Start talking to an avid horseback rider, and you'll find yourself surrounded with words that may seem unfamiliar. She'll talk about tacking up, hand and leg aids, the four gaits, bits, halters, horses who are head shy, making flying lead changes, and many other highly specific terms. We call this type of specialized language "shop talk". It's almost as though all these specialized worlds around us have their own secret codes, their own cryptologies, and we love to see it appear in fiction. (Read more »)