2013 Horse and Pony Supreme Showmanship Study Guide
The 2013 Horse and Pony Supreme Showmanship Test will consist of 20
questions. 14 correct answers will be necessary to qualify for Horse and Pony
Supreme Showmanship representative. Each of the following underlined
sections will have one-half of its questions selected for the Supreme Showman
Test.
Health
1) When checking a horse’s vital signs, you are checking:
a. Temperature, Heart rate, respiration rate
b. Temperature, normal manure production, ability to urinate
c. Capillary refill time, retinal light response, salivation
2) Examples of nutrition based diseases are:
a. Bowed tendons, navicular disease, heaves
b. Colic, laminitis, development of orthopedic disease
c. Laminitis, bowed tendons, heaves, colic
3) A well-balanced equine diet provides these nutrients:
a. Protein, vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates and fats, water
b. Vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, oils
c. Salt, hay, grain, water
4) For your horse to have a healthy/moderate body condition score, you want the score to
be between:
a. 1-3
b. 4-6
c. 8-9
5) There are vaccinations available to prevent horses from getting these diseases:
a. Botulism, small pox, rabies
b. Tetanus, encephalitis, West Nile virus
c. West Nile virus, small pox, anthrax
6) Colic is the number one cause of premature death in horses. What are some signs of the
onset of colic?
a. Watching, biting, or kicking at the belly, sweating, lying down, pawing
b. Shifting weight from side to side, whinnying, grinding teeth
c. Diarrhea, dilated pupils, excessive thirst
Management
7) What is the term used when an equine dentist smoothes rough edges off of teeth?
a. Floating
b. Sanding
c. Ridging
8) Some of the more important factors when choosing horse fencing are:
a. Color options, matching the neighbor’s fence, if horses will chew on it.
b. Safety level, price, size of area being fenced, how many horses will the fence
need to contain
c. Is it safe from lightening, is it deer proof, is it reflective in car headlights
9) When allowing horses to graze on pasture, the grass should not be allowed to be grazed
shorter than:
a. 2 inches
b. 4 inches
c. 3 inches
10) The average horse produces about how much waste in a day?
a. 12 to 15 pounds manure, 5 pounds of urine, 8 pounds soiled bedding
b. 20 to 25 pounds manure, 10 pounds of urine, 15 pounds soiled bedding
c. 45 to 50 pounds manure, 9 pounds of urine, 8-15 pounds soiled bedding
11) The average cost to maintain a family horse for one year is:
a. $5,500.00
b. $1,500.00
c. $2,750
12) What factors affect hoof health?
a. Breed, color of hoof, going without shoes
b. Genetics, color of hoof, nutrition
c. Genetics, environment, shoeing
Anatomy
13) Four parts of a horse’s hind leg are:
a. Knee, pastern, cannon and elbow
b. Cannon, fetlock, gaskin, pastern
c. Knee, cannon, gaskin, pastern
14) Which group of words are each a part of the equine skeleton?
a. Humorous, femurous, lemur, beamer
b. Splint bone, stifle, scapula, sesamoid
c. Radials, ribs, rifle joint, stifle
15) Vestigial parts of the equine skeleton include:
a. Wolf teeth, ergots, splint bones and chestnuts
b. Ergots, sesamoids, chestnuts, and splint bones
c. Frog, sesamoids, wolf teeth and ergots
16) The capacity of the horse’s stomach is only what percent of the total capacity of the
digestive tract:
a. 7%
b. 12%
c. 9%
17) Which part of a horse hoof is a round cushioning structure located in the heel?
a. Sulcus
b. Bulb
c. Frog
18) Which are parts of a horse’s head?
a. Gaskin, muzzle, stifle, poll, cheek
b. Nostril, heartgirth, muzzle, pastern, coronet banc
c. Poll, nostril, muzzle, throathlatch, cheek
19) How many parts are there in the horse’s digestive system:
a. 4
b. 12
c. 6
20) The following bones are located in what part of the horse:
Cannon, coffin bone, navicular bone, long pastern bone, short pastern bone?
a. Shoulder
b. Lower leg
c. Hindquarters
Reproduction
21) If a quarter horse breeder mates a quarter horse stallion and quarter horse mare that
both carry the gene for Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP), the foal will:
a. Definitely carry the HYPP gene
b. Probably carry the HYPP gene
c. Be neutral to the HYPP gene
22) Select the true statement below regarding horse color genes:
a. Gray is recessive, chestnut is dominant
b. Chesnut is recessive, gray is dominant
c. Gray and chesnut genes cancel each other out
23) Pregnant mares should receive a series of three vaccinations against:
a. West Nile virus
b. Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan encephalitis
c. Rhinopneumonitis
24) How long is the gestational period of a pregnant mare?
a. 11 months
b. 13 months
c. 10 months
Nutrition
25) Which part of a balanced equine diet is the most important nutrient, needed for all body
functions, utilization of feed products, vitamins and minerals? It also regulates body
temperature, joint lubrication, hearing, digestion, and waste elimination:
a. Vitamin A
b. Minerals
c. Water
26) When selecting hay, why is it important to have a high ratio of leaf to stem?
a. Leaves have a sweeter taste than stems
b. Leaves have more nutrients than stems
c. Leaves smell better than stems
27) The odor of good quality hay should smell like:
a. Fresh salad greens
b. Freshly milled grain
c. Freshly cut lawn
28) How many gallons of water does a mature, idle horse drink?
a. 10-12
b. 2-4
c. 5-7
Behavior/Safety
29) When a horse lowers its head, licks and makes chewing motions, it is showing:
a. Readiness to kick
b. Readiness to foal
c. Readiness to cooperate
30) Horses that do not get enough hay to eat often develop bad stall habits like:
a. Cribbing, bullying, eating plastic
b. Cribbing, stall weaving, wood chewing
c. Eating bedding, eating plastic, bullying
31) Four common knots used in horse handling include:
a. Bowline knot, lasso, square knot, and quick release knot
b. Quick release knot, Double Double Hitch Hitch, lasso, Hyundai knot
c. Honda knot, quick release knot, bowline knot, lasso
32) Three things you should always do when trailering a horse:
a. Wrap the legs in bandages and bell boots, and give an extra grain feeding
b. Do a thorough safety check each time you leave, practice loading and unloading
the horse long before an actual trip, and give yourself plenty of time to load.
c. Make sure the horse has a fly sheet or blanket on, spray it with fly spray, and tie
it securely with a panic snap or quick release knot
Appearance
33) A horse with a chestnut coat color has:
a. Reddish brown from light golden red to dark reddish brown color on entire body,
mane and tail may be the same color as the body or darker or occasionally
flaxen.
b. Reddish brown color on upper half of body, mane, tail and legs may be the same
color as the body or darker.
c. Reddish brown color on entire body, mane and tail and legs may be the same
color as the body or lighter.
34) Which of the following represent colors of horses?
a. Appaloosa, Pinto, Sorrel, Bay
b. Bay, Black, Chestnut, Gray
c. Paint, Roan, Bay, Palomino
35) Which breed is less than 14 hands tall, with appaloosa markings and similar to a Quarter
Horse in body type?
a. Shetland Pony
b. Miniature Horse
c. Pony of the Americas (POA)
36) What do the terms ‘blanket’ and ‘stocking’ refer to?
a. Acceptable types of Western Show wear
b. Markings
c. Color abnormalities found on only one side of the horse
Conformation
37) No matter what kind of job a horse has, it should have these conformation qualities:
a. Long pasterns, short muscular neck and large eyes
b. Long legs, long back and large eyes
c. Large eyes, a short back, straight legs
38) Keys to aging a horse by its teeth include:
a. Distinguishing temporary from permanent teeth, recognizing the angle of teeth in
profile, identifying changes in tooth shape
b. Tooth loss, calculus buildup, changes in tooth shape
c. Recognizing specific dental structures, smoothness of molars, changes in tooth
shape
39) Which grouping of words refer to unsoundness in a horse:
a. Splints, bone spavin, founder, navicular disease
b. Scar, quittor, hunter’s bumps, quidding
c. Warts, scars, osselots, quidding
40) What is the unit of measurement for height in horses?
a. foot
b. meter
c. hand