Horse Facts

Basic Horse Facts

Things Every Horse Owner SHould Know

• A horse isn't considered an adult until it reaches age four.
• A female horse over 4 years old is called a mare.
• A male horse over 4 years old is called a Stallion or a Gelding, if castrated.
• Horses are measured in hands high (hh).
• A hand is equivalent to four inches or 10.2cm.
• Horses are normally over 14.2hh except for miniature horses.
• Anything under 14.2hh is classed as a pony.
• There are over 200 breeds of horses in the world.
• A horse's gestation period (time from breeding to birth) is about 11 mths
• Horses usualy live to be 20-25 years old. The oldest horse lived to be 62.
• A father horse is called a sire.
• A mother horse is called a dam.
• A young female is called a filly.
• A young male is called a colt.
• The scientific name for the horse is equus caballus.
• A mule is a cross between a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).
• Mules are usually sterile.
• A hinny is a cross between a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny).
• Hinnies are usually sterile.
• Mules are known for having very long ears.

Foals and Foaling

Interesting Facts on Baby Horses

• A newborn foals legs are already 80 to 90% of the length they will be when full grown.
• A foal is able to stand just one hour after birth.
• A foal can walk, trot, and run just two hours after birth.
• The first milk the mare makes is called colostrum. This rich milk builds the foals immune system.
• Most foals will start to nurse less than two hours after birth.
• A female foal is called a filly.
• A male foal is called a colt.
• More foals are born between April 15 and May 15 than at any other time.
• Mares usually foal at night.
• Foaling mares don't like being watched. They will stop foaling and wait till a person leaves.
• A mare may give birth in as little as 15 minutes, but usually no longer than an hour.
• If a mare is still straining after an hour has passed, something is seriously wrong.
• If you have to help pull a foal out, NEVER pull up! Always pull down, toward the mares feet.

Did you know

Strange or Unusual Horse Facts

• Horses like classical music.
• The oldest horse was named Old Billy. He was a cross breed, he was born in 1760 and lived to 62.
• The oldest pony ever recorded was named Teddy E. Bear. He lived to be 55 and was owned by Kathy Pennington of Virginia Beach, VA. He was still alive in 1998.
• The World's Largest Horse was a purebred Belgian stallion named Brooklyn Supreme. He stood 19.2hh (6'6") at his withers. He weighed over 3,200 pounds and is entered in the Guiness Book of World Records. He was foaled in 1928 and died in 1948. He lived in Iowa, USA.

The oldest winning thoroughbred racehorses are ;

• The 18-year-olds - Revenge, at Shrewsbury, England 1790; Marksman, at Ashford, Kent, England, 1826; and Jorrocks, at Bathurst, Australia, 1851.
• Also at 18yrs old; Wild Aster won three hurdle races in 1919, and Sonny Somers won two steeplechases in February 1980.

The smallest horse breed is the Falebella miniature horse of Argentina.

• The tallest recorded member of the breed stands just 74cm (30 inches) at the shoulder.
• The smallest pony in history was a stallion named "Little Pumpkin". He stood just 14 inches tall and weighed only 20lbs.
• The tallest horse recorded was a Shire horse called Samson. He stood 21.2hh (7ft 2in). Samson is also recorded as the heaviest horse weighing in at 1524kg (3360lbs)
• The World Record log pull 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 8ft. 1.25in (247cm). 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 27ft 6.75in (8.4m). By Something - ridden by Andre Ferreira (South Africa) in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 25, 1975.

Technical horse terms

Latin Terms and Meanings

Here are some words that are derived from the latin word for horse, equus, and the Greek word for horse, hippos. From the American Heritage Dictionary

• equine adj. - 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a horse. 2. Of or belonging to the family Equidae, which includes horses, asses, and zebras.
• equestrian adj. - 1. Of or relating to horseback riding or horseback riders. 2. Depicted or represented on horseback: an equestrian statue of a famous monarch.
• equestrian n. - One who rides a horse or performs on horseback. [From Latin equester, equestr-, from eques, horseman, from equus, horse.
• equitation n. - The art and practice of riding a horse. [Latin equitatio, equitation-, from equitare, to ride horseback.
• equitant adj. - Overlapping at the base to form a flat, fanlike arrangement in two ranks, as the leaves of some irises. [Latin equitans, equitant-, present participle of equitare, to ride horseback, from eques, equit-, horseman, from equus, horse.
• equisetum n., pl. equisetums or equiseta. (horsetail). - Any of various nonflowering plants of the genus Equisetum, having a jointed, hollow stem and narrow, sometimes much reduced leaves. Also called equisetum.
• eohippus n. - A small, herbivorous, extinct mammal of the genus Hyracotherium (or Eohippus) from the Eocene Epoch of the western United States, having four-toed front feet and three-toed hind feet and related ancestrally to the horse. [New Latin : eo- + Greek hippos, horse]