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."
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.
Horses have about 175 bones in their body. Horses leg joints are not fully fused (grown) until the age of 3.5yrs.
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.
Sometimes a small bulge will appear on the horses lower leg, this is usually 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.
A full grown horse weighing 1000 pounds (455kg) contains approximately 13.2 gallons of blood.
Horses usually live about 20 to 25 years. The oldest horse was named Old Billy. He was a cross breed, born in 1760, and lived to age 62.
A horse isn't considered an adult until it reaches age four.
A female horse over 4 years old is called a mare.
A father horse is called a sire.
A mother horse is called a dam.
A young female is called a filly.
A young male is called a colt.
Horses produce approximately 10 gallons of saliva a day.
Horses can see in two directions at once. 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.
Your 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.
Your horse has a wide visual range. Your horse can see completely around its entire body except for two small blind spots. One directly in front of its face, underneath its head, and the other directly behind itself. This is why it's very important not to walk up, directly behind a horse - you are in its blind spot and if you startle it you can get kicked.
The tallest horse recorded was a Shire horse called Samson. He stood 21.2hh (7ft 2in). Samson is also recorded as the heaviest horse weighing in at 1524kg (3360lbs)
The World's Largest Horse was a purebred Belgian stallion named Brooklyn Supreme. He stood 19.2hh (6'6") at his withers. He weighed over 3,200 pounds and is entered in the Guiness Book of World Records. He was foaled in 1928 and died in 1948. He lived in Iowa, USA.
A newborn foals legs are already 80 to 90% of the length they will be when full grown. A foal is able to stand just one hour after birth. A foal can walk, trot, and run just two hours after birth.
Horse shoes are supposed to be lucky. The luckiest horse shoe of all, is one from the hind leg of a grey mare. If you hang a horseshoe upside down, the luck runs out.
A mule is a cross between a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). A hinny is a cross between a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny). Mules and Hinnies are usually sterile.
A full grown horse's intestines are approximately 89 feet long.
If a horse rests it head on your shoulder it means the horse trusts you.
When you hold your hand out to a horse and the horse comes over and blows out warm air onto the palm of your hand it normally means that the horse wants to be friends with you.
Horses see yellow better than any other color.
Horses, like people, are slightly shorter on one side than the other. In horses, you can tell which is the shorter side, by the direction the mane naturally falls. The mane will always fall on the shorter side.
The average horse has a neck that makes up 1/3 of the length of his body.
As a general rule, a horse can carry up to a third of its body weight or pull up to eight times its body weight on a paved road.
