I just read that "Horses have, on average, a skeleton of 205 bones".

Can someone please explain that to me, the article never went into detail as how that is sometimes on average. Are different breeds having more/less bones? Does this have to do with their age? :confused:

When a foal is young, not all of its bones are fused, so when counted they appear to have more bones.

Also, it's been noticed that certain breeds have more fused lumbar vertebrae (at teh back of the pelvis) than others. It's mainly in thoroughbreds, as these horses are bred to run fast in a straight line. Incidentally, you sometimes see the same thing in greyhounds.

I think this is the same with human skeleton but its more than 1 because humans have an average of 206 bones. Baby humans have an average of 300 bones and when they grow older it will come into just 206.

Now back to horses, here is a complete list for horse bones:
Vertebral Column........................54
Ribs.........................................36
Sternum.....................................1
Skull (including anditory ossides)...34
Thoracic Limbs...........................40
Pelvic Limbs...............................40

Total.......................................205

Humans have an average as well, based on evolutionary development and genetic abnormalities. Some people have more/less bones in their feet which has been theorized to be a link to having opposable thumbs on our feet as well like monkeys. So it makes sense to me as well as the fusing bones as we get older. not all bones are fused as babies to allow for growing, especially since growth spurts can be sudden and cause problems if the bones can't allow for it.

I am glad that someone else asked this question-I had often wondered about it myself for humans! It always sounded so silly having an average when humans are just humans!

Thanks for the explanation.