A Glossary of Market Terms.
In each of the great horse markets of the country certain technical, trade and slang terms are used in speaking of horses, and the intending buyer will do well to familiarize himself with them, else he may learn their meaning by dear-bought experience. In preparing the following glossary many of the terms explained are such as one hears in the Chicago market and elsewhere, and the writer has also freely quoted from an article entitled, “The Veterinary Horse Buyer,” from the pen of Dr. H. W. Hawley, V. S., in the Chicago Veterinary College “Quarterly Bulletin” for June, 1903, and from Bulletin No. 122 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, in which Prof. Rufus C. Obrecht deals elaborately and instructively with the subject of “Market Classes and Grades of Horses and Mules.” In many instances it has been thought well to explain technical matters relating to practical subjects as well as to interpret the special term used by horsemen.
A Bull.—If a horse grunts when stood against a wall and threatened with a stick or whip, he is called a bull (or grunter) and by many is considered unsound in wind, or a roarer. The test is not conclusive, as not all roarers grunt and many sound horses grunt when so treated, or even when the rider places his foot in the stirrup. It is also used to describe a wind-broken horse that chokes at work. A heavey horse does not grunt when tested in the above mentioned manner.
A Bull Heaver.—A bad choker.
A Canard.—A bit windy.
A Cold Collar.—Balky.
Afraid of the Floor.—Has chorea, or St. Vitus’ dance.
A Gravel.—Suppurating corn. It is not due to gravel.
A Little Careless.—Knees bent forward, or sprung.
A Little Coarse or Full in the Hock.—Spavin.
A Little Nappy.—A little balky, or a dummy.
A Little Ouchey.—Founder, or navicular disease.
A Little Strong in the Mouth.—A cribber.
A Little Stamp On.—Branded.
A Little Reading on Him.—Branded.
A Little Rounding.—Curb.
A Hole In.—There is “a hole in” a horse when he has some defect temporarily non-apparent.
An Angel.—A greenhorn buyer who bids on an unsound horse. He usually gets him on his first bid.
At the Halter.—“Sold to halter,” or “at the halter” means without guarantee of any kind. The horse likely will be wild, balky, unmanageable or so unsound as to be useless.
Beefy Hocks.—Coarse, meaty hocks having too much connective and adipose tissue. The hock should be clean, hard, free from beefiness, puffs and bony growths.
Bellows to Mend.—Wind-broken; heaves.
Bench-Legged.—Knees bent toward one another.
Blind-Spavin.—Occult or hidden spavin among bones composing hock joint.
Blue Eye.—Eye showing a bluish or pearly cast, indicating unsoundness and disease which may or may not have caused blindness.
Bobber or Jig Back.—Weak loins causing bobbing or wobbling of the hind quarters.
Boggy in Hocks.—Distension of the capsular ligament of the hock joint indicated by a large or small, soft, fluctuating, synovia-filled swelling at the front of joint. Such hocks appear dropsical. The condition constitutes bog-spavin, and by some is termed wind-puff or wind-gall.
Bowed Tendon.—A thickened, bulging unsoundness of the back tendons (flexors). Caused by an injury.
Broken Crest.—Coarse, thick, broken over crest under mane. Seen in stallions. Sometimes used to mean fistulous withers.
Broken Down.—Fetlock bending too near ground, or tendency of toe to turn up as a result of injury to the tendons. Cause of acute lameness at time of accident.
Broken Knees.—Scarred knees showing results of a fall. May be new or chronic. Especially objectionable in saddlers.
Buck-Kneed.—Knees bent forward.
Buck-Shinned.—Bulging profile of front of cannon bones.
Bull Pen.—A horse auction sale ring.
Burglar or Robber.—This is an expression used by “gyp” dealers to denote a good-looking horse with some slight defect which they can remedy temporarily. This horse is sold, the buyer discovers his defect in a short time and brings him back and trades him in or sells him at a reduced price. Such a horse is stock in trade and the “gyps” sell him over and over again, trade him in and make money on him every time.
Calf-Kneed.—Opposite of buck-knees. Knees bent backward.
Capped Hock.—New and sore, or old and painless, swelling or callous of the point of the hock joint; due to bruise.
Careless.—A horse is “a little careless” when he stands with knees sprung.
Car Bruise.—Swellings, tumors, abscesses, on parts likely to have been bruised in shipping. Sometimes an excuse for such things not so caused.
Cartilage.—A prominent lateral cartilage at quarter of foot. May or may not be a side-bone.
Chest Founder.—Wasting or falling in of muscles of front of chest.
Chestnut.—The horny projection found upon the lower inner aspect of the forearm and lower inner aspect of the hock joint. Considered a vestige of an additional hoof of the prehistoric horse.
Clefty; Clifty.—Flat, clean, fine quality cannon bones.
Coarse-Footed.—Having side-bones.
Cocked Ankle.—Fore or hind ankles (fetlocks) bent forward. Common in young, overfed and under-exercised colts. When chronic, indicates shortening of flexor tendons and sometimes high ringbone.
Cold-Footed.—“A little cold-footed” means stringhalt.
Coon-Footed.—Long, sloping pasterns, throwing fetlocks low.
Coupling.—The region of the lumbar vertebræ, loins, or space between last rib and hip.
Cow-Hocked.—Standing like a cow with hocks together and toes turned out.
Crampy.—Chorea, St. Vitus’ dance, or slight stringhalt. The affected animal jerks up a hind leg on backing out of stall, and at the same time the tail elevates and quivers, and the muscles shiver.
Crest Fallen.—Broken over crest under heavy mane. Often means fistulous withers.
Cribber.—A horse that fixes his teeth or rests his chin on any object and then sucks wind.
Crock.—Old, crippled horse.
Cross-Firing.—Striking one fore foot with opposite hind foot when trotting.
Curb.—A bulging enlargement at back of hind leg just below hock and resulting from an injury to the tendon and its sheath.
Curby-Formed Hock.—An acutely bent or set hock giving a sickle appearance. Hind feet are thrown too far under body.
Cushion.—A small puff toward front of outer side of hind cannon just below hock joint.
Cutting.—Interfering or striking with feet on joints.
Cut in the Wind.—“The least bit in the world” unsound in wind.
Dead Spavin or Ringbone.—Lameness of spavin or ringbone subsided as a result of firing and blistering, or other treatment.
Dimple.—Point of hips lightly deformed by accident constitutes a “little dimple,” slightly hipped.
Dizzy.—A dummy.
Docked.—Having had part of tail amputated.
Docked and Set Up.—By operation the tail is made to carry high, after being docked.
Droop Croup.—Short, steep croup; tail set low.
Dropped Soles.—Bulging, or convexity of soles at points of frogs, due to descent of pedal bone in acute founder.
Dummy.—Softening of the brain following sunstroke or heat exhaustion. Horse is dull, sleepy, stupid; takes hay into the mouth and forgets to chew it; and if the fore feet are placed crossing one another, they may be kept in that position indefinitely.
Ergot.—The horny spur located at the back of the fetlock joint. The ergot is considered a vestige of an additional hoof of the prehistoric horse.
Ewe-Neck.—Low crest with head held in straight line and marked depression in front of withers.
Falls Out of Bed.—Pulls back on halter rope.
Feet Sore from the Planks.—Has chorea; a shiverer.
Family Broke.—Takes the whole family to drive him.
Feather in Eye.—Scar on eyeball, due to cut; it does not necessarily impair vision.
Filled Hocks.—Swelling of joints, indicating poor circulation, grossness. As a market term, it may mean bog-spavin and thoroughpin.
Fistula.—Fistulous withers. An abscess with opening discharging pus from sinuses (pipes) connecting with diseased tissues of the withers.
Fitty.—Has fits when hot.
Flat-Footed.—Low heels, dropped sole; founder.
Forging.—Noisily striking the fore shoe with toe of hind shoe when traveling.
Founder.—Laminitis. Inflammation of the sensitive laminæ of the foot, leading to lameness, dropped soles, rings and ridges in hoof wall and tendency to walk on heels.
Freezer.—A palsied horse; “hind feet froze to the floor.”
Glass-Eye.—Amaurosis or palsy of the sight in which, from paralysis of the optic nerve and retina, the eye is stone blind, yet bright, lustrous and prominent. The pupil is widely dilated and does not contract when exposed to bright light. As a market term, may mean cataract, watch-eye, wall-eye, or that condition in which the iris is pearly white in color and not necessarily diseased.
Gill Flirt.—Perineum between rectum and vagina lacerated at foaling so as to unite passages.
Goosey.—A horse that is nervous in the stall.
Goose Rump.—A short, steep croup and narrow at the point of the buttock.
Go Down, or Kidney Faller.—Collapses in hind quarters when worked.
Gristle.—A forming side-bone or enlargement of the lateral cartilage due to tread, bruise or wire cut.
Guinea.—A Greek or Italian buyer.
Hand.—Four inches. Width of the palm of the hand, used in measuring the height of a horse from the ground surface at the sole of the foot to the highest point of withers.
Hand Stick.—Used for measuring the height of horse.
Heaves; Heavey.—“Broken wind,” or “emphysema of the lungs,” characterized by coughing, passing of gas from the rectum, and double bellows-like the action of the abdominal muscles in breathing.
Head Strong.—Halter puller in stall.
High Blower.—Broken winded or may be soft from feeding and idleness.
Hillside.—Hipped.
Hipped.—Point of hip-bone (ilium) fractured (knocked down), making that hip lower than the other when viewed from the rear, and not unusually a serious unsoundness. When distortion is great, the shaft of the ilium may have been fractured. The latter condition may render a mare unfit for breeding purposes.
Hip Sweeny.—Wasting (atrophy) of the muscles of the hip. Often serious in mares, being associated with fracture of the pelvis, and unfitting them for breeding purposes.
Hitch.—Stride of one hind leg too short.
Hog-Back.—Arched or roached-back. The opposite of sway back or hollow back.
Interfering.—Striking the fetlock or cannon with the opposite foot as it passes, either in front or behind, or it may be an “ankle knocker.”
Jack.—A small, round, bone-spavin. As a market term, often applied to a prominent spavin.
Jibber.—A green, raw, unguidable horse.
Knee-Banger.—Knees interfere.
Lady-Toed.—Cow-hocked horse. They are almost sure to hit their fetlocks, shins or knees.
Legs Go.—[See Market Rules No. 5.]
Light in the Timber.—Light boned below knees and hocks.
Little Green.—Awkward, poorly broken; may not pull.
Lop Ear.—Ears dropping over. May be a dummy.
Lugger.—Pulls or lugs on the bit.
Lunker.—An exceptionally big, heavy-boned horse.
Makes a Little Noise.—A slight roarer or whistler.
Mallenders.—Scurfy or eczematous condition of skin back of knees.
Mecatched.—Jewish term for a heavey horse.
Mechanical Choker.—A horse that roars when pulling a heavy load uphill, by getting the chin down to the chest, but is otherwise sound.
Megrims.—Fits; staggers; sudden falling.
Michigan Age.—Old.
Michigan Pad.—[See Cushion.] A puff on forward edge of hind cannon just below hock.
Moon-Blind; Moon-Eyed.—Eyes diseased or blind from periodic or recurrent ophthalmia.
Mug.—A greenhorn or buyer from the country.
Nicked.—Tail operated upon by severing the muscles to “set up” or straighten it.
Nickel’s Worth of Hair Off.—Wire cut.
Nigger-Heeled.—Front toes turned out; heels in.
Old Skin or Skate.—Aged, decrepit, or worn-out horse.
One Bum Lamp.—One eye blind, diseased or unsound.
Outside Cushion.—Same as Cushion or Michigan Pad.
Over-Reach.—Stride takes hind feet farther forward than the point at which the fore ones were picked up.
Paddle.—“Winging” out with fore feet.
Palsy.—Shiverer; chorea.
Parrot Mouth.—Upper incisor (pincher) teeth protruding over lower incisors. Upper jaw longer and projecting over under jaw.
Pig-Eye.—Small, retracted eyes. Characteristic of some horses of French breed. May indicate imperfect vision.
Pigeon-Toed.—Front toes turned in. Opposite of nigger-heeled.
Pilgrim.—An old, worn-out horse. A good old “has been.”
Pin-Hipped.—Hipped from fracture of point of ilium.
Pink-Eye.—Pinky, as a market term, applied to moon blindness. Correctly speaking, epizootic, cellulitis, or influenza, especially affecting the membranes of the eyes.
Plug.—An old, worn-out horse, or one of poor shape.
Poll-Evil.—Swelling and abscess, similar to fistulous withers, affecting poll of head.
Pones.—Lumps of fat on body of mule.
Posting.—Rider rising and falling in saddle with each alternate step of horse when trotting.
Puffs.—Soft swellings involving joints or tendons. Distensions of synovial bursal and capsular ligaments. Thoroughpins, wind-galls, bog-spavin.
Quarter Crack.—Fissure in wall of hoof running from hair toward sole at quarter.
Quittor.—Enlargement of the hoof head (coronet) having one or more openings (pipes or sinuses) discharging pus and connecting with diseased cartilage or other tissues.
Rat Tail.—Slim, almost hairless tail.
Rejects.—Horses returned to seller on account of unsoundness, or for other reasons.
Rickety.—Horse affected with rickets (rachitis). Same as Bobber or Jig Back.
Ridgeling. Original.—Cryptorchid. Testicles retained in abdomen or inguinal canal.
Ringbone.—A bony growth (exostosis) affecting the long or short pastern bones and coffin bones.
Ripper.—An unusually good, big horse.
Roach Mane.—Mane cut short.
Roarer.—Horse makes a roaring noise when exhaling air, the condition being due to paralysis affecting the nerves and cartilages of larynx. (Laryngeal hemiplegia.)
Sallenders.—Scurfy or eczematous condition of the skin in front of hock joint.
Sand-Crack.—A fissure of the wall of the hoof at the toe.
Scalper.—A horse dealer who handles cheap or questionable horses. He may have no regular stable or business headquarters.
Scalping.—Striking front of hind coronet, pastern or cannon against front toe when speeding.
Seam in Foot.—Blemish, old scar, or healed crack in the hoof wall.
Seedy-Toe.—Separation between wall and sensitive laminæ of hoof at toe, the space being filled with white, dry, powdery horn; sometimes with pus; “toe clip” is a common cause.
Serpentine.—A horse that extends and withdraws his tongue as a serpent.
Serviceably Sound.—[See No. 2, Auction Rules.] The term is incorrect, as a horse is either sound or unsound.
Shadow Jumper.—Nervous, skittish; afraid of his own shadow.
Shell-Bone.—Side-bone.
Shipping Fever.—Influenza contracted on cars, or it may be acclimation fever.
Shaky in Stall.—A shiverer.
Shiverer.—Afflicted with chorea (St. Vitus’ dance).
Shoe Boil.—A serious abscess, or open pus discharging sore or tumor of the point of the elbow. Caused by the horse bruising the elbow upon the floor, not necessarily upon the heel of a shoe, as commonly supposed.
Short Leet.—The best horse selected by the judges from a number of competing animals in the show ring, and among which the prizes are distributed after further examination.
Sickle Hock.—[See curby-formed hock.]
Side-Bone.—A lateral cartilage of foot at quarter, turned to bone (ossified).
Side Wheeler.—A pacer.
Siffon.—Jewish horse-dealers’ word (spelling in doubt) meaning to run in bids on a greenhorn to boost price of horse.
Slab-Sided.—Flat-ribbed.
Smokes His Pipe.—Lip torn where bridle bit rests.
Smoky Eye.—“A little smoky.” Eye cloudy, whitish, pearly in color, or opaque.
Smooth Mouth.—Cups or marks worn off incisor teeth, indicating great age.
Spavin.—Bony enlargement or exostosis upon lower, inner, front aspect of hock joint.
Speck in Eye.—A small scar of spot, not on pupil, and as a rule, not impairing vision.
Speedy Cutting.—Striking the inside of the hind cannon against the front foot as the hind is brought forward and passes the front foot on the outside in over-reaching when the horse is speeding.
Splay-Footed.—“Nigger-heeled.”
Splint.—A bony growth on course of splint-bone on either side of cannon-bone below the knee.
Split Hoof.—Quarter-crack. Sand-crack.
Stag; Staggy.—Thick and coarse in throat-latch and crest from late castration.
Stocked Legs.—“Filled” or dropsical, swollen legs below knees and hocks, the result of a lack of exercise or of sickness.
Stringy; Stringhalt.—The hind leg is jerked up at each step in walking and trotting. [See Cramp.]
Stifled.—Patella of stifle out of place. Any disease of the stifle-joint.
Stump Sucker.—[See Cribber.]
Sweeny.—Wasting, (atrophy) of the muscles of the shoulder.
Switcher.—Tail switching, nervous mare, that may also throw urine.
Talks to the Driver.—A roarer.
Takes a Little Hold.—A cribber.
Ten Minutes Short of Work.—Balky.
Tied in at Knees.—Light bone and tendons, making the part markedly constricted under knee.
Thoroughpin.—A fluctuating, bursal distension which can be pushed from side to side under the large tendon just above the hock-joint.
To Bush on Gristle.—To get a rebate on purchase price from a seller when a side-bone has been found after sale.
Too Much Daylight Under Him.—A leggy horse.
Tongue Loller.—Tongue hangs from mouth. May be paralyzed.
Trephined.—A molar tooth removed by punching downward into mouth by means of an instrument inserted upon tooth root through an orifice cut (trephined) in bone of jaw.
Trot Cut Short.—Short stride of fore legs.
Wall-Eye.—[See Glass-eye.]
Washy Coupled.—Long and loose in coupling and cut up flank. A poor keeper that tends to scour when warm or tired.
Weaver.—A horse that sways and swings backward and forward in stall. The action is akin to that of a caged bear, and the habit is learned by imitation or in idleness. It may indicate a high-strung, nervous temperament and the tendency to it may possibly be transmitted by an affected sire or dam. It seems to arise from the restlessness and longing to escape from “prison life,” or, in short, suggests the “call of the wild.”
Weed.—Has heaves.
Wiggler.—[See Bobber.]
Wind and Work.—[See No. 3, Auction Rules.]
Wind-Galls.—Puffs or bursal distensions at the sides of the tendons at and above fetlock joints.
Windy.—Unsound in wind, a whistler or roarer.
Whistler.—A form of roaring in which there is a slight or pronounced whistling noise made in exhaling air.
Winging.—Paddling or throwing the feet outward when in motion.
Worker.—[See No. 4, Auction Rules.]
Wears the Pants.—A pacer requiring hopples, or wearing them.
W. W.—Short for “wind and work.”
