Fun and Games - Horse Trivia

Horse Vision

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  Most of the time, a horse has "monocular" vision. This means a different image is seen by each eye so that a horse is seeing two different pictures at the same time. A horse can also have "binocular" vision. Binocular vision is when both eyes work together to see one picture (humans have binocular vision). A horse only has binocular vision when it is looking down its nose. (The areas with a #1 shows where a horse has monocular vision. The area with a #2 shows where a horse has binocular vision.)
• A horse has a wide range of vision. A horse can see completely around its entire body except for small blind spots directly in front of its face, underneath its head, and directly behind itself. This is why it's very important not to walk up right behind a horse - you are in its blind spot and if you startle it you may get kicked.
• Most of the time, wherever a horse's ear points is where the horse is looking. If the ears are pointing in different directions, the horse is looking at two different things at the same time. There are exceptions to this. For example, if a horse has its ears pinned back against its neck in anger, this does not mean it is looking backwards with both eyes.
• A horse can see better at night than a human. However, it takes a horse's eyes longer to adjust from light to dark and from dark to light than a human's.

A Horse Is A Horse When...

• A horse is usually not considered to be a "horse" until it is 5 years old. Before that, males are known as colts and females are known as fillies. However, it is still acceptable to call a colt or filly a horse.
• A foal is a very young horse and can be either male or female.

Horse Facts: Height

• Horses height is measured in units known as "hands." One hand is equal to 4 inches.
• A horse is usually considered to be 14.2 (14 hands, 2 inches) or taller when mature.
• Anything under 14.2 when mature is usually considered to be a pony. There is a more detailed article on horse height here

Horse Facts: Teeth

• Adult female horses (mares) usually have 36 teeth. A mare may have up to 40 teeth if she happens to have any canine teeth, which is possible but less common. Adult males have between 40 and 44 teeth. (These figures do not include wolf teeth.)
• "Wolf teeth" in horses are teeth that are vestigial premolars. "Vestigial" means something that has lost most or all of its original function through evolution. Wolf teeth are usually just on the upper jaw but are sometimes found on the lower jaw, too. Wolf teeth can be a serious nuisance and most horsemen have them removed. Since wolf teeth typically have poorly developed roots, they are usually quickly and easily removed.
• Wolf teeth cannot always be seen. They can remain below the surface of the gum where they are called "unerrupted" or "blind" wolf teeth. However, they can usually be felt as little bumps in the gum. Blind wolf teeth often cause a horse a great deal of soreness in the mouth so they should be removed the same as wolf teeth that have erupted above the gum line. Be careful if you decide to feel for blind wolf teeth in a horse's mouth - a horse may react suddenly and violently if you touch a sore spot on its gum.
• "Floating" a horse's teeth means to file the sharp edges or points off in order to create a flatter, more efficient chewing surface, and to keep any sharp edges or points from cutting the inside of the horse's mouth. We have more information on floating a horse's teeth here.
• In the photo to the right you can see a horse getting its teeth floated. A speculum (on the right side of the photo) has been placed between the back teeth on one side of this mare's mouth to keep her mouth open. On the left side of the photo you can see the arms of the veterinarian as he is floating the teeth. He will file, or float, the teeth on the upper and lower jaws on both sides.
• Adult horses have teeth that are several inches long. Most of the tooth cannot be seen because it is below the gum line. Little by little the teeth erupt through the gum to replace the surface of the teeth as they are worn down.
  This is one of the reasons why a horse's teeth should be checked to see if they need floated at least once a year: As the teeth erupt their formerly smooth and even surface can become uneven and sharp again.
• A horse's upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw. During normal chewing sharp edges or points frequently form along the outside edge of the upper teeth and the inside edge of the lower teeth due to the uneven grinding surface created by the different width of the jaws.
• A horse's age can usually be accurately determined by its teeth until the horse is about 9 years old. After that, a horse is known as "smooth mouthed" or "aged" and it becomes far more difficult or impossible to tell its age by its teeth.
• The "interdental space" is an area in a horse's mouth, both on the upper and lower jaws, where there is not any teeth. This area is between the front teeth (the incisors) and the back teeth (the molars). When a horse is bridled, the interdental space is where the bit rests. On the bottom jaw, most horsemen refer to this area of bare gums as the "bars." In the photo, the blue arrows are pointing to the interdental space.

Horse Terms:

• Colt - A young male horse, 4 years old or younger
• Filly - A young female horse, 4 years old or younger
• Foal - A newborn or very young horse, male or female
• Gelding - A male horse that has been castrated, or gelded
• Mare - A mature female horse
• Stallion - A male horse that has not been castrated
• Dam - The term give to a mare when she becomes a mother
• Sire - The term given to a stallion when he becomes a father

Inside a Horse

• The horse has one stomach. In contrast, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, deer, elk, caribou, moose, and camels are "ruminants" which means (among other things) they have four digestive chambers instead of just one stomach.
• The horse is an herbivore, which means it feeds mostly on plants.
• The normal horse’s small intestine is about 70 feet long.
• The normal horse's large intestine is about 12 feet long.
• The average horse's heart weighs approximately 9 or 10 pounds. The great New Zealand / Australian racehorse, Phar Lap, had a heart that weighed 14 pounds. The great American racehorse Secretariat had a heart estimated during his autopsy to weigh 21 pounds, though the heart was not weighed.
• Horses produce approximately 10 gallons of saliva a day.

Horse Records

• The tallest horse on record was a Shire named Samson. He was 21.2 hands (7 feet, 2 inches) tall. He was born in 1846 in Toddington Mills, England.
• The oldest horse on record is "Old Billy," an English barge horse. He was 62 years old when he died, living from 1760 to 1822.
• The record for the highest jump made by a horse is held by a horse named Huaso who jumped 8 feet, 1 and 1/4 inches on February 5th, 1949 in Vina del Mar, Chile. He was ridden by Captain Alberto Larraguibel.
• The record for the longest jump over water is held by a horse named Something who jumped 27 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches on April 25, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was ridden by Andre Ferreira.

When a horse isn't a horse

• A mule is a cross between a male donkey (called a jack) and a female horse (called a mare). Mules are usually sterile.
• A hinny is a cross between a male horse (called a stallion) and a female donkey (called a jenny). Hinnies are usually sterile.
• The pretty little foal to the right is about 12 hours old. She has a horse for a mother and a donkey for a father, which makes her a mule. Mules are known for having very long ears.

And more

• Horses cannot breathe through their mouths.
• Horses have a prehensile upper lip. Prehensile means "adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something." Their upper lips are very sensitive and capable of feeling the smallest of differences in objects.
• All horses, regardless of when they were actually born, are considered to have a common birthday of January 1. This is one of the reasons most horsemen don't like their foals to be born late in the year: Even if a foal is born on December 31st he or she will have their first birthday the very next day.
• Scientists believe that the first known ancestor of the horse lived about 50 million years ago. This prehistoric horse is called Eohippus and had four padded toes on the front legs and three padded toes on the back legs. Eo means "dawn" and hippus means "horse," so Eohippus is "dawn horse."
• A horse's splint bones are thought to be remnants of toes from prehistoric horses. The splint bones are small bones (about the size of a pencil at the top and tapering down to be much smaller) found on each side of the cannon bone.
  In the photo to the right the red arrow is pointing to a small bulge that is a splint bone that has "popped." This happens when the splint bone becomes detached from the cannon bone. A splint might become detached due to a nutritional imbalance or trauma. It is usually not a cause for concern. In most cases a popped splint will cause mild pain to the horse but when the splint has "set" or healed it is completely pain free and is not a health or soundness concern.