Did You Know?

Horses don't have a gallbladder?

In the wild, foals will suckle until they are a year old, and sometimes longer?

The horse has the largest eyes of any land animal?

A horse's teeth occupy more space in its head than its brain?

Horses are not color-blind?

Horses have memories that put elephants to shame?

The height measurement of a 'hand' is 4 inches? That's because it was considered to be the width of an 'average' man's hand across the knuckles.

Adult male horses generally have 40 teeth, but females only 36?

Barley is thought to be the first grain to be domesticated, and probably the first to be fed to horses?

There were no horses in Australia until 1788?

The sequence of the horse's footfalls at the walk was correctly described by Aristotle (384-322 b.c.) in the 4th century b.c.?

The state of Wyoming has used a cowboy on a bucking bronco on its license plates since 1936?

Selective horse breeding has been practiced by the Arab tribes since at least the 7th century?

Caspian ponies probably existed in Mesopotamia in 3000 b.c.?

The Clydesdales became the Anhueser-Busch symbol on April 7, 1933?

A coltpixie is believed to be a spirit horse which lures mortal horses into bogs?

In Greco-Roman myth, donkeys are a symbol of lust?

The oldest horse on record is Old Billy? Foaled in 1760, he died at age 62 in 1822. He was a draft cross bred in Woolston, Britain.

Women rode astride until the 15th century, then followed the period of sidesaddle?

The Celts were using nailed-on horseshoes by the 5th or 6th century b.c.?

An ancient practice is putting a horse's shoes on backwards - toe to heels - to mislead a pursuing enemy? It was used in the 11th century by King Alphonso in his escape from the Moorish King Ali Maymon of Toledo, Spain; in 1303 by Robert the Bruce in his escape from King Edward; and in 1530 by Duke Christopher of Wuurtemburg in his escape from Emperor Charles V. And if you believe the movies, it was a common practice in the Old West.





FAMOUS HORSES …… AND THEIR OWNERS

LAMRI……………………………King Arthur
BLACKIE………………………Chief Sitting Bull
MAGNOLIA…………………George Washinton
STRYMON……………………Xerxes
BLACK BESS………………Dick Turpin
ROSINANTE……………….Don Quixote
ARION……………………………Hercules
MARENGO*……………………Napoleon
HIPPOCAMPUS……………Neptune
VIC……………………………………Lt.-Col. Custer
KANTAKA………………………Buddha
FUBUKI……………………………Emperor Hirohito
SILVER……………………………The Lone Ranger
HAIZUM…………………………Archangel Gabriel
COPENHAGEN………………Wellington
SHADOWFAX……………………Gandalf
BUCEPHALUS…………………Alexander the Great
TRIGGER……………………………Roy Rogers

* Marengo was captured by the British. He outlived Napoleon by eight years,
and his skeleton is preserved at London’s National Army Museum. A snuff box
was made from one of his hoofs.


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The SMALLEST breed of horse is Falabella. Mature Falabellas range from 15 to
30 inches (38-76 cm) and weigh 40 to 100 lbs (18 – 45 kg).

The TALLEST recorded horse was a Percheron crossed with a Shire, named
Firpon, foaled in 1959. He was 21.1 hh.

The HEAVIEST recorded horse was a 19.2 hh pure-bred Belgian stallion named
Brooklyn Supreme foaled in 1928. He was 3,200 pounds or 1.42 tons. (1.44
tonnes).

Draft horses are the strongest animals in the world next to the elephant.

It is estimated that there are more than 750 million horses in the world.

There are over 300 different breeds of horses and ponies around the world.

The practice of mounting a horse from the left side began in ancient Greece.
Warriors always carried their weapons on their left side, which made
mounting on the right side impossible.

Most horses are right or left handed just like people. They have a good side
and a bad side. Hopefully their bad side is your good side and vice versa.


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The Major 5 is a list of animals whose influence is said to have led to
great changes in human society and are partly accountable for the way the
world has evolved to this present day.

1. Sheep. Wild ancestor: the Asiatic mouflon sheep of West and Central Asia.
Now worldwide.
2. Goat. Wild ancestor: the bezoar goat of West Asia. Now worldwide.
3. Cow, alias ox or cattle. Wild ancestor: the now extinct aurochs, formerly
distributed over Eurasia and North Africa. Now worldwide.
4. Pig. Wild ancestor: the wild boar, distributed over Eurasia and North
Africa. Now worldwide. Actually an omnivore (regularly eats both animal and
plant food), whereas the other 4 of the Ancient Five are more strictly
herbivores.
5. Horse. Wild ancestors: now extinct wild horses of southern Russia; a
different subspecies of the same species survived in the wild to modern
times as Przewalski’s horse of Mongolia. Now worldwide.


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ANIMAL AGES
According to Celtic Legend

Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse;
Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man;
Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer;
Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle.


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HORSEPOWER
Devised by James Watt (1736-1819), Horsepower is the power required to lift
550 pounds by 1 foot in 1 sec: 33,000 foot pounds per minute. 1 horsepower 745.7
watts; or 2,545 BTUs (British Thermal Units) per hour.