Vocabulary Sunday

IMPACTION COLIC
Colic caused by a blockage in the intestines. Hardened feces may block the passage, or an enterolith.

IMPRINTING
Training a newborn foal. Usually the foal is handled and petted all over at birth, the feet are picked up and tapped on, the mouth and inside the ears are pet, and sometimes the foal is exposed to loud noises. All of this 'imprints' the foal so that when it is older it will not be afraid of these things. Usually this training is done within an hour of birth, then the foal is left to bond with and nurse its mother.

INBREEDING
The act of breeding related horses to one another to try to develop a certain trait. This can preserve or enhance specific traits, but if done too much can create weaker animals. Inbreeding in any species results in less genetic diversity, leaving organisms less able to adapt. The results of too much inbreeding can be seen in many show horses today that have conformational defects or over-enhanced traits that sacrafice the rest of the body.

IN FRONT OF THE BIT
When a hosre is hanging on the bit and pulling on the rider's hands.

JIBBING
Describing a vice where the horse will balk and sometimes back up when asked to move forward.

KAIMANAWA
A breed of horse that lives wild in New Zealand. The name means "Eat the wind" in Maori. This is a small, hardy breed of horse that was first reported in 1876, and descended from Exmoor and Welsh pony stock brought to the island in the early 1800's. In 1941, the mounted rifle cavalry units at Waiouru released several horses when a Strangles epidemic threatened. In 1960, an Arabian stallion was turned loose.These feral horses stand 12.2-15 hands high. They are strong, sure-footed, and very intelligent. They are domesticated and used in a variety of showing disciplines.

KISSING SPINE
Kissing spine is a painful disorder in which the horse's vertabrae touch each other because the horse's back is curved downward, sometimes caused by excessive back stress such as a heavey rider. Chiropractic treatment can help to reduce the stress that builds up in the joints surrounding the affected area and will also help in relieving some of the pain associated with this problem.

KOUMISS (or KUMISS)
A drink made of fermented mare's milk, used by the Tartar tribes of Central Asia. “Kumiss is still prepared from mare’s milk by the Calmucks and Nogais, who, during the process of making it, keep the milk in constant agitation.”—Rawlinson: Herodotus, vol. iii. book iv. p. 2.

KULAN (or KOULAN)
Scientific name Equus hemionus luteus, also called Turkmenian or Mongolian wild ass. The kulan is a rare race of wild Asian Ass (the others are the kiang, onager, and ghorkhar) that lives in Northeast Asia. They are smaller than the African asses.They are endangered because livestock are taking over their feeding grounds and they are hunted for their meat and hides. The Asian wild ass typically has a sandy-colored coat with lighter-colored legs and belly, a short erect black mane, a black spinal stripe, and a black tail tuft.