Fun Facts About Horses II

Fun Facts About Horses II

Image source:  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ealdgyth

1. Equus is an ancient Greek word for horse. The exact translation is quickness.

2. The Arabian horse is the oldest purebred horse in the world. The Arabian was the horse  the Bedouin people (nomadic people) of Arabia as early as 3000 to 2500 BC. They were  later introduced into Europe and throughout the world.

3. The Arabian horse was originally bred as a war horse and proved to be loyal and  extremely hardy.

4. The Arabian horse is considered to be the foundation of all modern horse breeds.

5. Characterized by a small dish faced head, large eyes and a thin muzzle, the Arabian is considered the most beautiful and elegant horses.

6. Arabians are intelligent, sensitive and courageous creatures. They are loyal if treated well and they enjoy attention.

7. Some think the Arabian is high spirited and wild. NOT TRUE!... In fact, the Arabian is an ideal family horse and versatile for any style of riding desired.

8. Horses see, hear and smell  better than humans.

9. Horses’ eyes are set on either side of their head. This makes it possible for them to see in every direction at once, except directly in front of their nose and directly behind their tail.

10. Horses are very sensitive to touch. They can sense a fly landing on any part of their body and use their tail to flick it off.

11. Horses have large ears that can move around and point towards sounds. Each one can rotate around (180 degrees).

12. A horse’s ears can indicate how it is feeling.

13. Horses are able to recognize friends, both human and animal, by smell alone.

14. Whiskers that grow from a horse’s muzzle and around its eyes are like an antennae. They are used to feel nearby objects.

15. A horse “poops” 5 to 12 times a day. 

16. An adult horse’s brain weighs about 650 grams (22 oz.) - about half the weight of an adult human brain.

17. A horse breathes between 10 and 15 times a minute when resting.

18. A horse’s heart beats 46 to 42 beats per minute. If frightened this can rise quickly to over 250.

19. A horse needs to have its feet trimmed every six weeks. Horses in the wild wear their feet down naturally.

20. Some horses wear shoes to protect their feet. They need to have their shoes removed, their hooves trimmed and the shoes put back on every four to six weeks. 

21. Horses need to eat grass or hay. An average sized horse will eat approximately 20  pounds (approximately 10 kg) of hay per day.

22. A horse in a field or in the wild will graze as much as 15 to 18 hours a day.

23. A horse drinks at least 25 litres (5.5 gallons) of water per day - about 13 times as much as an adult human. 

24. Horses in training or who work every day are fed oats as well. Oats give the horse energy to do their work.

25. The height of a horse is measured in “hands”. A hand was originally based on the width of the palm of a man’s hand and later standardized as 4 inches (10 cm). The measurement is taken from the ground to the highest point on the horse’s shoulder.

26. A stallion is a male horse capable of siring foals (baby horses).

27. A colt is a young male horse under four years of age.

28. A gelding is a castrated or gelded male.

29. A mare is a mature female horse.

30. A filly is a young female under four years of age.

31. A mare is pregnant or  “in foal” for eleven months.

32. When foals are born their legs are almost the same length as when they are fully grown.

33. Within an hour of birth a foal can stand up and walk.

34. Horses communicate with other members of the herd through both vocal and body  signals.

35. In a herd of horses the leader is most often a mare.

36. A horse can not ‘throw up’.

37. A relaxed horse may make licking or chewing movements with it’s mouth.

38. A relaxed horse may sigh or yawn and take deep breathes.

39. Always approach a horse at it’s shoulder. It is easy for the horse to see you.

40. It is normal to hear gurgling sounds coming from a horse’s stomach.

41. Horses enjoy a routine. They need to be fed every day at the same times. They need to be let out of their stall into their turnout pens and put back into their stall at the same time each day.

42. Horses have been domesticated for over 5000 years. 

43. Horses are herbivores (plant eaters). 

44. Horses gallop at around 44 kph (27 mph). 

45. The fastest recorded sprinting speed of a horse was 88 kph (55 mph). 

46. Estimates suggest that there are around 75 million horses in the world. 

47. Horses' hooves grow approximately 0.25 in a month, and take nearly a year to grow from the coronet band to the ground.  

48. In the state of Arizona, it is illegal for cowboys to walk through a hotel lobby wearing their spurs.

49. A horse can poop up to 14 times a day!

50. Horses cannot breathe through their mouths.

51. Horses cannot vomit.

52. A horse’s eye is up to nine times larger than that of a human.  

53. Most of the time, a horse's ear points where the horse is looking. 

54. A different image is seen by each horse's eye so a horse is seeing two different pictures at the same time.