📌 To remove fasteners 🐎 To remove gear

to untack

9.1

To take off a horse's saddle and other riding gear after a ride

verb
/ʌnˈtæk/

Jargon

: desensillar

After riding, I untack my horse and give him a good grooming.

Examples

Dusty, untacking his storm-spooked ponies, shook his head and spat a negative stream of tobacco juice.

Fiction book (1992)
I untacked, groomed him, and left him in peace with a pile of hay.

Blog text (2)
She slid down, ran the stirrups up, automatically coordinating with the groom as they untacked the chestnut horse and began the after-workout rubdown.

Fiction book (2000)
He carefully untacked the horse, removing the saddle and bridle before placing them on the rack.
Every evening, she untacks her pony and makes sure to clean the equipment properly.

Synonyms

to unbridle

vsto untack

2 8.8

Take the bridle off a horse

removes the seat plus head control gear and other riding items

to unsaddle

vsto untack

1 6.0

Remove the saddle from a horse or other animal

removes the seat plus head control gear and other riding items

to unharness

vsto untack

1 7.2

To take off the straps and gear that connect a horse or other working animal to a vehicle

applies to pulling equipment, not to ridden gear removed after riding

to offsaddle

vsto untack

Archaic

9.9

To remove the saddle from a horse or pony

applies only to the seat while the main term removes all riding gear

Surface Forms

untack infinitive

untacked past

untacked past participle

untacking present participle

untacks third person singular

Morphology

untack = tack (transparent) = un + tack

Formed by adding the productive prefix 'un-' to the noun 'tack' (riding equipment) to mean 'remove the tack', which is directly deducible.

Etymology

The word untack comes from the part un- meaning 'remove' and tack meaning 'riding gear' like a 'saddle' or 'bridle', so picture taking a saddle off a horse after a ride. That's why untack means to remove a horse's saddle and other equipment.