THE FLATMATES

Language point:
Horse vocabulary
BBC Learning English The Flatmates

The Flatmates Horse vocabulary

You can see this language point online at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode122/languagepoint.shtml

Horse colours
Some of the most common colours for horses are:

bay:
the body ranges from light reddish-brown to very dark brown. It has a black mane, tail
and lower legs

chestnut:
the body is reddish and its mane and tail are not black but are the same shade or
lighter than the body

gray:
the body is black with white or mixed dark and white hairs

When we're talking about horses we say "a chestnut" or "a bay", rather than "a bay
horse" or "a chestnut horse".

Horse movements
These verbs describe how a horse moves, in order of speed, from slow to fast

walk:
when a horse moves at about 6 kph, generally with only one foot off the ground at any
one time

trot:
when a horse moves at about 12 kph. Each diagonal pair of hooves (a front foot and the
back foot on the opposite side) hit the ground at the same moment

canter:
when a horse moves at about 16 kph in a three-beat way, followed by a rest, followed
by three beats again

gallop:
when a horse moves at about 100 kph The gallop is very like the canter, except that it
is much faster and the three beats change to four. All four feet come off the ground
together as the horse moves forward

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People who work with horses:

a groom:
a person whose takes care of and clean horses

a trainer:
a person who trains and rides a horse and prepares it for races or other competitions

a rider:
a person who rides a horse

a jockey:
a person who rides horses in races. The races can either be on flat race tracks or with
hurdles and hedges to jump over

a show jumper:
a person who rides horses in competitions where horses have to jump over fences in an
arena

a farrier:
a person who makes horseshoes (metal plates) for horses' feet

Vocabulary:
coat
hair, wool or fur covering an animal

groom (verb)
clean a horse (usually by brushing its coat)

smart
clever

told me off
spoke angrily to me because I had done something wrong

Would you like to try an online quiz about this language point? Go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode122/quiz.shtml

Or you can download the quiz from:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode122/fm_quiz_071204.pdf

For more information about this language point go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1554_videoenglish_2/

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