffered to as 'silver dapple dun' and a black roan tobiano dun would be called 'black roan tobiano dun'). Many buckskins are often mistaken for duns; however, they lack the dun factors. Dun factors include a dorsal stripe (always present in a dun); leg barring (leg stripes, zebra marks, tiger stripes); face mask (dark nose); mane frosting (outer edges of mane are lighter); shoulder stripe (darker smudge over withers or on neck); and often darker points on the legs, black-tipped ears, and sometimes cobwebbing on the horse's forehead.

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DUN FACTORS

These are markings that all dun horses show. The dorsal stripe is the most important dun marking; without a dorsal stripe, a horse cannot be a dun. However, the opposite is not true, as some non-duns will have dorsal stripes (the stripe is the result of countershading or sootiness, not true dun). Besides a dorsal stripe, there are other dun factors, such as leg barring. Leg barring happens around the knees and hocks of a dun's legs; it is a series of stripes or lines that run horizontally around the leg. In bay duns, buckskin duns, and grullas, they are often black or very dark; in red duns, dunalinos, and other chestnut-based horses, the bars are usually a darker version of the body color. Ear barring is another dun factor; the ears may be tipped in black, or the top half may be black, or there may be dark bars on the ears. Cobwebbing occurs on the forehead on some duns; it is a black, squiggly line marking along the forehead that may look like a cobweb. Sometimes duns will have darker centered manes or tails, a result of the dorsal stripe which runs from the horse's poll to the tail tip. The hairs on the outer edges may be lighter than those in the middle of the spine. Guard hairs, which are stiff hairs occuring at the base of the tail, may be present in some duns. Also mottling, which may look like smut or dapples, is another dun factor. Some duns will have dark points on the legs, usually around the fetlock and at the back of the knee, and on the front of the cannons, with lighter hair on the back of the cannons.

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