Horse Crossword

Print a criss-cross horse crossword of parts, colors, gaits, tack, stable care and breeds, with its answer key.

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Horse Crossword

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Answer key: Horse Crossword

1T2ROTEI3GN4SA5STABLEDL6H7HDOA8M9FOAL10PO11NYAOEENF12BRIDLEGH

Across 1 TROT · 5 STABLE · 9 FOAL · 10 PONY · 12 BRIDLE

Down 2 REINS · 3 GALLOP · 4 SADDLE · 6 HAY · 7 HOOF · 8 MANE · 11 NEIGH

Next step Find horse words in a word searchColor a horse by number

All 187 clues

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Parts of a Horse 27

  • Barrel Rounded middle of a horse's body, around the ribs
  • Cannon ___ bone: long straight bone of the lower leg
  • Coronet Band at the very top of the foot, where its hard wall grows from
  • Crest Upper curve of the neck, where the long hair grows
  • Croup Sloping top of the back end, from the hips to the tail
  • Dock Fleshy root of the tail, under the long hair
  • Feather Long silky hair on the lower legs of some heavy breeds
  • Fetlock Joint low on the leg, often with a tuft of hair behind it
  • Flank Side of the body between the ribs and the hip
  • Forehand Front part of a horse, ahead of the rider
  • Forelock Bangs of a horse
  • Frog Rubbery V-shaped pad on the underside of the foot
  • Gaskin Part of a horse's hind leg, just above the backward-pointing joint
  • Hindquarters Back end of a four-legged animal, hips and hind legs together
  • Hock Hind-leg joint that bends like a backward knee
  • Hoof Foot that wears an iron shoe
  • Loin Short part of the back between the last rib and the hip
  • Mane Long neck hair, often braided for a show
  • Muzzle Soft nose-and-mouth end of a horse's face
  • Nostril Breathing hole that flares after a hard run
  • Pastern Sloping part of the leg just above the top of the foot
  • Poll Spot at the very top of the head, just behind the ears
  • Rump Rounded back end above the hind legs
  • Sole Underside of the foot
  • Stifle Hind-leg joint that matches the human knee
  • Whiskers Bristly feelers that sprout around a horse's lips
  • Withers Highest point of the back, at the base of the neck

Colors and Markings 21

  • Bald ___ face: white marking wide enough to reach the eyes
  • Bay One of the most common horse colors: brown, trimmed in black
  • Blaze Wide white marking down the face
  • Buckskin Tan or gold coat with black points
  • Chestnut Reddish coat with no black in it at all
  • Cremello Cream coat with pink skin and blue eyes
  • Dapple One of the round spots of shading on a coat
  • Dun Tan coat with a dark line along the spine
  • Gray Coat that is born dark and whitens with age
  • Palomino Gold coat set off by white or cream hair on neck and tail
  • Piebald Patched in black and white
  • Pinto Splashy coat pattern; the word is Spanish for painted
  • Roan Coat with white hairs mixed evenly through a darker color
  • Skewbald Patched in white and any color but black
  • Snip Dab of white low on the face, by the nose
  • Sock White marking on a lower leg, well below the knee
  • Sorrel Name that American stock horse registries give a copper-red coat
  • Star White marking on the forehead
  • Stocking Tall white leg marking, knee-high or more
  • Stripe Narrow white marking down the middle of the face
  • Whorl Swirl of hair, often on the forehead

Gaits and Riding 33

  • Aids Rider's signals of leg, hand, seat and voice
  • Amble Smooth four-beat gait of a few breeds, easy on the rider
  • Arena Enclosed space for riding lessons and shows
  • Bolt Run away suddenly, out of control
  • Buck Kick up the hind legs with the head down
  • Canter Smooth three-beat gait, slower than a flat-out run
  • Dismount Get down from a horse
  • Dressage Sport in which horse and rider perform a set pattern of precise movements
  • Equestrian Word for a horseback rider, or for anything about riding
  • Gallop Gait of a racehorse at full stretch
  • Giddyup Word that tells a horse to go
  • Graze Eat grass in a field
  • Halt Full stop
  • Jockey Rider in a horse race
  • Jog Western riders' word for a slow two-beat gait
  • Jumping Show ___: sport of clearing a course of fences
  • Lope Western riders' word for an easy three-beat gait
  • Mount Get up onto a horse's back
  • Neigh Sound a horse makes; say it like 'nay'
  • Nicker Low, soft horse sound
  • Pace Lateral gait: left legs together, then right legs together
  • Polo Mallet sport of four riders a side
  • Post Rise and sit in time with a two-beat gait
  • Rack Fast four-beat ambling gait of five-gaited show horses
  • Rear Stand up on the hind legs
  • Rodeo Event with bull riding and calf roping
  • Shy Jump aside suddenly at something scary
  • Trail Ride route through fields and forest
  • Trot Bouncy two-beat gait, one step up from the slowest
  • Vaulting Gymnastics done on the back of a moving horse
  • Walk Gait slower than all the others
  • Whinny Soft, gentle horse call
  • Whoa Word that asks a horse to stop

Tack 36

  • Bit Metal bar that rests in the horse's mouth
  • Blinkers Eye cups that keep a racehorse looking straight ahead
  • Bosal Braided rawhide nose loop of the vaquero tradition
  • Breastplate Chest strap that keeps the seat from sliding back
  • Bridle Leather headgear used to guide a horse
  • Browband Strap of the headgear that crosses the forehead
  • Cantle Raised back of a rider's seat
  • Carriage Passenger vehicle that horses pull, on two wheels or four
  • Cart Two-wheeled vehicle that a horse pulls
  • Chaps Leather leg covers worn over jeans
  • Cinch Belly strap of Western riding gear
  • Collar Padded oval that a pulling horse pushes its shoulders into
  • Crop Short stiff whip
  • Crupper Loop under the tail that keeps the seat from sliding forward
  • Curb Kind of mouthpiece with shanks and a chain under the chin
  • Girth Belly strap of English riding gear
  • Hackamore Headgear that steers by the nose, with no mouthpiece
  • Halter Bitless headgear for leading a horse to the field
  • Harness What a horse wears to pull a plow or a wagon
  • Headstall Part of the headgear that goes over the head and holds the mouthpiece
  • Helmet Head protection that buckles under the chin
  • Horn Knob at the front of a Western rider's seat, made for roping
  • Lasso Cowhand's throwing loop
  • Lead rope Line clipped under the chin for walking a horse by hand
  • Longe ___ line: long rope for working a horse in a circle around you
  • Martingale Strap that stops a horse from flinging its head up
  • Noseband Loop of the headgear that sits above the nostrils
  • Pommel Raised front of a rider's seat
  • Reins Long straps the rider holds to steer
  • Saddle What a rider sits in
  • Snaffle Most common mouthpiece: a bar, often jointed, with a ring at each end
  • Spurs Metal prods worn on a rider's heels
  • Stirrup Loop that holds the rider's foot
  • Surcingle Wide strap that circles the horse's body, used in training from the ground
  • Tack All the gear a horse wears for riding
  • Throatlatch Strap that passes under the throat to keep the headgear on

Care and the Stable 35

  • Anvil Heavy block that rings under a shoeing hammer
  • Bale Twine-bound block of dried feed
  • Bedding Layer spread on the floor for a horse to lie on
  • Brush Tool with bristles that sweeps dust off the coat
  • Bucket Pail for water or feed
  • Carrot Orange root that many horses love as a treat
  • Corral Fenced pen for horses or cattle
  • Currycomb First tool in a grooming kit, worked in circles to lift dried mud
  • Farrier Person who trims feet and fits iron shoes
  • Fence What a show jumper clears
  • Forage Grass and other plants eaten by grazing animals
  • Forge Fire where iron is heated for shaping
  • Grain Seeds of cereal crops, fed by the scoop for extra energy
  • Groom Clean and tidy a horse; also the person who does it
  • Hands Units for measuring a horse's height, 4 inches each
  • Hay Cut grass kept for cold-weather feed, stacked in bales
  • Hoof pick Hooked tool for cleaning out the underside of the feet
  • Horseshoe U-shaped metal plate nailed to the foot
  • Muck ___ out: clean a horse's room of its dirty litter
  • Oats Cereal that is a classic horse feed
  • Paddock Small fenced field near the barn
  • Pasture Grassy field where horses eat and roam
  • Pitchfork Long fork for moving loose feed and litter
  • Ranch Spread where cowhands work on horseback
  • Rasp Coarse file for smoothing a trimmed foot
  • Salt Mineral block that a horse licks
  • Shavings Curls of wood spread on the floor as a bed
  • Shed Lose the thick winter coat in spring
  • Stable Riding horses sleep here at night, under one roof
  • Stall One horse's own room in a barn
  • Straw Dry stalks spread on the floor as a bed
  • Trailer Towed box on wheels that carries horses down the road
  • Trough Long open tank that horses drink from
  • Vet Doctor called when a horse is sick or lame
  • Wheelbarrow Single-wheeled hauler for manure and feed

Kinds of Horses 35

  • Appaloosa American breed known for its spotted coat
  • Arabian Desert breed with a dished face and a high tail
  • Belgian Heavy breed from the country whose capital is Brussels
  • Bronco Untamed horse of the West that bucks
  • Brumby Wild-living horse of the Australian bush
  • Clydesdale Scottish heavy breed with feathered legs
  • Colt Boy horse not yet four
  • Dam A horse's mother
  • Draft Kind of big, strong horse bred to pull heavy loads
  • Equine Having to do with horses
  • Filly Girl horse not yet four
  • Foal Horse in its first year of life
  • Friesian Black breed from Friesland, in the Dutch north
  • Gelding Neutered male horse
  • Herd Family band of wild horses
  • Hinny Offspring of a male horse and a female donkey
  • Icelandic Small, tough island breed with extra gaits
  • Mare She-horse of four years or more
  • Miniature Kind of horse bred to be very small
  • Morgan One of the earliest breeds developed in the United States
  • Mule Long-eared hybrid with a donkey father
  • Mustang Free-roaming horse of the American West
  • Percheron Heavy breed named for the Perche region of France
  • Pony Short, sturdy horse type that a small child can ride
  • Quarter American ___ Horse: breed known for great speed over short distances
  • Shetland Small, shaggy breed from islands in the far north of Scotland
  • Shire British heavy breed, among the tallest of all horses
  • Sire A horse's father
  • Stallion Adult male horse that can father young
  • Steed Storybook word for a spirited riding horse
  • Thoroughbred Breed developed for racing
  • Warmblood Middle-weight sport horse type, between the light and the heavy
  • Weanling Young horse that has just stopped drinking its mother's milk
  • Yearling Horse between one and two years old
  • Zebra Striped wild cousin of the horse, from Africa

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for young riders and horse lovers, in six sets: parts of a horse, colors and markings, gaits and riding, tack, stable care and kinds of horses. Meanings were checked in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org) and facts in English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), chiefly its articles Horse gait, Horse markings and Equine anatomy, in October 2026. No clue is riding or veterinary advice, and none was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This horse crossword opens on an easy puzzle of 12 words, among them Mane, Hoof, Saddle, Bridle and Foal. It is a vocabulary crossword for Letter or A4, for young riders and any child who draws horses in the margins.

Read the full guide

Six sets for the barn

Parts of a Horse has Withers, Fetlock and Forelock. Colors and Markings has Palomino, Roan and Blaze. Gaits and Riding has Canter, Dressage and Whinny. Tack has Stirrup, Girth and Martingale. Care and the Stable has Farrier, Currycomb and Paddock. Kinds of Horses has Yearling, Clydesdale and Mustang.

English and Western, side by side

Both riding traditions get their words. The belly strap is a Girth on English gear and a Cinch on Western gear, and a Western rider calls a slow trot a Jog and an easy canter a Lope. Height is counted in Hands of 4 inches.

  • A riding school can hand out Tack before a first lesson, so new riders know Bridle, Reins and Stirrup when asked to fetch them.

Questions and answers

Is this horse crossword puzzle printable with an answer key?

Yes. Print gives the puzzle first and the answer key last, on a sheet of its own. It is free, with no sign-up.

What age is the horse crossword for?

Easy Horse Words suits grades 2 to 4, with answers such as Pony, Hay and Trot. The six themed sets suit grades 4 and up, and Tack will test a rider of any age. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

What are the gaits of a horse?

The four natural gaits, from slowest to fastest, are the walk, trot, canter and gallop. All four are answers in Gaits and Riding, with Pace, Amble and Rack, which only some horses do.

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