alexis

I like to find interesting things, so I thought I would share.

- Horses height is measured in units known as "hands." One hand is equal to 4 inches.

- The horse is an herbivore, which means it feeds mostly on plants.

- A mule is a cross between a male donkey (called a jack) and a female horse (called a mare). Mules are usually sterile.

- Horses cannot breathe through their mouths.

Thaworth

I knew 2 and 3, but 1 and 4 are interesting. I have never heard of anything being measured by hands. And the fact that they can't breathe through their mouths is interesting, and it makes since now.

SaddleSore

I too had never heard that a horse couldn't breath through it's mouth. Never even thought about it either.

I wonder if there are ever fertile mules. I have only heard of them being sterile.

tikitowel

• If you say a horse is 16.2hands the 16 stands for hands the 2 stands for fingers.
• The amount of blood in a horse body is equivalent to 1/18 its total weight.
• Horses cannot vomit
• A horse's heart weighs 10 pounds.
• Horses have two blind spots, directly behind them and directly in front of them.

SingleAgain

The blind spots must be why blinders work so well. I wonder then what happens when a horse is ill, if they cannot vomit?

stuffabunny

They colic or their stomach ruptures, depending on how bad it is I'd imagine. Its not like horses would need to throw up for the same reasons humans do:too much food or alcohol in their system, the flu, or in an attempt to control weight. Here's some mroe info on horses vomitting:
http://www.wonderquest.com/HorseVomit.htm

crazyqueen

I guess the breathe through the mouth, is kind of like a cat only breathing through their noses? I found a couple to share along, think we can learn alot this way!!

Camargue horses are completely white as adults. Their babies are pure black when they are born.

There is a breed of horse from Russia called Akhal-Teke. It can go for days without food or water.

You can tell how old a horse is by how many teeth it has. A horse gets all of its teeth by the time it is five years old. After that, they just get longer.

That last one kind of confusing me, what if the horse has lost teeth, do they grow over the empty spot like human teeth do? Wouldn't that confuse someone (non-vet) when counting them?

tikitowel

I can't say I've ever seen a horse with missing teeth, but I'd imagine they'd base it on the teeth that are left? Unless the tooth got knocked loose accidentally most likely its due to neglect or abuse so it would normally be hard to tell age due to malnutrition.

Mustang

Here are my contributions:

1. Any marking on a horse's forehead is called a star, even if it is not shaped like a star.

2. Mustangs are one of the few breeds of horses that live wild in North America. They are related to the horses that the Spanish explorers brought to North America 400 years ago.

3. Horses can communicate how they are feeling by their facial expressions. They use their ears, nostrils, and eyes to show their moods. Beware of a horse that has flared nostrils and their ears back. That means it might attack!

The Horseman

I knew most of these already, but I always did find the story about mules rather fascinating to hear. Definitely a rather unusual animal, but very interesting just the same.

crazyqueen

Anyone know some good tips to try and decipher the horses facial expressions? I think that would be interesting to know for new people thinking of getting their first.

Mustang

I am also intrigued how horses do facial expressions and because of that, I tried researching about this subject. I landed in site which tells you how to know the intentions of horses just by observing the face of the horse. You could find the reading here:
http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/kidshorses/bodylang.html