Horse Facts
> A stallion is a male
horse
> A mare is a female horse
> A foal is a baby horse
> A filly is a young
female horse
>
A colt is a young male
horse
> A foal is a yearling
after it's first birthday
> A sire is the word used
for the father of a horse
> A dam is the word used
for the mother of a horse
> A pony is not a baby
horse. It is a fully grown small horse
> A horse's height is
measured in hands. One hand =4"
> An average life span for
a horse is around 20-25 years,
though they can live for
up to 30 years. The oldest recorded horse
was "Old Billy" an English
barge horse, who lived to be 62 years old.
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>There are over 350
different breeds of horses and ponies.
These fall into four main
groups:
1. "light" horses with
small bones, thin legs and weighing less
than 1300 pounds;e.g.
Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses,
Morgan horses and
Arabians.
2. "heavy" or draft horses
which can weigh up to 2000 pounds
and are strong with large
bones and sturdy legs; e.g.
Percherons, Draft,
Clydesdale, and Shire horses.
3. ponies which are
usually not more than 58 inches tall (14.2
hands and under), e.g.
Shetland, Halflinger, and Caspian ponies.
4. feral horses which are
wild or semi-wild horses.
A mustang is a feral
horse.
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> Horses are measured by
the width of a human hand-4
inches or 10 centimeters.
Measurement is taken from the ground up
to the withers, the
highest point on the horse's shoulder. A light
horse such as a Lipizzaner
measures between 15.1 and 16.2h
while a heavy horse such
as a Shire is between 16.2 and 17.2h.
Ponies are under 14hh.
> It is possible to age a
horse fairly accurately up to 10
years of age by their
teeth. Whether they are first teeth, permanent
teeth, the presence of
incisor teeth, the length and slope of teeth
all help indicate a
horse's age. It is more difficult to age adult horses
by their teeth.
> Horses belong to the
equus family. Equus comes from
the ancient Greek word
meaning quickness. Horses are mammals
in the same family as
zebras, mules, and donkeys.
> Conformation- The shape
of a horse's body. A horse with good conformation
is stronger and more
likely to stay sound than one with weak conformation.
Horse World
Records!!!
> The "OLDEST" pony reliably recorded was named Teddy E. Bear, and lived to be
55. He was owned by Kathy Pennington of Virginia Beach, VA. He was still alive
as of 1998.
> The "OLDEST winning
thoroughbreds are 18-year-old Revenge at Shrewsbury, England 1790; Marksman at
Ashford, Kent, England, 1826; and Jorrocks at Bathurst, Australia, 1851. At
the same age, Wild Aster won three hurdle races in 1919, and Sonny Somers won
two steeplechases in February 1980
> The "SMALLEST" breed is
the Falebella of Argentina. The tallest of the breed stands about 74cm (30
inches) at the shoulder.
>The "SMALLEST" pony in
history was a stallion named "Little Pumpkin." He stood 14 inches and weighed
only 20 lbs!
> The "TALLEST" ever horse recorded was a Shire called Samson. He stood 21.2
and a half hands ( 7 ft 2 inches)
> Samson is also recorded
as the "HEAVIEST" horse weighing 1524kg (3360lbs)
> World Record "LOG PULLING" was set in 1893. 2 Clydesdale Stallions hauled a
sledge stacked with timber weighing 128 tonnes. The equivalent of pulling 22
African Elephants.
> The record for the
"HIGHEST" jump is 8 ft. 1 1/4 in., by Huaso, ridden by Capt. Alberto
Larraguibel Morales (Chile) at Vina del Mar, Santiago, Chile on Feb. 5, 1949.
> The record for the
"LONGEST" jump over water is 27 ft., 6 3/4 in., by Something, ridden by Andre
Ferreira (South Africa) in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 25, 1975.
> The "MOST ANIMALS IN A
HITCH" is Willard McWilliams of Navan, Ontario, Canada drove 50 horses in a
single hitch at the 50th Navan Fair on August 13, 1995. The lead horses were
on reins 168 feet long. Floyd Zopfi of Stratford, WI has diven 52 llamas in a
hitch on seven occaisions since 1990, with the lead llamas on 150-foot reins.
But since a man in america is preparing for a 83 horse hitch. 2001.
> The "LONGEST"
horse-drawn procession was a cavalcade of 68 carriages that measured 3,018
feet "nose to tail", organized by the Spies Traveling Company of Denmark on
May 7, 1986. It carried 810 people through the woods around Copenhagen to
celebrate the coming of spring.
Horse Tidbits!!!
> There are over 350
different breeds of horses and ponies.
> There are more than 600
Przewalski's horses worldwide.
> When spoken to, horses
distinguish tones rather than particular words.
> The longest tail
measured was 22ft long was grown by an American Palomino named Chinook
> The longest mane was 18
ft long and grown by a Californian mare named Maude
> Horses have "2 BLIND
SPOTS". One is directly behind them and the other is directly in front of
them.
> A horse's "HEART WEIGHS"
about 10 pounds!
> The average horse's HEAD
WEIGHS 11.84 pounds
> You can tell how old a
horse is by how many teeth it has. A horse gets all of its teeth by the time
it is five years old. After that, they just get longer.
> Did you know that in the
old black and white films, when the script said that a horse was to be shot,
they really did the shooting on screen?! Sad, huh?
> Horses can communicate
how they are feeling by their facial expressions. They use their ears,
nostrils, and eyes to show their moods. Beware of a horse that has flared
nostrils and their ears back. That means it might attack!
> Most foals are born at
night under the cover of darkness and away from prying eyes and possible
danger.
> In the wild horse world,
the mare decides when and where the herd will go while the stallion follows.
> "LAST PRIMARY ANIMAL" to
be domesticated.
> Horses can drink up to
ten gallens of water a day
> It's impossible to
predict a horse's color from the foal coat color. They generally will go
through several color changes. The color finally becomes "fixed" around two
years of age.
> The difference between a
mule and a hiny. The mother of a mule is a Mare and the father is a Jackass.
The mother of a hiny is a Jenny and the father is a Horse (Stud)
> Horses expend more
energy lying down than they do when they are standing up!
> Rabbits are not rodents.
They are lagomorphs, and are more closely related to horses than they are to
rats or mice.
> The British racehorse
Humorist, who won the English derby in the early 20īs, should never have been
able to race. When he died shortly after the derby, an autopsy was made, and
it was found out that he had been born with only one lung.
> With his long limbs and
large heart and lungs, the horse is designed for galloping. Jumping is not a
natural activity for horses and left to their own devices most will go around
obstructions.
> China not only has the
most people in the world, but also has the most Horses with 10,000,000
> The fastest Pony Express
ride was 7 days, 17 hours and was carrying Lincoln's inaugural address.
> There is no such thing
as a white horse. They are all called gray horses because they have little
black and white hairs that combine to make them look white. Horses which are
white with pink eyes, a pink mouth, and pink ears are called albino.
> Horses cannot vomit.
> The male seahorse is the
one who gets pregnant and delivers the baby seahorses
> HIPPOPHOBIA - Fear of
horses.
>EQUINOPHOBIA - Fear of
horses.
> If a statue in the park
of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in
battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result
of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground,
the person died of natural causes.
> Horses cannot breathe
through their mouths. That's why you'll never see one panting like a dog.
Horses have a good sense
of memory, if you've been with the same horse for a long time, they will
remember you, but if you havent, they usually wont remember you
> The only horse to defeat
the great race horse Man'O War was named 'Upset
This Information was
Taken From:
http://members.tripod.com/cavanaughc/index.htm
