HORSE

A Horse (Equus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus.

Equus comes from the ancient Greek word meaning quickness. Horses are mammals in the same family as zebras, mules and donkeys.

Most breeds of horses are able to perform work such as carrying humans on their backs or be harnessed to pull objects such as carts or plows. However, horse breeds were developed to allow horses to be specialized for certain tasks. Lighter horses were bred for racing or riding, heavier horses for farming and other tasks requiring pulling power. Some horses, such as the miniature horse, can be kept as pets.

The horse plays a prominent role as a figure in the ideals of religion, mythology and art and plays an important role in transportation, agriculture and warfare.

Horses come in lots of different colours and shades - take a look at some of these colours below:

Bay Black Brown Chestnut

Fleabitten Grey Skewbald Albino

Appaloosa Dun Palomino Piebald

Roan

Horse Life Span

Depending on breed, management and environment, the domestic horse today has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. It is uncommon, but a few horses live into their 40s and occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable record was 'Old Billy', a horse that lived in the 19th century to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds oldest then-living pony, died at age 56.

Regardless of a horses actual birthdate, for most competition purposes, horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere and August 1 in the southern hemisphere. The exception is endurance riding, where the minimum age to compete is based on the horses actual calendar age.

Horse Hooves

Horses that work or travel on hard roads need their feet (hooves) protected by metal shoes. Horses hooves, like our finger and toe nails, also grow continuously and need to be trimmed. To do this, the horses shoes need to be removed and their hooves trimmed every 4 - 6 weeks. After trimming their hooves new shoes are fitted. The person who cares for a horses feet is called a blacksmith.

How Horses are measured

Horses are measured by the width of a human hand - 4 inches or 10 centimetres. Measurement is taken from the ground up to the withers, the highest point on the horses shoulder.