Writer's Beginning Guide to Horses: Let's Talk Feet

This is another big one. I'm thinking a lot about feet right now because I can't find anyone to take care of my horse's and she is now way overdue. That will all make sense by the end of this post.

To start off on the most basic level, the foot of the horse is called a hoof. It's a keratinous structure, like fingernails and hair, surrounding a bone. There is a membrane inside that acts like a sponge, pumping blood through the hoof. At the bottom of the hoof is a V-shaped piece of soft tissue (soft only in that it's not bone or hoof) called the frog. The frog is made of what feels like hard calloused skin, but can still be easily cut or damaged.

There are channels that lie on either side of the frog and these must be cleaned out with a hoof pick regularly to ensure that no rocks or other debris is stuck in there. A rock stuck in the hoof can cause sole bruising, which can be very painful and make the horse lame. If the frog is cut too deep, it will bleed and the horse will limp. The horse also must be cared for to ensure that there is no chance of infection.

For your reference, here is a picture of the sole of a horse's foot:

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The horse pictured above is unshod, meaning, it has no horseshoes on.

Horseshoes are used for horses who travel long distances on trail or on concrete or asphalt, to give the horse extra grip and prevent their hoof from wearing down too quickly. They are used for corrective shoeing, which means that they help correct hoof shape or angle or one of the many other myriad things that can make a horse go lame. The most common type of horseshoe rims the edge of the hoof with the exception of the frog, and is nailed into the hoof wall, so while the hammering can cause some discomfort, it's not painful for the horse to be shod. There are other special types used for corrective shoeing, but I won't go into those here.

I will also say that horseshoeing is a highly contested area of horse ownership. This is my knowledge, and I'm trying to make it as general as possible, but it is quite possible you will hear other opinions. This area tends to fall more under what you believe than anything else, though I personally am of the school of trying whatever you need to until something works.

The hoof is the most important part of the horse. In the wild, horses run or walk about constantly. Their hooves grow and are worn down by the consistent movement and rough terrain. Domestic horses don't necessarily move that much and must have their feet trimmed every six to eight weeks by a professional, called a farrier or a shoer. Most farriers are also blacksmiths-- they have portable forges and will shape and heat shoes on site for the particular horse they're working on.

But if one foot is hurt, injured, or tender, the horse will be crippled. Most horses weigh upwards of 1,000 lbs. Imagine that much force even on four feet, and carrying that much weight on an injured leg equals some serious pain. Since horses are herding, prey animals, if they cannot run away from a predator, they are as good as dead.

You might think this isn't true in domestication, but horses were built to stand-- they only lie down briefly to rest or sun, or for longer periods of time if something is wrong (a horse lying down is often the first sign of illness, injury, or impending birth). Their rib cage isn't built to support long periods of time lying down, and can have compromising effects on their digestion and respiration. So a lame horse, even a domesticated one, is in serious trouble. Especially if they go lame far from home.

Lameness from the hoof can be caused by any number of factors: the above mentioned rock in the sole, diet, bad hoof care, and so on. There are also any number of other reasons a horse might go lame unrelated to the hoof: stretching or injuring a tendon or muscle, etc.

A lame horse should generally not be moved more than necessary if it has a hoof injury. And they definitely should not be ridden, or asked to do work of any kind. These can greatly aggravate an injury and turn it from something minor to something major rather quickly. Not to mention, it's just mean.

So there you have it. Hopefully you understand now why I'm upset that I can't get a farrier to do my horse's feet! If you have any particular questions or want something cleared up, leave it in the comments!

Writer's Beginning Guide to Horses: Gaits

So, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I said I was going to start a feature here at the Q:P about horses, called the Writer's Beginning Guide to Horses. The goal of this feature can be found in detail with the first entry here, along with my background, but in a nutshell, I wanted to compile a resource for writers who want to put horses into their novels. A simple, easily-categorized resource to answer common misconceptions and questions.

So finally, eight months later, I am writing the second installment. Today's installment is about the gaits of horses, or, the different "gears" they have, if you will.

The most common breeds of horses have four major gaits. There are horses that have more than four gaits, but they are admittedly one place where my knowledge is lacking. You can read more about these horses, called gaited horses, here.

The first gait is the walk. This is the standard gait, and is the easiest to understand-- it's a walk. It's quite obviously the slowest of the gaits, and is what's called a four-beat gait, meaning that each of the hooves hit the ground independently of each other. The horse has three feet on the ground at a time during the walk. As far as a rider is concerned, the walk is the easiest gait to ride.

The next gait up is the trot. The trot is a two-beat gait, meaning that the feet move in pairs, with two feet on the ground and two feet in the air at the same time. The pairs of feet are on diagonals, meaning that the front right and rear left will be off the ground at the same time, and so forth.

For the beginning rider, the trot is usually the hardest to ride physically. An experienced rider can sit the trot, meaning they match the motion of their hips to the motion of the horse and do not bounce up and down in the saddle. Alternatively, in English disciplines (and more and more common everywhere regardless of discipline), the rider can post, which means to rise up and down in the saddle with the rhythm of the horse, taking most of the jarring out of the trot.

The next gaits are technically the same gait, only at increased speed and with a difference in beat count. The first stage over the trot is called the canter (in English disciplines) or the lope (in Western). The canter or lope is a three-beat gait, which is rather much harder to explain in this brief overview, and therefore I will re-direct you to this resource which explains it in detail if you care to research further. If your characters are just on a romp through the countryside, chances are they are moving at a walk, trot, or canter/ lope.

The faster version of the canter/ lope, and fourth gait, is the gallop. The gallop is the fastest gait, and you've seen it before if you've ever seen a horse race. It is a four-beat gait, like the trot, but the pattern of footfall is different and there is a moment of suspension where all four feet are off the ground at the same time. If your characters are running away from someone on horseback, chances are they are galloping.

Some special concerns with the gallop though: most horses can't keep this gait up for more than a few miles. For novels set in periods where horses were working animals, this might be increased slightly because they would naturally be in better shape. For a horse living a cushy modern life, however, it's probably only a mile or two.

For the rider: the canter is probably, aside from the walk, the easiest gait to ride. The horse's back takes on a swaying, rocking-horse motion that is spaced out much more than the trot and allows the rider to sit it much more easily. The gallop is similarly easy for an experienced rider, however, for a beginner it's probably the most difficult psychologically due to the speed-- up to 35/40 mph depending on the breed and physical condition of the horse. A rider may also have to hollow their back, or lean forward and sit up out of the saddle to ride the gallop rather than being seated normally.

There you have it! Any questions?

Interstitial Horses

Thank you to everyone for your kind words on my post on Tuesday.

I know I said I'd go in order of the comments/ questions for my animal posts, but I thought I'd take a break every now and then and post about horses, because I have SO MUCH information on them.

Horses are kind of my bread and butter. I love them; have ever since my dad promised my sister and me that we would get one when I was eight. We even met the horse and named him (Zeus), but alas, we moved into the city shortly thereafter, and Zeus found another home.

I therefore begged my parents at every opportunity (birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Arbor Day, Columbus Day, and occasional fourth of Julys) to get me a horse. Finally, in the seventh grade, my mom caved and got me riding lessons. I suppose she was hoping I would figure out I didn't really like them, or get it out of my system and leave them alone.

Nope. Also, no ponies under the Christmas tree. Finally, after several summers of working my way into riding lessons at various ranches around the county, I found a place to stay the summer after my senior year, and that's where I met my first (and eventual second) horse. I bought both of them with my own money, albeit five years apart, and continued to pay for them on my own.

Having my own horse(s) has taught me more about horses than anything else I've done. And I now fact-check horses EVERYWHERE. In movies, and in books, and anywhere else they might show up. It's a habit. And when I find mistakes, I tend to correct them, as any of my crit partners can tell you. So I thought I'd start with a Writer's Beginning Guide to Horses today, and get some basic terms and concepts out of the way.

(All of the following pictures come from statelinetack.com).

We'll start with accoutrements, commonly called tack. This includes just about anything a horse would wear for riding/ being ridden. I'll start with this because I find that tack is the thing most often messed up in fiction related to horses. That and gaits, but we'll get to those another time.

Halter: A halter is usually leather, rope, or nylon webbing with metal rings. It fits around the horse's face and throat, applying pressure on the nose and behind the ears (the poll). A halter is used to lead a horse.

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I apologize this picture is so absolutely tiny. You get the gist, though, right?

Anyway, halters are most often confused with the bridle. The bridle is what's typically used for riding a horse, is made of leather, and has a bit, which is a metal piece that goes into the horse's mouth. The bit is used to control the direction and speed of the horse, though not exclusively. (As with anything about animals, there's a lot else I could go into here. We'll assume any riders in your books are going to be doing things the traditional way, and if you ever have any questions about advanced techniques or the what-ifs, feel free to email me). The bit is attached to reins, usually also leather, but can be nylon or rope, which the rider holds in their hands and pulls on in one direction or another to get the horse to turn, or both together to get the horse to slow down or stop.

This is a western bridle:

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Make sure your tack matches. If you're writing a cowboy or wild west novel set in the States, or a ranch novel, well, you probably know enough about horses that you don't need to read this. But, those novels would likely use Western tack. If you're setting it in England or Europe, or the East coast of the States, you'll likely need English tack.

Western and English bridles are very similar, they mostly make different uses of pressure (an English bridle often has a band that wraps around the nose, like a halter, whereas a Western bridle can have a curb strap that passes under the chin) and different bits. I won't go into bits today. Again, if you really need to know, email me.

Saddles: There are three primary types of saddles in use today. There's the Western, which is commonly used for long trail rides and working cattle. It's more of a "comfort" saddle, and has built-in features to help keep the rider on the horse:

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English saddles are used for English riding, which most famously includes the "high disciplines" like dressage (horse dancing, if you will-- means training in French), and jumping. They put you closer to the horse and allow them to feel your movements more effectively, but it can require more balance on the part of the rider, at least on a beginning level:

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And the Australian stock saddle, which is sort of a combination of the two. It allows for the same close contact with the horse as the English saddle while giving the comfort and stability of the Western saddle:

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Australian stock saddles have only become popular in the United States in the last 10-15 years or so, at least to my knowledge. But it's a design that's likely very similar to some historical saddles, which are a whole other ballgame.

So that's pretty much it for my most basic of basics beginning guide to tack. Any questions?