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Filly: a female horse under the age of four. Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in many different sporting events and competitions. Examples include horse shows, gymkhana and O-Mok-See, rodeos, endurance riding, fox hunting, and Olympic-level events such as three-day eventing, combined driving, dressage, and show jumping. Although scoring varies by event, most emphasize the horse's speed, maneuverability, obedience and/or precision. Sometimes the equitation, the style and ability of the rider, is also considered. 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. Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in many different sporting events and competitions. Examples include horse shows, gymkhana and O-Mok-See, rodeos, endurance riding, fox hunting, and Olympic-level events such as three-day eventing, combined driving, dressage, and show jumping. Although scoring varies by event, most emphasize the horse's speed, maneuverability, obedience and/or precision. Sometimes the equitation, the style and ability of the rider, is also considered.
Mare: a female horse four years old and older. 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."
Most horses perform work such as carrying humans or are harnessed to pull objects such as carts or plows. Hundreds of distinct horse breeds have been developed, allowing horses to be specialized for certain tasks; lighter horses for racing or riding, heavier horses for farming and other tasks requiring pulling power. Some horses, such as the miniature horse, can be kept as pets. In some societies, horses are a source of food, both meat and milk; in others it is taboo to consume these products. In industrialized countries, horses are predominantly kept for leisure and sporting pursuits, while in other parts of the world they are still used as working animals. 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. Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in many different sporting events and competitions. Examples include horse shows, gymkhana and O-Mok-See, rodeos, endurance riding, fox hunting, and Olympic-level events such as three-day eventing, combined driving, dressage, and show jumping. Although scoring varies by event, most emphasize the horse's speed, maneuverability, obedience and/or precision. Sometimes the equitation, the style and ability of the rider, is also considered. 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. Horses also provide psychological benefits to people whether they actually ride or not. "Equine-assisted" or "equine-facilitated" psychotherapy is a form of experiential psychotherapy that uses horses as companion animals to assist people with psychological problems, including anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, behavioral difficulties, mental illness and those who are going through major life changes. Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) (also known as equine guided education or equine assisted professional development) is field of experiential learning for corporate, professional and personal development. There are also experimental programs using horses in prison settings. Exposure to horses appears to improve the behavior of inmates in a prison setting and help reduce recidivism when they leave. Horses also provide psychological benefits to people whether they actually ride or not. "Equine-assisted" or "equine-facilitated" psychotherapy is a form of experiential psychotherapy that uses horses as companion animals to assist people with psychological problems, including anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, behavioral difficulties, mental illness and those who are going through major life changes. Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) (also known as equine guided education or equine assisted professional development) is field of experiential learning for corporate, professional and personal development. There are also experimental programs using horses in prison settings. Exposure to horses appears to improve the behavior of inmates in a prison setting and help reduce recidivism when they leave. 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. Mare: a female horse four years old and older.