Horse, Horse

Although most horses today are domesticated, there are still endangered populations of the Przewalski's Horse, the only remaining true wild horse, as well as more common feral horses which live in the wild but are descended from domesticated ancestors.

Horses are anatomically designed to use speed to escape predators, and have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight instinct.

Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

There are over 300 breeds of horses in the world today, developed for many different uses.

A wide variety of riding and driving techniques have been developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of pregnant mares. Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers.

The oldest verifiable record was "Old Billy", a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62.

Delbridge, Arthur & others; The Macquarie Dictionary, p. 1511, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1991, ISBN 0 949757 63 2 If both testicles are not descended, the horse may appear to be a gelding, but will still behave like a stallion.

In the UK, Thoroughbred horse racing defines a colt as a male less than five years old, and a filly as a female less than five years old. Hammond The Language of Horse Racing pp. 49,79 In the United States, both Thoroughbred racing and harness racing defines colts and fillies as four years old and younger.

Intermediate heights are defined by hands and inches, rounding to the lower measurement in hands, followed by a decimal point and the number of additional inches between 1 and 3. Thus a horse described as "15.2 h", is 15 hands, 2 inches () in height. Ensminger Horses and Horsemanship p. 51 The size of horses varies by breed, but can also be influenced by nutrition.

An animal 14.2 h or over is usually considered to be a horse and one less than 14.2 h a pony. Ensminger Horses and Tack pp. 1112 However, there are exceptions to the general rule. Some breeds which typically produce individuals both under and over 14.2 h are considered horses regardless of their height. For example, the Missouri Fox Trotter or the Arabian horse. See McBane The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds pp. 192, 218 Conversely, some pony breeds may have features in common with horses, and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2 h, but are still considered to be ponies. For example, the Welsh Pony.

Ponies often exhibit thicker manes, tails and overall coat. They also have proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, shorter and thicker necks, and short heads with broad foreheads. They often have calmer temperaments than horses and also a high level of equine intelligence that may or may not be used to cooperate with human handlers.

McBane The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds p. 200 Light riding horses such as Arabians, Morgans, or Quarter Horse usually range in height from 14 to 16 hands () and can weigh from . Larger riding horses such as Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds or Warmbloods usually start at about 15.2 hands () and often are as tall as 17 hands (), weighing from . Heavy or draft horses such as the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire are usually at least 16 to 18 hands () high and can weigh from about.

Vogel, The Complete Horse Care Manual , p. 14 Flashy or unusual colors are sometimes very popular, as are horses with particularly attractive markings. Horses of the same color may be distinguished from one another by their markings. Mills, et al., A Basic Guide to Horse Care and Management , pp. 7273 The genetics that create many horse coat colors have been identified, although research continues on specific genes and mutations that result in specific color traits.

Also, if the horse is larger, its bones are larger; therefore, not only do the bones take longer to actually form bone tissue, but the epiphyseal plates are also larger and take longer to convert from cartilage to bone. These plates convert after the other parts of the bones, but are crucial to development.

Giffin Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook p. 304 The end result is that a horse, weighing on average , Giffin Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook p. 457 travels on the same bones as a human on tiptoe.

As prey animals, they must be aware of their surroundings at all times. Ensminger Horses and Horsemanship pp. 309310 They have the largest eyes of any land mammal, and because their eyes are positioned on the sides of their heads, horses have a range of vision of more than 350, with approximately 65 of this being binocular (seen with both eyes) and the remaining 285 monocular (seen with only one eye). Sellnow, Happy Trails , p. 46 Horses have excellent day and night vision, but studies indicate that they have two-color, or dichromatic vision; their color vision is somewhat like red-green color blindness in humans. This means that certain colors, especially red and related colors, appear more green.

Myers Horse Safe p.7 Their sense of smell, while much better than that of humans, is not their strongest asset; they rely to a greater extent on vision.

Harris Horse Gaits, Balance and Movement p. 32 The gallop averages per hour. Harris, Horse Gaits, Balance and Movement p. 4749 The world record for a horse galloping over a short, sprint distance is per hour.

Some trainers believe that "intelligent" horses are reflections of intelligent trainers who effectively use response conditioning techniques and positive reinforcement to train in the style that fits best with an individual animal's natural inclinations. Others who handle horses regularly note that personality also may play a role separate from intelligence in determining how a given animal responds to various experiences.

Henry All About Horses pp. 5960, 6970 "Hot blooded" breeds include "oriental horses" such as the Akhal-Teke, Barb, Arabian horse and now-extinct Turkoman horse, as well as the Thoroughbred, a breed developed in England from the older oriental breeds. Hot bloods tend to be spirited, bold, and learn quickly.

Henry All About Horses pp. 5960 thumb|left|The "cold blooded" draft breeds are powerful and heavily-muscled Muscular, heavy draft horses are known as "cold bloods", as they are bred not only for strength, but also to have the calm, patient temperament needed to pull a plow or a heavy carriage full of people. They are sometimes nicknamed "gentle giants". Henry, All About Horses , pp. 7075 Well-known draft breeds include the Belgian and the Clydesdale. Some, like the Percheron are lighter and livelier, developed to pull carriages or to plow large fields in drier climates. Others, such as the Shire, are slower and more powerful, bred to plow fields with heavy, clay-based soils.

Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , pp. 122123 Certain pony breeds with warmblood characteristics have been developed for smaller riders. Examples are the Australian Riding Pony and the Connemara, see Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , pp. 178179, 208209 thumb|right|A modern "Warmblood" horse is large, but agile and athletic.

In an adaptation from life in the wild, horses are able to enter light sleep by using a "stay apparatus" in their legs, allowing them to doze without collapsing.

Total sleep time in a day may range from several minutes to a couple of hours, mostly in short intervals of about 15 minutes each. Ensminger Horses and Horsemanship p. 310.

Budiansky The Nature of Horses p. 31 Horses and other equids are odd-toed ungulates of the order Perissodactyla, a group of mammals that was dominant during the Tertiary period. In the past, this order contained 14 families and many species, but only three families—Equidae (the horse and related species), the tapir and the rhinoceros—containing 18 known species have survived to the present day.

Miller, Understanding the Ancient Secrets of the Horse's Mind , p. 20 Their legs also lengthened as their toes disappeared and until they were a hoofed animal capable of running at great speed.

Horse bones from this time period, the late Pleistocene, are found in Europe, Eurasia, Beringia, and North America.

Olsen, "Horse Hunters of the Ice Age", Horses Through Time , p. 46 Only two types of truly wild horses survived into recorded history.

It is a rare Asian animal, also known as the Mongolian Wild Horse; Mongolian people know it as the taki , and the Kyrgyz people call it a kirtag . Small wild breeding populations of this animal, named after the Russian explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky, exist in Mongolia.

Ensminger Horses and Horsemanship p. 424 An early example of people who practiced selective horse breeding were the Bedouin, who had a reputation for careful breeding practices, keeping extensive pedigrees of their Arabian horses and placing great value upon pure bloodlines. Edwards The Arabian , pp. 2223 Though these pedigrees were originally transmitted via an oral tradition, written pedigrees of Arabian horses can be found that date to the 14th century.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that in 2003, China had the largest number of horses in the world with over 8 million, followed by Mexico (6,260,000), Brazil (5,900,500), the United States (5,300,000), and Argentina (3,655,000).

Examples include show jumping, dressage, three-day eventing, competitive driving, endurance riding, gymkhana, rodeos and fox hunting. Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , pp. 346356, 366371 Horse shows, which have their origins in medieval European fairs, are held around the world as venues in which horses are competed, exhibited and sold.

Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , p. 360 Examples of these sports of partnership between human and animal also include jousting (reenacting the skills used by medieval knights), in which the main goal is for one rider to unseat the other, Collins, Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports , pp. 173174 and buzkashi, a team game played throughout Central Asia, the aim being to capture a goat carcass while on horseback.

There are three types: "flat" racing; steeplechasing, i.e. racing over jumps; and harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a small, light cart known as a sulky. Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , pp. 332337 A major part of horse racing's economic importance lies in the gambling associated with it. Campbell, National Gambling Impact Study Commission Final Report , p. 111 Communication between human and horse is paramount in any equestrian activity; to aid this process horses are usually ridden with a saddle on their backs to assist the rider with balance and positioning, and a bridle or related headgear to assist the rider in maintaining control. Edwards, Horses , pp. 3234 Sometimes horses are ridden without a saddle, Self, Riding Simplified , p. 55 and occasionally, horses are trained to perform without a bridle or other headgear.

For example, mounted police horses are still effective for certain types of patrol duties and crowd control.

Edwards, The Encyclopedia of the Horse , pp. 226227 Search and rescue organizations in some countries depend upon mounted teams to locate people, particularly hikers and children, and to provide disaster relief assistance.

They are also quieter than motorized vehicles. Law enforcement officers such as park rangers or game wardens may use horses for patrols, and horses or mules may also be used for clearing trails or other work in areas of rough terrain where vehicles are less effective.

Horses are used, complete with equipment that is authentic or a meticulously recreated replica, in various live action historical reenactments of specific periods of history, especially recreations of famous battles.

Countries such as the United Kingdom still use horse-drawn carriages to convey royalty and other VIPs to and from certain culturally significant events.

In hippotherapy, a therapist uses the horse's movement to provide improve their patient's cognitive, coordination, balance and fine motor skills, whereas therapeutic horseback riding uses specific riding skills.

Exposure to horses appears to improve the behavior of inmates in a prison setting and help reduce recidivism when they leave.

Horses have been used in the 21st century by the Janjaweed militias in the War in Darfur.

Drinking their own horses' blood allowed the Mongols to ride for extended periods of time without stopping to eat.

Giffin Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook pp. 476477 When grain is fed, equine nutritionists recommend that 50% or more of the animal's diet by weight should still be forage.

Giffin Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook p. 482 Horses require routine hoof care from a farrier as well as regular vaccinations to protect against various diseases, and periodic dental examinations from a veterinarian or a specialized equine dentist. Giffin Horse Owner's Veterinary Handbook p. 62,168,310 If horses are kept inside in a barn, they require regular daily exercise for their physical health and mental well-being.

Source: Wikipedia > Horse