The game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? ran from 2007-2011. The concept was for adults to answer questions taken from grade school text books to test their knowledge (or lack thereof). We thought it would be fun to apply the same technique to horse people of all ages, and who better to test our knowledge than the Canadian Pony Club (CPC)?

Last week I tried to answer some of the questions on the CPC written test C/D and if you read that article, you know I came up empty. So to keep it interesting and to further demonstrate how little I know ‒ or rather, how much I’ve forgotten ‒ I herewith offer up my not-as-smart-as-a-Pony-Clubber answers for Test A/B, the final and most difficult on the scale.

Alphabet Soup

The first section is “Alphabet Soup” which asks you to finish the word using the clue & first letter given. Thankfully, I got three out of five correct, just like on Text C. And feel free to laugh at how I confused a noseband and a bit…

Where two or more bones meet – JOINT
A noseband used for hard pullers – KIMBERWICK
Joins bone to bone – LIGAMENT
A type of gait that has more impulsion than a working gait, but less than an extended gait – MEDIUM
Another name for Uticaria – NO CLUE

ANSWERS: Joint, Kineton, Ligament, Medium, Nettle rash!

 

Multiple Choice

1. What does the nuchal ligament do?
a. It connects each of the cervical vertebrae to the withers
b. It connects the lumbar-sacral joint to the pelvis
c. It connects the shoulder sling to the withers and back
d. It helps move the eye

I seriously have no idea and wonder if there shouldn’t be e) all of the above…?

2. Legumes utilize nitrogen produced by bacteria in their roots. They use this to produce higher levels of:
a. Moisture
b. Protein
c. Fibre
d. Fats

Well, I know legumes offer up fibre so I’ll go with C!

3. Which organ produces bile?
a. Pancreas
b. Liver
c. Small colon
d. Cecum

A, pancreas

Shires Equestrian Blue Sweet Iron Roller Link Baucher Bit.

4. Which of the following is not a leverage bit?
a. Curb
b. Kimberwick
c. Baucher
d. Pelham

At least I know now that Kimberwick is a bit! But I’ll say c) because I’ve never heard of a Baucher bit.

CORRECT ANSWERS: 1-A; 2-B; 3-B AND 4-C!
I got one correct and it was a total guess!

 

Part D: By The Numbers

1. The number of teeth an adult gelding typically has: enough to bite you with if you don’t have a carrot handy.
2. The minimum width of a stall door: 5 feet
3. Average heart rate (range) of an adult horse at rest. 35-45
4. Percent of body calcium found in bones. 100%
5. Number of essential amino acids. 10

CORRECT ANSWERS: 1=40; 2=4 feet; 3=30-45 AND 35-45; 4=99; 5=10.
So I got two out of five correct. Though now I wonder what that 1% that’s not calcium in bones actually is!

 

Part E: Short Answer

a.i.1. Give two possible uses for a stable bandage SUPPORT POST INJURY, REDUCE STOCKING UP
a.i.2. What is proud flesh? Where does it typically occur? WHAT IT IS I’M NOT EXACTLY SURE, BUT IT’S RATHER GHASTLY TO LOOK AT! BUT IT IS FOUND ON OPEN FLESH FROM A DEEP WOUND
a.i.3. Name the three types of muscle. HMMMMM….
a.i.4. What are the 3 types of arthritis? DEGENERATIVE, RHEUMATOID AND THAT’S ALL I GOT

CORRECT ANSWERS:

1. For protection, warmth, prevent legs from swelling, to cover dressings/ hold them in place
2. Proud flesh is excessive granulation tissue. It is typically found on/ near open wounds that are not healing properly. Especially on legs.
3. Smooth, cardiac, skeletal
4. Traumatic, Septic, Degenerative

So on this last bit I got basically 1, 2 and 4 half-right, so that’s one-and-a-half entire correct answers out of 4.

What does this all mean? That I for one, am not smarter than a Pony Clubber. But it was eye-opening taking the test (and not cheating with Google) and I realize how much reading I need to do!