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Gelding: a castrated male
horse of any age, though for convenience sake, many people also refer to a young gelding under the age of four as a "colt." Regardless of a
horse's actual birthdate, for most competition purposes,
horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere and August 1 in the southern hemisphere. The exception is endurance riding, where the minimum age to compete is based on the
horse's actual calendar age. A very rough estimate of a
horse's age can be made from looking at its teeth. Stallion: a non-castrated male
horse four years old and older. Some people, particularly in the UK, refer to a stallion as a "
horse." A Ridgling or "Rig" is a stallion which has an undescended testicle. If both testicles are not descended, the
horse may appear to be a gelding, but will still behave like a stallion. Gelding: a castrated male
horse of any age, though for convenience sake, many people also refer to a young gelding under the age of four as a "colt." Regardless of a
horse's actual birthdate, for most competition purposes,
horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere and August 1 in the southern hemisphere. The exception is endurance riding, where the minimum age to compete is based on the
horse's actual calendar age. A very rough estimate of a
horse's age can be made from looking at its teeth. All
horses move naturally with four basic gaits: the four-beat walk, the two-beat trot or jog, and the leaping gaits known as the canter or lope (a three-beat gait), and the gallop. Besides these basic gaits, some
horses perform a two-beat pace, instead of the trot. In addition, there are several four-beat "ambling" gaits that are approximately the speed of a trot or pace, though smoother to ride. These include the lateral slow gait, rack, running walk, and tölt as well as the diagonal fox trot. Ambling gaits are often genetic traits in specific breeds, often referred to as gaited
horses. In most cases, gaited
horses replace the standard trot, a 2-beat gait, with one of the four beat gaits.
The English-speaking world measures the height of
horses in hands, abbreviated "h" or "hh," and is measured at the highest point of an animal's withers. One hand is . Intermediate heights are defined by hands and inches, rounding to the lower measurement in hands, followed by a decimal point and the number of additional inches between 1 and 3. Thus a
horse described as 15.2 hh tall, means it is 15 hands, 2 inches, or in height.
epending on breed, management and environment, the domestic
horse today has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. It is uncommon, but a few
horses live into their 40s, and, occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable record was "Old Billy," a
horse that lived in the 19th century to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest then-living pony, died at age 56. Light riding
horses such as Arabians, Morgans, or Quarter
horses usually range in height from 14.0 to 16.0 hands and can weigh from to . Larger riding
horses such as Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds or Warmbloods usually start at about 15.2 hands and often are as tall as 17 hands weighing from to . Heavy or draft
horses such as the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire are usually at least 16.0 to 18.0 hands high and can weigh from about to . While ponies cannot be taller than 14.2h (147 cm), they may be much smaller, down to the Shetland pony at around 10 hands and the Falabella which can be no taller than , the size of a medium-sized dog. However, while many miniature
horse breeds are small as or smaller than a Shetland pony, because they are bred to have a
horse phenotype (appearance), their breeders and registries classify them as very small
horses rather than ponies. Sports such as polo and
horseball do not judge the
horse itself, but rather use the
horse as a partner for human competitors as a necessary part of the game. Although the
horse assists this process and requires specialized training to do so, the details of its performance are not judged, only the result of the rider's actions -- be it getting a ball through a goal or some other achievement. Examples of these sports of partnership between human and animal also include jousting (reenacting the skills used by medieval knights), where the main goal is for one rider to dismount the other, and buzkashi, a team game played throughout Central Asia, the aim being to capture a goat carcass while on
horseback. Foal: a
horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling. Most domesticated foals are weaned at 4-6 months of age. Colt: a male
horse under the age of four. A common terminology error is to call any young
horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male
horses. Stallion: a non-castrated male
horse four years old and older. Some people, particularly in the UK, refer to a stallion as a "
horse." A Ridgling or "Rig" is a stallion which has an undescended testicle. If both testicles are not descended, the
horse may appear to be a gelding, but will still behave like a stallion.