Interesting Tidbits About Horses
Horses are amazing animals and the backbone of many of the advances we humans made before the industrial revolution. That being said, most of us know little about them. Here is an overview of this beautiful and amazing creature.
The horse is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the family Equidae.
A newborn foal’s legs are already 90% of the length they will be when full grown.
A breed of horses called Akhal-Teke from Russia can go for days without water or food.
Most of the time, a horse has monocular vision. This means a different image is seen by each eye so that a horse is seeing two different pictures at the same time. A horse can also have binocular vision. Binocular vision is when both eyes work together to see one picture (humans have binocular vision). A horse only has binocular vision when it is looking down its nose.
Horses require approximately two and a half hours of sleep, on average, in a 24-hour period. Most of this sleep occurs in many short intervals of about 15 minutes each.
Horses height is measured in units known as hands. One hand is equal to 4 inches. A horse is usually considered to be 14.2 (14 hands, 2 inches) or taller when mature. Anything under 14.2 when mature is usually considered to be a pony.
A horse’s upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw. During normal chewing sharp edges or points frequently form along the outside edge of the upper teeth and the inside edge of the lower teeth due to the uneven grinding surface created by the different width of the jaws.
On-average, miniature horses may live one-third longer than large horses. This size-longevity relationship is the same for dog breeds.
Horse meat has been used as food for animals and humans throughout the ages. It is eaten in many parts of the world and is an export industry in the United States and other countries.
The average horse’s heart weighs approximately 9 or 10 pounds. The great American racehorse Secretariat had a heart estimated during his autopsy to weigh 21 pounds, though the heart was not weighed.
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.
A hinny is a cross between a male horse and a female donkey. Hinnies are usually sterile.
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