Essential Horse Facts
Related topic:
Glossary of Equine Terms
Horse Myths
Of all the animals, the horse has probably most closely shared in human adventures and has been most intimately allied with human progress. For thousands of years, the horse has participated in the pleasures, the dangers, and the hard work that have marked human life.
It has long played an important role in transport, whether ridden or used for pulling a chariot, carriage, horse -drawn boat, stagecoach, tram, or plough. For many centuries, horses were primarily used in warfare. They have also been used for food.
The most common date of domestication of the horse and its first use as a means of transport was by nomadic people of Central Asia in the third millenium BC. Perhaps because of this long relationship, the horse holds a special place in humankind's affection.
The Horse (Equus caballus) is a large ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus.
A mature male is called a stallion or, if used for breeding, a stud. Mature females are called mares. A castrated stallion is called a gelding. Young horses (foals) are also known as colts (males) and fillies (females).
A horse's weight is measured in 4-in.(10.2-cm) units; or hands, from highest point of the back (withers) to the ground.
Breeds are classified by size and build: draft (heavy) horses (e.g. Belgian, Percheron) are heavy-limbed and upto 20 hands high; Ponies (e.g. Shetland, Iceland) are less than14.2 hands high; and light horses (e.g. Arabian, Thoroughbred) are intermediate, rarely taller than 17 hands.
These are just a few of essential horse facts that anyone with even a slight interest in horses must know.
Read about following in detail elsewhere on this site.
Horse Evolution
Horse Anatomy
Horse Age
Horse Size
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