Fandango - 1. a lively Spanish dance for two people, typically accompanied by castanets or tambourine. As a result of the extravagant features of the dance, the word fandango is sometimes used as a synonym for "a quarrel," "a big fuss," or "a brilliant exploit." 2. a foolish or useless act or thing.
Farcy - See "Glanders."
Farrier - A person who trims hooves and shoes horses
Fender - A wide leather piece attached to a stirrup leather to prevent rubbing of a rider's leg against the horse and to protect the rider's legs from horse sweat. Also referred to as a Jockey, Sweat Leather, or Sudadero
Feral - An escaped domestic animal. Technically, there is no such thing as a "wild" horse, since they all descended from domesticated stock. Rather, they are actually feral horses.
Fetch - To go somewhere and return with a certain item; to bring something.
Fetlock - The joint between the cannon bone and the pastern; the projection behind and above a horse's hoof.
Fiddle - 1. A member of the violin family; usually applied to the violin itself. Although some fiddle players will shave down the bridge to make it easier to play double or triple stops and shuffles and/or will use steel strings, there is no real difference between a fiddle and a violin. 2. To trifle with something or fidget with the hands like a fiddle player.
Fiesta - (fee-ES-tuh) A party or religious festival; a celebration.
Filly - 1. A young female horse. 2. A young, unmarried woman.
Finer than Frog Hair - Extremely fine. "Finer than Frog Hair Split in Half" is about as fine as a thing can get.
Fish - A slicker, or long raincoat, named after "Fish" brand slickers. (See also Slicker.)
Fisticuffs - Hand-to-hand fighting; boxing.
Flagman - A rodeo official who signals the end of the elapsed time in timed events.
Flank - The side of a horse, where the hind legs and the stomach of the horse meet.
Flank cinch - A strap attached to the rear of a saddle, designed to hold the saddle down when pressure is placed on the saddle horn.
Flank Girth - See Flank Cinch.
Flank Rider - A cowhand who rides at the side -- or flank -- of the herd, further back than the swing riders. He tries to keep the herd moving in a line, while also picking up and turning back any strays. (For more information on trail drive jobs, see Q & A page 216 - What were the various positions on a cattle drive?)
Flank Skirt - Leather doubling of the skirt that covers and protects the tree bars from the back of the cantle to the rear of the bars. Also called a Back Jockey, Rear Jockey, Upper Skirt, or Back Housing. See "Saddle" for an illustration. Also see "Skirt."
Flank strap - A leather strap, lined with sheepskin, placed around a bronc's flank and over his back, designed to encourage the horse to buck.
Flanker - 1. A cowhand who holds a calf down during branding by holding a hind leg and bracing his foot against the calf's flank. 2. A cowboy who rides at the side -- or flank -- of the herd on a trail drive. (See "Flank Rider.")
Flash in the Pan - Someone who seems to enjoy brief success but then falls short. The expression originated in the days of flintlock weapons when the gunpowder in the gun's pan might be ignited by the flint's spark, but fail to set off the main charge in the chamber.
Flea-bitten - A horse color characterized by small dots of a dark color over a white, solid base color; as in "A flea-bitten gray."
Flea-Trap - A cowboy's sugan; a cheap hotel, boarding house or any other place likely to be infested with vermin.
Fleck - An irregular white marking on a horse's forehead.
Flehmen Response - A curling back of the upper lip when the horse is trying to increase its sensitivity to certain smells or hormones in the air.
Float - 1. (n.) A a specialized dental rasp, used to file rough projections off a horse's teeth 2. (v.) To file rough projections off a horse's teeth, thus making the chewing surfaces more efficient.
Floating Teeth - See "Float."
Foal - 1. noun: A young horse. The offspring of a mare. See also "Get." 2. verb: To give birth to a foal.
Forefoot - A front foot of a four-legged critter.
Forehand - The front half of a horse; the part of a horse in front of the rider.
Fork - 1. (noun) The part of a saddle tree that bridges from one bar to the other at the front. The fork is the underlying framework for the pommel and swells. 2. (verb) To sit on a horse: "The cowboy forked his bronc."
Forsooth - In fact; certainly; very well. Often used in irony or mild disbelief, similar to "you don't say!" Derived from a Saxon word meaning "in truth."
Founder - A downward movement of the coffin bone. Derived from a nautical term meaning, "to sink."
Four-Flusher - A person who tries to bluff other people. A four flush (also called a flush draw) is a poker hand that is one card short of being a full flush. Unless the fifth card forms a pair or straight, a four flush is worthless. Four flushing, therefore, refers to empty boasting or unsuccessful bluffing
Four-in-hand - A team of four horses harnessed two by two.
Freak - A saddle built on a non-standard tree. Most rodeo associations have specifications as to the size of the Fork, Gullet, or Cantle, the rigging of the stirrup leathers, etc. Anything that doesn't conform to those standards (excessively high cantle, extremely wide or undercut fork, etc.) is called a freak saddle.
Freeze Brand - A marking applied to an animal by use of branding irons that have made exteremely cold by means of liquid nitrogen. Freeze branding destroys pigment-forming cells of the hair follicles -- the hair continues to grow, but is white in color.
Freezefiring - Similar to pinfiring, freezefiring uses a supercooled needle to alleviate leg pain by deadening nerves in the affected area. The process leaves a small circular area with white hair. Freezefiring isn't done as frequently on Thoroughbreds as Standardbreds.
Freight Trained - Run over by a large animal which is traveling at high speed, the effect being similar to being hit by a freight train.
Frijoles - Spanish word for beans.
Freemartin - A female calf, born as a twin to a male. A freemartin is an undesirable animal because it cannot reproduce and behaves much like a bull.
Frog - The triangular fleshy pad on the sole of a horse's foot.
Full Rigging - A saddle cinch rigging in which the cinch ring is directly below the pommel. Also called . Rimfire Rigging
Fullered Front Horseshoe - A horseshoe with a center crease. The most commonly used style of horseshoe, it provides improved grip and traction.
Furlong - One-eighth of a mile. Distances for most horse races in the United States are given in miles and furlongs.
Futurity - In horse shows, a performance event for two-year-olds or younger or a halter event for yearlings or younger .

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