Hippology: the study of horses; equine knowledge.

Whenever I teach my students new words, they start to get the hang of it. There is always one kid who attempts to create a new word by simply adding, -ology. This creates rather ridiculous words. Coffeology, Bugology, Volleyballology, and who knows what elseology.

Hippology feels like one of those words created by my students. But, no. Hippology is a real word. It is even the title of an Equine Knowledge Contest. Students competing in Hippology, must pass a written examination, and a horse identification test. Seriously. I am not horsing around.

Hippology comes from the Greek words ἳππος (hippos), horse, and λόγος (logos), meaning word, or the study of.