Horsemanship Merit Badge
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1.   Do the following:

a. Describe the safety precautions you should take when handling and caring for a horse.
  
b. Explain and demonstrate how to approach and lead a horse safely from a stall, corral, or field and how to tie the horse securely.
  
c. Demonstrate how to safely mount and ride a horse and how to safely dismount a horse after your ride.
2.   Name 15 parts of a horse.
  
3.   Name four leading breeds of horses. Explain the special features for which each breed is known.
  
4.   Show how to care for a Western and English saddle and bridle. Name10 parts of the saddle and bridle that you will use.
  
5.   Show how to groom, pick out hooves, prepare a horse for a ride, and care for a horse after a ride.
  
6.   Describe the symptoms of colic. Describe four other horse health problems.
  
7.   Name three main conformation faults of the feet and legs, and explain how to detect them. Explain the difference between lameness and unsoundness.
  
8.   Explain how to trim and shoe a horse's foot and how to make adjustments according to its conformation, the season of the year, and the riding conditions.
  
9.   Demonstrate the right way to feed a horse. Explain how you determined what and how much to feed the horse and why the amount and kind of feed will be changed according to activity level and the kind of horse it is.
  
10.   Show how to saddle and bridle a horse.
  
11.   On level ground, continuously do the following movements. Do them correctly, at ease, and in harmony with the horse:
a.   Mount the horse.
b.  Walk the horse in a straight line for 60 feet.
c.   Make a half circle of not more than 16 feet in radius.
d.  Trot or jog in a straight line for at least 60 feet. 
e.   Make a half circle of not more than 30 feet in radius at a jog or trot. 
f.   Halt straight.
g.   Back up straight four paces.
h.   Halt and dismount.
 

 
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