Shadowing Practice: Horse Terms Explained - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hi, I'm Callie from CRK Training, and in today's video we've got something a little different for you again.
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We're going to actually be going over some common but weird horse terminology.
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So I realized as talking to some of my friends who are pretty much brand new to the horse world
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that those of us
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that have been around horses for a long time have almost this second language
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that we use to describe things with our horses or things that we do in riding.
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And for those of you that might be a little bit newer, kind of coming into this community,
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some of this lingo that we can use sounds a little bit bizarre.
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So what I'm going to do today is just go over some of the most common terms
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that I find that I get questions on as I use them, and I'm going to explain a little bit what they mean.
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First we're going to start with some words that refer to the horse, to the type of the horse, or the horse's behavior.
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Our first term is sound or unsound.
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So a sound horse is one that's moving comfortably with no lameness,
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and an unsound horse is one that has some lameness and it's noticeable in the way that he's moving.
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Green broke.
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So when we talk about a green horse, we're obviously not referring to his color, but we're referring to his level of training.
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And a horse that is green or that is green broke basically means that he's an inexperienced horse.
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Most commonly he's also young but he could be older and just be lacking training.
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Hot.
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So when we talk about a hot horse we are referring to his temperament.
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So if a horse is hot it means that he's probably very reactive
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and very excitable which often makes them a little bit more difficult to ride.
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Barn Sour.
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A Barn Sour horse is one that wants to go back to the barn.
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So it might be that he acts up when he's in the arena, it might be that he acts up on the trail,
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but he's wanting to go back to the barn and we call that Barn Sour.
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Buddy Sour.
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Just like our last term, a horse that is Buddy Sour wants to be with his friends.
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He wants to be with the other horses and he's got to probably act up when he's away from them.
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Action.
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So when we're talking about action, it's usually used in the context of the way that the horse moves.
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So that horse has a lot of front end action.
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That horse has a lot of hind end action.
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What this means is that he's got, it refers to the movement of the horse.
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So action refers to the movement.
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And if we say a horse has a lot of action, means that he's got a lot of movement.
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He's probably got movement that's kind of above normal levels.
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Bomb -proof.
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If we refer to a bomb -proof horse, we're talking about one that is pretty much unflappable.
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So he's not very reactive to things.
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He stays very calm and exciting situations or environments don't affect the bomb -proof horse.
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Broke.
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If we say that a horse is broke or he's a well -broke horse,
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it basically means that he's got a higher level of training and he's probably pretty easy to ride.
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So he doesn't react to a lot of things.
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He knows his basic cues and his signals under saddle.
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That's what we call a broke horse.
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Easy or hard keepers.
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If we say that a horse is an easy keeper, it means that he doesn't take a lot of feed to maintain a healthy weight.
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If we say that a horse is a hard keeper, it means that he does take a lot of feed, usually a lot of grain,
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or a lot of extra maintenance to maintain the correct body weight.
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In this next section, we're going to talk about just a few terms that relate to riding.
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Changing the rein.
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If you're in a lesson and your instructor tells you to change your rein, this basically just means change direction and go the other way.
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Put your leg on.
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So this is a common phrase that we use when we're riding or that especially that us riding instructors tell our students,
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but it can be a little bit vague if you don't quite understand the feeling of it.
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So when we say put your leg on, it basically means squeeze the horse or apply pressure with your legs.
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On the bit.
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So this term also sounds a little bit funny, but on the bit refers to a horse that understands contact with the reins,
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has a nice roundness through his body, is soft in the bridle and in the rider's hands, and is moving nicely and correctly.
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Ahead of the leg or behind the leg.
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So these two phrases are talking about a horse that is either basically going too forward or going too slow.
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So a horse
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that is ahead of a rider's leg is probably oversensitive to the pressure from the rider's leg
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and is likely moving too quickly.
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A horse that is behind the leg is not responding to the cues from the rider's leg
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and is probably going a little too slow, not enough energy.
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AIDS.
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When we refer to the AIDS, to like the rider's AIDS, we're talking about the ways that a rider is cueing the horse.
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So for example, we have the rain aids, cues that we give with the reins.
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We have the seat aids, so cues that we give with our seat in the saddle.
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We have leg aids, and then we might also have aids from a whip or aids with something else like a spur.
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In our final section, we're going to cover just a few terms that relate to the equipment that we use.
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Tack.
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So this is a pretty common one, but if you're brand new to horses, it might sound a little funny.
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But tack basically just sums up all the things that we use to ride a horse.
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So if we're tacking up, it just means we're saddling and bridling the horse to get ready for riding.
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Flakes of hay.
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So when we refer to a flake of hay, we're not actually referring to a single flake, But when hay is baled,
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it is compacted into smaller sections within the larger bale.
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Usually those smaller sections are about a tenth of a bale for a common size small bale.
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And each of those sections is referred to as a flake.
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Cavaletti.
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So, cavalletti is basically a fancy term for poles on the ground
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that we have the horse step over for different training exercises.
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I hope you enjoyed this list of common horse riding and equipment terms.
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If you have any others to add to the list, go ahead and put them in the comments below.
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And the best comments and if you have any questions, those are best answered at crktrainingblog .com.
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You can go there now
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and we've got tons of other free videos for you on all kinds of riding and training topics.
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Thanks for watching.
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I'll see you in the comments.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Horse Terms Explained”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: horse, leg, aids, term, refer. This video has 94 sentences and 1228 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:10. The speaker talks at a natural 171 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| barn noun | [ˈbɑɹn] | A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle. |
| cue noun | /kju/ | An action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something. |
| bale noun | /beɪl/ | A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation. |
| keeper noun | /ˈkiː.pɚ/ | One who keeps (retains) something. |
| saddle noun | /ˈsæd(ə)l/ | A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around… |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| relate verb | /ɹɪˈleɪt/ | To tell in a descriptive way. |
| instructor noun | /ɪnˈstɹʌktɚ/ | One who instructs; a teacher. |
| reactive adjective | /ɹiːˈæktɪv/ | That reacts or responds to a stimulus. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| trail noun | /tɹeɪl/ | The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the… |
| commonly adverb | /ˈkɑmənli/ | As a rule; frequently; usually. |
| fancy noun | /ˈfæn.si/ | The imagination. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| act up verb | /ækt ˈʌp/ | To misbehave; to cause trouble. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. | |
| going over noun | An inspection, examination, review, or investigation. | |
| sum up verb | To produce a total by adding. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is baled · is compacted · is referred |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might be · might also have · might sound |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most common · the best |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | we're referring · are referring · we're talking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, I'm, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: terminology /ˌtɝ.məˈnɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, inexperienced /ɪnəkˈspɪəɹi.ənst/, excitable /ɪkˈsaɪtəbəl/, temperament /ˈtɛm.pɚ.ə.mənt/, unflappable /ʌnˈflæpəbəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like refer, barn, cue.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.