Facts of interest.

Interesting Horse Facts

The Horse

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.

Did You Know?

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 yearling is a foal after its 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"

Mare and Foal

The mother horse, or mare, is pregnant (or "in foal") for 11 months. Most mares give birth in the spring to a single baby (foal) although twins are not uncommon. Mares produce milk for their young and will feed them for several months.
Within 1-2 hours of birth a foal is able to stand up and walk. When foals are born their legs are almost the same length as they are when they are fully grown - their legs are so long they find it difficult to reach down to the grass to eat! Foals can focus their eyes almost as soon as they are born and cut their first teeth within a week. They are fully grown by 3 - 4 years of age.

What do horses eat?

Horses love to eat short, juicy grass. They also eat hay (which is dried grass) especially in the winter or when they are stabled. Extra high energy food such as barley, oats, maize, chaff, bran or processed pony nuts are good for working horses. Horses have small stomachs for their size and need to eat little and often - if in a field, horses will graze for most of the day.

How long do horses live?

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.

How many breeds of horses are there?

There are over 350 different breeds of horses and ponies. These fall into four main groups:
"light" horses with small bones, thin legs and weighing less than 1300 pounds; e.g. Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Morgan horses and Arabians "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 ponies which are usually not more than 58 inches tall (14.2 hands and under), making them smaller than a horse; e.g.Shetland, Haflinger, and Caspian ponies feral horses which are wild or semi-wild horses. A mustang is a federal horse.

What are the different colours of horses and ponies?

Horses can be either the same colour all over (whole colours) or a mixture of colours (broken colours). There are thousands of different colour combinations for horses. The most commonly recognized whole colours are - bay, black, brown, chestnut, dun, cream, palomino, or grey. The broken colours include piebald (often called pinto), skewbald (also known as paint horses), roan and spotted (Appaloosa) horses.

Why does a horse have to wear shoes?

Horses that work or travel on hard roads need their feet (hooves) protected by metal shoes. Horses hooves, like our finger and toe nails, also grow continuously and need to be trimmed. To do this, the horses shoes need to be removed and their hooves trimmed every 4 -6 weeks. After trimming their hooves new shoes are fitted.
The person who cares for a horse's feet is called a farrier or blacksmith.

What do they mean when they say a horse is so many "hands" high?

Horses are measured by the width of a human hand - 4 inches or 10 centimetres. Measurement is taken from the ground up to the withers, the highest point on the horse's shoulder. A light horse such as a Lipizzana measures between 15.1 and 16.2hh while a heavy horse such as a Shire is between 16.2 and 17.2hh. Ponies are under 14hh.

How can you tell how old a horse is by looking at their teeth?

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.

What are the different paces of a horse?

The four natural paces for the horse are the walk, trot, canter and gallop.

Aged	a horse which is ten years old or more
Aids	signals that the rider employs, with his hands, seat, weight, legs and voice, to tell the horse what to do. Artificial aids include spurs, whips, draw reins and martingales
Albino	a congenital deficiency of colouring pigment in the horse's hair and skin, which results in white hair, pink skin and blue (sometimes brown) eyes
Astride	when a rider sits on a horse with one leg on either side of the horse
Back at the knee	a fault in the forelegs in which the lower limb below the knee, when viewed from the side, tends to be concave. Also known as calf-knee and buck-knee. Undesirable because the limb would be of little use in absorbing concussion.
Balance	a horse is balanced when its weight, plus the weight of the rider, are distributed over each leg in a way that allows the horse to move with maximum ease and efficiency in all gaits
Bareback	riding without a saddle
Barrel	the body of the horse, from behind the forearms to the loins
Barrel racing	a rodeo sport where horse and rider race between and around barrels laid out in a triangular pattern
Base narrow	the legs are very close together when viewed from in front or behind
Base wide	the horse has a wide space between the legs when viewed from in front or behind
Bay	a body colour varying in shade from light golden to reddish brown with bright red in between
Behind the bit	when a horse draws his head in toward his chest to avoid contact with the bit
Bit	a straight or jointed bar of metal or rubber that fits in the horse's mouth and is kept in place by a bridle, which achieves control and steering of the horse
Black	a body colour in which the horse has a black body without light or brown areas, and with black points
Black points	a horse whose mane, tail and lower legs are black is said to have black points
Blemish	permanent marks or scars caused by injury appearing on any part of the horse
Bolt	the action of a horse galloping out of control
Bone spavin	bony deposit on the inside and lower part of the hock which may cause the horse to drag the hind toes, or become lame
Bosomy	when viewed from the side the chest appears abnormally prominent, and from the front appears abnormally heavy and wide
Bone	a horse's 'bone' is measured just below the knee
Bow knees	the front legs appear wide just above the knees when viewed from the front
Bowed hocks	a weakness in which the hocks bow outwards when viewed from behind
Boxy feet	small, donkey-like feet
Bridle	leather or nylon head harness which holds a bit in place
Brisket	lower part of the chest
Broken knees	knees that have been injured by falling and leaving permanent scarring
Brood mare	a female horse used for breeding foals
Brown	a body colour in which the brown horse may be almost black and has black points, but has light areas at the muzzle, around the eyes, and on the rear flank
Brushing	an injury to the inside joints on the front or the hind legs caused by the side of the foot striking the opposite leg when the horse is in motion
Buckskin	a yellowish or golden body colour with black points
Bull-necked	short and very thick in the neck
Butty	describes a short-legged, short-backed, deep-bodied horse

Canter	a horse's three-time pace
Capped elbows	swellings, large or small, on the elbows, often caused from lying on heels
Capped hocks	swellings, large or small, on the point of the hock caused by kicking in the stable, or through a shortage of bedding
Castration	an operation whereby a male horse's testicles are removed (also known as gelding or cutting)
Chestnut	a reddish body colour of varying shades, with the mane and tail usually of the same shade, but sometimes lighter, and never black
Chuckwagon	a mobile cookhouse drawn by horses, mules or cattle, used on the range for roundups and trail rides.
Clean-legged	descriptive of quality horses whose legs are blemish-free
Clipping	shaving a horse's coat
Close-coupled	descriptive of a short-backed, deep-bodied horse
Colic	abdominal pain in the horse's gut due to a variety of causes, including changes in diet, lack of water, blockages, and poor quality feed
Colt	an uncastrated (ungelded) male horse up to four years old
Condition	state of horse's body and health
Conformation	a horse's make and shape
Contracted heels	a defect in which the heels are very narrow, and the frog may not be in contact with the ground
Coronary band	a band of tissue at the top of the wall of the hoof
Cow-hocked	the hocks appear close together and the hind legs point outwards when viewed from behind
Cresty	having a thick, convex neck, as is seen in stallions
Croup	top of the hindquarters

Dam	a horse's mother
Dappled	dark spots often seen on grey horses
Deep-bodied	a horse that is deep through the girth with a broad and open chest
Dentine	mineralized tissue that make up a horse's teeth
Dipped back	a back that is hollow behind and in front of the saddle
Dishing	undesirable action where the foot is thrown outward and forward
Dock	the flesh and bone part of the tail
Docking	severing the lower part of the tail
Dorsal stripe	a black, brown, red or gold stripe running down a horse's coat from the withers, along the spine, to the tail
Draft (draught)	any heavy or light breed of horse used to pull a vehicle
Dressage	training of a horse to become agile and obedient to a rider's directions, and capable of performing intricate movements
Dun	a body shade of yellow, ranging from light cream to palomino colour, with a darker dorsal stripe down the back, and sometimes horizontal dark stripes on the backside of the leg behind the knee

Ease of movement	moves easily without awkwardness or pain
Entire	a male horse which has not been castrated; a stallion
Equitation	art or act of riding on horseback
Ergot	a hard growth at the back of the fetlock joint
Ewe neck	the crest of the neck is concave rather than convex

Feather	long hair on the lower limbs, especially in the heels, as is most frequently seen in heavy horses
Feral	wild, untamed
Fiddle-headed	a horse that has a large, long, plain head
Filly	a female horse up to three years old
Flank	part of the body behind the ribs
Flaxen	blond color
Foal	a young horse under one year of age
Forehand	the front of a horse, including head, neck, shoulders and forelegs
Frog	the soft, v-shaped tissue on the underside of the horse's foot

Gait	pattern of leg movements used by a horse in walk, trot, canter, gallop, pacing and tolt.
Gelding	a castrated male horse
Gestation	the term of pregnancy, which in horses lasts for approximately 355 days (11 months)
Girth	the circumference of the horse's body behind the withers
Gray	horse color ranging in shade from dark gray to white
Groom	to clean a horse; or the person engaged in the general care of a horse
Grullo	a slate- or mouse coloured horse

Halter	a headcollar for leading a horse, or tying it to something
Hand	a measurement of 4 inches
Harness	equipment used for driving a horse
Hindquarters	the area between the rear of the flanks and root of the tail, stretching down to the top of the gaskin
Hobbles	straps to fasten a horse's front legs together at the fetlocks
Horn	the outer surface of the hoof

Impulsion	forward propulsion created by the energetic use of the hindquarters resulting in the hind legs coming well under the horse's body
Incisors	the front biting teeth

Lasso	a long rope with a slipknot loop at the throwing end used for capturing cattle or horses (also called lariat)
Light of bone	the bone below the knee is small in proportion to the size of the horse
Loins	part of the back which extends down either side of the spine and lies immediately behind the saddle
Lop ears	ears that are floppy, placed wide apart and droop downwards

Mare	a female horse aged four years and over
Mule	offspring of a donkey stallion and a horse mare
Mustang	a wild horse
Muzzle	includes lips, chin and nostrils

Nap	resistance by a horse, including rearing, bucking, running away, shying, and failing to obey the rider's aids
Near side	the left-hand side of the horse, which is the usual side to mount a horse
Nutcracker	a horse that has the habit of grinding its teeth

Off side	the right-hand side of the horse
On the bit	when a horse takes a light, definite feel on the reins, without resistance and with a relaxed jaw
Over at the knee	a forward bend or curve of the knee; a conformation fault
Oxer	a jump comprising two sets of wings and any combination of poles, angles or spreads

Pack horse	a horse used to carry burdens of kit or merchandise
Pace	a lateral gait in two-time, in which the hind leg and the foreleg on the same side move forward together; or the four different gaits - walk, trop, canter and gallop
Parrot mouth	malformation of the upper jaw whereby the front teeth overhang the lower ones.
Pastern	part of the horse's leg between the fetlock joint and the hoof
Piebald	a pinto
Plaiting	front or hind feet cross over when in action: a bad fault
Poll	the top of the horse's head, between the ears
Pommel	the raised, arched part of the front of a saddle
Pony	an equine that does not exceed 14.2 hands high
Puissance	a non-timed jumping competition where the fences are fewer but higher until only one combination of horse and rider succeed in completing the course

Rack	the most spectacular movement of the five-gaited American Saddlebred, where each foot strikes the ground separately in quick succession
Rasp	also known as floating, it is the smoothing of sharp edges from horses' teeth
Rein back	to make a horse step backwards while being ridden or driven
Reins	straps attached to the bit and held in a rider's hands to guide the horse
Remount	a fresh horse used to replace a tired or lame horse; or to get back on a horse after getting off or falling off
Resistance	the act of refusing to go forward, stopping, running back or rearing
Roman nose	describes a horse with a convex face from poll to muzzle
Rump	the hind part of a horse's body, the buttocks
Rustler	a horse or cattle thief

Saddle	a leather or material seat for a rider on a horse
School	to train a horse for whatever purpose it may be required
Sclera	the outermost membrane of the eyeball adjoining the cornea
Seat	a rider's posture in the saddle
Service	the mating of a mare by a stallion
Side-saddle	sitting on a horse with both feet on the near (left) side of the horse
Sire	biological father of a horse
Sock	a white leg marking extending from the coronet to the middle of the cannon bone area
Solid	a color term denoting only one color with no other markings
Sorrel	a reddish-brown or light chestnut colour, without black points
Sound	refers to a horse free of illness, disease, physical or conformational defect
Spavin	a degenerative bone disease affecting the hock
Splint	a bony growth that forms between the splint bone and cannon bone
Spur	a metal instrument attached to a rider's boot heels for decoration or artificial aid
Stallion	an ungelded male horse aged four years or over
Star	a white marking on the forehead of a horse's face
Steed	a spirited horse used for riding
Stirrup	a D-shaped fitting connected to the saddle into which a rider places his foot
Straight in the shoulder	a conformational defect where the shoulder lacks sufficient angulation for comfortable and sound riding or driving
Strawberry roan	a color term describing a mixture of red hairs mixed with white
Surcingle	a webbing belt which passes over a racing or jumping saddle and girth and is used to keep the saddle in position

Teaser	a stallion used to determine whether a mare is receptive before being covered by the stallion of choice
Toad eye	prominent eyes with mealy-coloured upper and lower lids
Tolt	fast four-beat running walk
Track	hoof prints on soft ground
Transition	a change of one pace to another
Tree	the framework of a saddle
Trot	a two-time gait with the horse using diagonal pairs of legs to propel itself forward

Vaulting	gymnastics performed on horseback
Walk	a four-time gait that is naturally flat-footed
Warmblood	a race of horse developed from the pedigree bloodlines of various breeds, namely Arabian and Thoroughbred
Windgall	a puffy swelling of a horse's fetlock joints
Windsucking	a habit in which a horse draws in and swallows air, causing indigestion and unthriftiness
Withers	the highest part of a horse's back: the area at the base of the neck between the shoulder blades
Zebra stripes	a color pattern of dark-colored stripes, front to back, from the fetlocks up to the hocks and knees of a horse

Quick Knot

This easy knot safely and securely ties your horse in the trailer.

Article by Heidi Nyland

The October 2004 issue of Western Horseman offered tips for trailer-loading from professional brother-and-sister training team Tom and Margo Ball. Here's an easy way to tie your horse once he's inside the trailer. You horse won't be able to untie himself, but you can quickly release the knot in an emergency. Make sure to tie the rope to a secure post or ring high above your horse's head so that he doesn't step on it.

Start by feeding the loose end of your horse's lead rope through the trailer's hitching ring.

Take a section of the loose rope and fold it with your right hand..

Wrap the fold under the hitching ring and around two rope pieces. Then pull the fold up through the middle of your newly formed loop. Pull the fold to tighten the knot..

Continue to loop the remaining rope up through the folded section until little of the rope is hanging down.

To release, pull the rope down from the center and unwrap it from the hitching ring.