Glossary of Horse Terms

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Walk	The slowest gait: four beat in which the feet move diagonally: front left, rear right, front right, rear left, … Related article: 'Horse riding - the walk'
Wall	Just like the vertical the wall is a fence without spread. This fence consist of a lightweight material that is painted to look like a wall. Learn more about fences in our article 'Horse jumping fences'.
Water jump	Also called the 'open water' this is the widest (up to 16 feet) fence used in horse jumping competitions. The water jump usually causes a lot of trouble for a lot of horse-rider combinations.
Weanling	A weanling is a horse between six months and one year old and can be of either sex.
Withers	The withers is the highest point of the horse 's back. The height of a horse is measured vertically from the withers to the ground, because the withers is the horse's highest constant point. The size of the withers is an element in evaluating the conformation of a horse. Withers of medium height are preferred because withers because high withers make it difficult to fit a saddle and low withers do not provide a ridge to help keep the saddle in place.

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