Hopefully the above chart helps explain some of the strange terms that keep popping up, primarily in Art of the Dress where rarity pretty much goes down the list of various body parts to measure on her friends.
(Withers is way less dirty than I originally thought...)
You can find the artists page here!
67 comments:
I spy a typo the horn is labeled as alicorn
ReplyDeleteArt of the Dress suddenly makes more sense...
ReplyDeleteCool
ReplyDelete@Anon
ReplyDeleteI know right. I was humming parts of the song as I glanced over the chart.
Croup, Dock, Haunch.
ReplyDeleteAh.
Oooh, pretty good diagram. Sometimes I get myself confused with the anatomy so it's nice to have a reference every now and then.
ReplyDelete@bobbin the unicorn
ReplyDeleteActually allicorn can refer to the substance that the unicorn horn is made of in some mythologies.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI thought it was just some obscure French term Rarity was using.
Wow, this is quite helpful, and unique, considering that I've yet to see anyone else really create pictures based on equine anatomy.
ReplyDeleteSo we are using the term flank incorrectly then?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteArt Of The Dress makes more sense, but Call Of The Cutie (and some fan-made terms) makes less sense. According to the picture, a pony's cutie mark is on his/her haunch, not flank.
Real horses are pretty too, you big meanie-pants. :P
ReplyDeleteWe should have been saying "dat haunch" or "dat dock"
ReplyDeleteThe more you know.
This will be great for those fanfic writers out there.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteSuddenly. I am questioning everything I know.
FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR WATERMARK!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteDat rump
@ Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI dunno... "Dat dock" sounds... I dunno. Very wrong, I guess?
OH! So that's what a withers is...
ReplyDeleteI had strange thoughts when I heard about withers from a fanfic...
And just to stave off the question before it gets asked, the reason there even exists so many terms for equine anatomy relates to not only the fact that horses have been working for and with humans nearly as long as dogs, but in order to best enable them TO do that work requires things like harnesses, saddles and horseshoes be properly fitted for them.
ReplyDeleteUseless Pony Fact: Someone who specializes in horseshoes is known as a Farrier, whose skill set includes not only some veterinary knowledge but also basic blacksmithing to create and apply the shoes themselves.
THE MORE YOU KNOW!
I'm pretty sure "flank" DOES refer to the area with the cutie mark, at least for regular horses.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteClever rhyming supersedes scientific accuracy in bullying.
Horses are ugly? Ellis would like to contest that:
ReplyDelete"I wish we had a hawrse. I LUV hawrses."
inb4 Nick
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteExcept Cherrilee used flank too.
I'm guessing, if this image is correct, that flank is just a pony slang term, not necessarily referring to the actual flank of a Pony
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI actually knew that fact!
You may notice in Applejack: Exposure that Rarity refers to designer horseshoes as being "Jacques Farrier originals"...
Anyways, that's a nicely-done chart!
@Kill me, I'm a PONY
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with anything but your comment, but imma gonna post it anyways..
"God damn you Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!"
"Now that was just uncalled for. Seriously."
That part always makes me crack up.
Aaaaand there went hours of research done while at work out the window
ReplyDeleteAh, well. This will just reinforce what I learned at work.
Where is the curple located?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI had assumed so too, but after checking a number of sources I can confirm that it consistently refers to the fleshy area of the side between the last rib and the hip - for horses AND in general usage. Definitely not the area of the cutie mark.
I guess the writers didn't quite have their terminology down. Or they simply couldn't pass up on the admittedly catchy "blank flank" rhyming pair.
@Homfrog
ReplyDelete"Curple" appears to be a synonym for hindquarters:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/curple
I remember that alicorn could refer to the unicorn's horn itself...but what do we call Celestia and Luna then? Winged pegasi? Pegacorns? Not sure if there's a fandom-official term out there, is there?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThere isn't. We're all totally clueless.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI think maybe it's not a matter of WRONG terminology, but of what terminology is being used.
"Flank" in anatomy (as in this diagram and in beef cuts) might be the wrong spot for the Cutie Mark, but Flank can also simply refer to the side of something, too.
As in "flanking manoeuvres" in military tactics. See these dictionary defs (***'s added):
1. The section of flesh on the body of a person or an animal between the last rib and the hip; the side.
2. A cut of meat from the flank of an animal.
***3. A lateral part or side: the flank of a mountain.
So, Ponies have Marks "on their flanks," but making a (*shudder*) "Pony Flank Steak" would not involve cutting through them.
@Anonymous
ReplyDelete"Alicorn" seems to be the most popular term these days, and it does have a nice ring to it. I see no reason why we can't use it to refer to both - English is riddled with words that cover multiple definitions.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI guess that works. Language changes over time, heh. Maybe it's just all the years of Biology classes that are making me question every intricate detail.
Vertebrate anatomy. I'll never look at my pets the same way again.
This is highly informative.
ReplyDelete[Execute Save]
Check out the cannons on that pony!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous I dunno, Mary Sue Ponies?
ReplyDeletelol, just kidding.
Guys, you're missing the point.
ReplyDeletePonies come with cannons, guys!
CANNONS!!
In my honest opinion, I say that real horses are huge and scary as hell.
ReplyDeleteAlso @10:53 Zarkanorf- I fukken lol'd at that part.
In real life, ponies are a lot prettier than horses.
ReplyDelete@bubsAKAvermin
ReplyDeleteActually, I've had the pleasure of seeing some really cute ones (ponies rather than horses, I think) that were being used to give rides to little ones. Like little barrels on legs.
That's an awful lot of synonyms for "back"
ReplyDeleteWhere's the plot?
ReplyDeleteAhh that helps so much !
ReplyDeleteAnd @Bobbin, alicorn is actually the old correct term for a unicorn horn, it just changed.
Check out wikipedia =D
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteAnd here is one farrier right here.
Also, just a couple little additions;
-The whithers are supposed to be the highest part of the back right above the shoulders on a real pony, and it's where the height of a pony is measured to (In hands. 1 hand = 4 inches.) because the top of the head is hard to measure consistantly.
-Ponies' left sides are called the near side and their right side is called the off side. This is always THEIR left or right.
-In fat ponies it's the crest that starts putting on a lot of it, not the stomach. If the stomach is very wide they might be coliced, which can be potentially serious.
-Pony teeth grow throughout their life and for most need to be 'floated' regularly be a dentist.
-Many horses and ponies are headshy, meaning they're afraid of being touched in the head. So if you meet a new pony, you should first let them smell you and then pet their neck before trying to touch their head. Also, approach a pony from it's front, or if you must approach it from the rear make sure it can see you and is aware you're there. Greeting a pony in the wrong way will make it dislike you and be very hard to work with it. Same as if you have to walk closely behind the back of a pony, hold your hand on the top of it's hip and walk close to it's legs, that way it'll know you're there and probably won't kick you.
-Ponies and horses don't have a corpus collosum in the brain, meaning both lobes of the brain are separate so anything you do to one side of the pony is new when you go to the other side. Suddenly switching sides will unnerve a pony.
-Holding up a pony's top lip releases endorphins to it's brain and will calm it down. This is called twitching a pony.
-They don't have arms. Their front limbs are called fore legs and their rear limbs are called hind legs, unless you're refering to their feet, which are front feet and hind feet.
@bobbin the unicorn
ReplyDeleteAlicorn also is a name for the material, unicorn horns are made of. Still you may be right.
...wait a minute. Are you suggesting that the ponies have elbows and knees on the same limb?
ReplyDelete...that would explain their ability to curl their arms up to their face, since that would be impossible for a real pony... although I'd assumed that they were simply double-jointed.
...excuse me, I need to go collect a bet from Better Living Through Science And Poines' GLaDOS.
@ToonNinja
ReplyDeleteI thought the official term for them was "goddesses". Or "awesome," if you prefer...
@Pony Mouse
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to write a fanfic about this. The infamous "Flutterrage" can be soothed by...lifting her upper lip?
Oh you silly humans, having a name for every cm of a part of the body.
ReplyDelete@Pony Mouse
ReplyDeleteThe sources I found on the Web, some of them by equine veterinary specialists, specifically call an equine forelimb an arm. This was fairly consistent from source to source. I went with the consensus; I’m not an expert myself.
—Dave Bryant
@bobbin the unicorn
ReplyDeleteThe term “alicorn” can refer either to the horn itself or to the substance of which is made, as I understand it.
—Dave Bryant
@Dave Bryant
ReplyDeleteMy apologies! I myself have never encountered the word arm in shoeing, but I did go look it up in my textbooks and found several different diagrams that had a portion labeled 'forearm' although it's hard to tell if they're refering to the whole leg or just the portion surrounding the radius. Although I'm guessing it probably would be rather akward to talk about driving nails into a horse's arm, so that might have something to do with it, heh. It also cracks me up that so many of the plates also highlight the 'point of humane destruction' as a part of equine anatomy.
Also, nice job on your picture!
Any elementary school boy can tell a haunch clearly means ass) so geez?! I really wonder why they decided to call it a flank instead of ass mark or buttcheek mark? *sigh* failjpg...
ReplyDelete...Dont they teach you kids anything in school anymore or has the education system really gotten that crappy?lolz
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry you disapprove of watermarks, but my desire to protect my work, and to provide proper attributions, takes precedence. Watermarks are the only reliable method for doing so on any image released into the wild of the Web. Churlish reactions, particularly unsigned ones, are counterproductive.
—Dave Bryant
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThe back of an equine is divided into so many sectors because of the human relationship with horses and ponies. Such things as the fit of a saddle or a harness depend on fairly exact terminology. Notice that while the back is segmented into fairly small sections, the rest of the trunk consists of only two areas, the chest and the barrel!
—Dave Bryant
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI did conduct some actual research before creating the diagram, so any errors are transmitted faithfully from various specialist Web sites, including veterinary charts. I dispute the label of “failjpg”.
Also, for the record, my school days were back in the 1960s and 1970s, when the educational system was only beginning its slide into poor quality.
—Dave Bryant
@Pony Mouse
ReplyDeleteIt’s possible that different disciplines use slight variations in terminology, or that there are regionalisms. I’m told, for instance, that US horse jargon is somewhat different from UK jargon, and to tell the truth I can’t say for certain which I have used in the chart.
Your point about the awkwardness is well-taken too! But I’ll bet the point of humane destruction doesn’t appear in any pony textbooks. . . .
I’d like to thank Sethisto for posting about my modest little chart and so many commenters for their positive responses!
ReplyDelete—Dave Bryant
@Xeonneo
ReplyDeleteWell, "dock” refers specifically to the base of the tail rather than the rump.
—Dave Bryant
I'm curious about the source for the pegasus parts..
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteFor the wing anatomy I looked up bird-wing diagrams. Real bird wings are insanely complicated, so I simplified the anatomy chart enormously. That fit both the simplicity of the pony-model artwork and the nature of the chart as a visual aid for elementary-school use.
I like how people think "alicorn" is a typo. It's what unicorn horns are made of... but apparently also means winged unicorns.
ReplyDeleteThis Day in Pony History:
ReplyDeleteWell, congrats to those who were already on EqD, I'm seeing this for the first time. Nice work, anyway.
@bobbin the unicorn
ReplyDeleteno that's correct.
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ReplyDelete