Beginner Tack: Parts and Basics

I'm very much afraid it's more terms and memorization today -- I know, it sucks starting out. But just think how much more like a pro you'll sound when you know all this stuff!

Today we're doing tack -- you know, the stuff you put on your horse! At this level, I'd expect my students to know the difference between a halter and a bridle, they should know the parts of the saddle and bridle, and they should know at least the very basic snaffle bits. Really, that's not all that much is it? :)

So the halter and the bridle both go on your horse's head (usually not at the same time :). If it's got reins and/or a bit and/or a brow band, it's probably a bridle :) Now, for that explanation to make any sense whatsoever, you must know what at least one of reins, bit, or browband are! Let's see...



hmmmmm so it occurs to me that the text is a little light. Sorry about that -- if I have time I'll fix it later! It'll do for now though... Now we've discovered the reins are the things you hold in your hand when you're riding (comeon, you already knew that right?). The bit (in this case specifically an egg-butt snaffle bit) is the piece that goes in the horse's mouth. And the browband, not surprisingly, goes over his brow. Remember, horse people weren't terribly creative when it came to naming parts of the tack (they used that up on dressage letters! Tune in next week for more about that :). So the crown piece is where the crown would sit (particularly amusing image if you happen to have a diva of a horse), the noseband goes over . . . ?-- work with me here... That'd be the nose! The cheek pieces run alongside the... cheek :) Surprised yet? And where do you suppose the throat latch goes? That's right -- it's basically common sense rearing its ugly head. See now that wasn't all that difficult, was it?

Let's see, what else -- oh, the keeper is the little thing you tuck extra leather into to keep it still; the runner is the same little thing that's not fixed -- it runs up and down the length of the leather. Stupidly picky detail, but one examiners love, and again -- something to make you sound just that much more intelligent in conversation! Generally though "keeper" is used for both those little beasts.

Now, I pointed out the egg-butt snaffle bit. Snaffle is a category of bit, and the only category of bit beginners should be worrying about (other future items include things like curb bits and gag bits - but for now, the snaffle is enough!) Within that category there's a fair amount of variety -- you need only think about three: the loose-ring, the egg-butt, and the D-ring. Now, remembering the oh-so-creative naming convention of the other bridle pieces, you can imagine this is not particularly exciting. The loose ring, has a ring that's, well, loose. You can spin it around in circles. The d-ring, has a ring that looks like a D. Surprised? hahaha egg-butt is the only stretch; I don't think I want the omlettes that person's making. But even it's somewhat understandable. And just in case you're now totally lost -- a picture's worth a thousand words (or at least a paragraph!):



So a few items to note -- rubber is gentler than metal; bits for starting babies are often made of rubber, some of which is advertised to taste like apple even! Loose-ring bits let the horse play a little, which makes them slightly softer and encourages the horse to relax and salivate (a good thing, I promise!). The down side to them is they can pinch the corner of your horse's mouth (try it -- hold the bit between two fingers, right where it meets the ring and then spin the ring. You may find you get pinched. To avoid this you'll sometimes see a round rubber piece that goes between the horse's mouth and the ring). D-rings and Egg-butts are fractionally stronger as they don't rotate, and can give a little extra steering (pressure on the side of the mouth as you turn the head). And that's probably more than you need to know @ this point, but really, you're here to learn right? :) And better too much knowledge than not enough!

Ok saddles:



So pommel and cantle I got nothing. Sorry. I'm afraid they're straight memorization -- although depending on your coach, you may hear the terms in class often enough to know what they are anyway! The rest is a little easier... The seat, well comeon, we're back to the obvious. The knee roll is where your knee sits. The stirrup iron is attached to the saddle by the stirrup leather. The flap flaps :) Panels are another "just memorize it" moment I'm afriad... The keeper here isn't labeled cause I figured you'd already be smart enough to know that after studying the bridle! Under the flap, the only part you need to know right now is the billet straps or girth straps (UK and US respectively). They hold the girth (aka the belt :) on and are therefore rather important... There are other unlabeled parts (the waist --found not surprisingly above the skirt, the point-pocket -- the most useless part ever, the tree --found inside and rather critical to the whole saddle idea, etc) but these are enough for the moment!

A few other random pices of leather you should know about because you're likely to come across them in your travels:

Martingales: These are to stop the horse from raising his head beyond the level of control. If they get their head too high, there is next to nothing the rider can do about it; adjusted correctly, these prevent that. They do NOT tie the horse's head down. If the horse is behaving correctly the martingale should do absolutely nothing. There are a few types of martingales -- the most common seen in NA are running and standing. The standing runs from the girth to the noseband (now that you know what both those things are) and is the more effective of the two. The running goes from the girth to the reins and is the safer of the two. The running also has the added advantage of counteracting the effect of a rider who carries her hands too high.

Breastplates (of which there are several styles) go from the saddle (or the girth) around the chest and back to the saddle (or girth). These stop the saddle from sliding backwards -- a common issue particularly on horses with a very powerful stride.

Conversely, the crupper goes from the cantle (remember where that is?) around the tail and connects back to itself to stop the saddle from sliding forwards. This is almost exclusively used on round ponies who have next to no withers.


Crupper

Ok, I think that's about enough for the moment. If you don't agree, feel free to move on to Intermediate :)