The whole site
Every guide, by section
Fourteen guides in four sections. Nothing here is hidden behind a menu.
I
Built to see almost everything
Vision, gait and what looks like temperament.
- Built to see almost everything, except straight aheadMonocular vision on each side and a blind spot directly in front explain most of what gets read as temperament.
- Gaits are footfall, not speedWalk, trot, canter and gallop are defined by the sequence the feet land in, which is why a fast trot is still a trot.
- The ambling gaits, and the gene behind themSome breeds have a lateral four-beat gait others cannot perform, and it is traced to a documented mutation.
- A prey animal in a stableFlight distance, herd behaviour and what a box stall does to both.
II
The standing constraint
The hoof, and why the farrier's trade exists.
- The standing constraintA domesticated horse on hard ground wears horn faster than it grows, which is the entire reason for shoeing.
- Why the farrier's trade exists at allHot shoeing is metalwork and anatomy at once, and the apprenticeship is long for both reasons.
- The cycle, measured in weeksGrowth rate sets the interval, and the interval sets the yard's calendar.
III
A studbook before it is a breed
Closed registries and founding stock.
- A studbook is a closed registry before it is a breedA breed is defined by an administrative decision to stop admitting outside stock, and everything else follows from that date.
- Founding stock, and the coefficientClosed registries publish inbreeding coefficients, and the arithmetic of a small founding population is unavoidable.
- The passport and the chipIdentification is administrative infrastructure, and it is what makes a registry enforceable.
IV
The ring, as an institution
How a sale actually works.
- The ring, as an institutionA sale ring is a room built for a specific procedure, and the procedure is older than any of the buildings.
- What a catalogue entry actually statesPedigree, conditions of sale and warranties are a formal document, and the omissions are as informative as the entries.
- The fall of the hammerTitle, risk and the conditions of sale all change at one instant, which is why the procedure is so exact.
- What does not sellUnsold lots are a documented part of every sale, and the reserve is why.
