This huge list of random horse facts are provided by…The Equinest…the greatest horse resource that we’ve found on the internet! Thanks, Paige!
Some you may already know and some maybe new to you. Horses are stranger than they look.
Here’s to learning something new today.
1. Leonardo da Vinci liked to draw horses.
2. An adult horse’s brain weights 22 oz, about half that of a human.
3. Horses can not vomit.
4. The first cloned horse was a Haflinger mare in Italy in 2003.
5. Until the 1960’s Dartmoor ponies were used to escort prisoners from local prisons while they were on outside duties.
6. The word chivalry comes from cheval the French word for horse.
7. Chariot racing was the first Olympic sport in 680 B.C.
8. The Dubai World Cup is 6 million dollars, the richest horse race purse in the world.
9. Horses like sweet flavors and will usually reject anything sour or bitter.
10. Like a fingerprint, every zebra has a unique stripe pattern.
11. To get an official measurement of a horses height, they must be measured without shoes.
12. Horses drink at least 25 gallons of water a day (more in hotter climates).
13. Horses teeth never stop growing.
14. Ragweed is responsible for more horse deaths than most other toxic plants.
15. It takes 9-12 months to re-grow an entire horse hoof.
16. Horses have been found in cave paintings that date back to around 15000 B.C.
17. You can tell if a horse is cold by feeling behind their ears. If that area is cold, so is the horse.
18. Mown grass cuttings can cause colic in horses.
19. Horses have 16 muscles in each ear, allowing them to rotate their ears 180 degrees.
20. According to Arabian folklore chestnut horses are the fastest and bravest of all colors.
21. Ponies live longer than horses and can live well into their 50’s.
22. The four horses of the apocalypse are said to signify the end of the world; conquest on a white horse, famine on a black horse, war on a red horse and plague on a pale horse.
23. A horse’s knee joint is the equivalent to a human wrist, and their hock joint is equivalent to the human ankle.
24. The gestation period for a mare is 11 months, for a female donkey it is 12 months.
25. Horses with pink skin can get a sunburn.
26. A small indent in a horses skin (usually on the neck or shoulder) is called a prophet’s mark and is considered good luck.
27. Mongolian tribes were the first to domesticate the horse, about 5000 years ago.
28. Legend has it that the Arabian horse was created by Allah, ‘out of a handful of the southern wind‘.
29. Horses have a great long term memory, (especially for places they were spooked).
30. The oldest horse on record lived to the age of 62 and died in 1822.
31. Horses thrive on routine, especially when it comes to food.
32. Giant white horses are carved in chalk on several hillsides in England. Some date back hundreds of years – folklore says that when King Arthur of he Round Table returns to the throne, one of the chalk horses would get up and dance.
33. The best way to determine the age of a horse is by examining it’s teeth.
34. You can tell if a horse is dehydrated by pinching their skin, if it takes time for the skin to return from the pinch, they need water.
35. A horses stomach should always make gurgling noises, an absence of them can mean colic.
36. If a horse has a red ribbon on it’s tail, it kicks.
37. Horses have 7 common blood types.
38. The largest horse museum in the world is the International Museum of the Horse in Kentucky.
39. In Greek mythology Apollo delivered the sun and the moon to the sky every day in his horse drawn chariot
40. Horses are social animals and will get lonely if kept alone.
41. Donkeys have been known to live 35-40 years.
42. Arabian horses have one fewer vertebrae and one less rib than other breeds.
43. When cantering, a horse takes a breath with every stride.
44. Horses will mourn the passing of a companion.
45. All horses have parasites in their stomach and intestines in small quantities, they only become a problem if the count builds up.
River Valley Ranch, Inc. 