HALTERLINE
From the book

Horse names, with meanings

Name your horse.

Every horse deserves a name that fits. Describe yours, the coat, the temper, where they come from and what they do, and we'll find names to suit.

1,268 names in the book. Free, no sign-up.
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Line drawing of a standing horse in profile, redrawn from Leonardo da Vinci's study of a horse with lines of proportion
Fig. 1 · Redrawn from Leonardo da Vinci's A horse with lines of proportion, c.1480 (Royal Collection, public domain). The body fits a square: height at the withers ≈ length ≈ 2⅔ head-lengths. a poll · b withers · c point of shoulder · d elbow · e point of buttock.

Twelve from the book

Describe your horse above for a list of your own.

Browse the book

Mare · Irish · Celtic

Niamh

Say it: NEEV

Irish for 'bright'. In legend, Niamh rode a white horse across the sea to the land of youth.

Male · Greek · History

Bucephalus

Say it: byoo-SEF-a-lus

Alexander the Great's horse. The name means 'ox-head'.

Mare · Spanish · Grey

Paloma

Say it: pa-LOH-ma

Spanish for 'dove'. Gentle and pale, made for a grey.

Mare · Spanish · Chestnut

Canela

Say it: ka-NEH-la

Spanish for 'cinnamon'. Made for a warm chestnut.

Male · Norse · Myth

Sleipnir

Say it: SLAYP-neer

Odin's eight-legged grey in Norse myth, the best of all horses.

Unisex · Arabic · Star

Kitalpha

Say it: kit-AL-fa

From Arabic for 'a piece of the horse'. The brightest star of Equuleus, the Little Horse.

Mare · History

Reckless

Korean War pack mare who carried ammunition under fire and was made a staff sergeant in the US Marines.

Unisex · Food · Palomino

Biscuit

Warm, golden and impossible to dislike.

Male · Literature · Spanish

Rocinante

Don Quixote's horse: a bony old nag the knight thought magnificent.

Mare · Norse · White

Mjöll

Say it: MYOTL

Old Norse and Icelandic for fresh, powdery snow. For a white or pale grey.

Male · History · Chestnut

Copenhagen

The Duke of Wellington's chestnut, ridden all day at Waterloo.

Mare · Celtic · Myth

Epona

Say it: eh-POH-na

The Celtic goddess of horses, honoured across Gaul and by Roman cavalry.

Examples of our work

Horses, measured.

A sample sale video, made from free stock clips the way we'd cut yours, and plates from our Instagram on proportion, motion and the maths of the horse. Tap Sound to hear one.

Sample sale video.Height and size on screen, each pace named, shown at real speed. Made from free stock clips; the figures are samples.
Plate I: Leonardo da Vinci's horse redrawn inside a square, labelled poll, withers, point of shoulder, elbow and point of buttock
The horse in a square.Leonardo measured the horse in head-lengths, around 1480.
All four feet off the ground.Muybridge's gallop, 1878, frame by frame.
Measured, then followed.The intro every sale video opens with.
A horse, in circles.150 circles, one trotting horse.

How a horse moves

Walk, trot, canter.

The order the hooves land in. Buyers watch for this rhythm, which is why a good sale video shows all three.

1234
Walk · four beats
12
Trot · two beats, diagonal pairs
123
Canter · three beats, right lead

Seen from above, head at the top. Filled: hooves landing on that beat.

Six shots that sell a horse
The Halterline filming guide: six shots (standing square, away and back, left rein, right rein, head and face, what the horse does) with tips on phone position, light and measurements
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