Horse

Two horses, in Camargue.

The horse is a large ungulate mammal that is part of the equidae family, along with the donkey and the zebra. Smaller horses are known as ponies.

Horses have been domesticated by humans long ago and used in a variety of activities, such as agriculture, transportation (even during wars and hunting), and in a recreational sport known as equestrian. Horses have given humans the development of distant trade and the creation of civilizations over large areas, so horses have been more influential on the history and progress of humanity than any other animal.

Origin

The Mesohippus is one of the ancestors of all horses.

The ancestor of the horse is the Eohippus, an animal that lived in the forest about 60 million years ago in North America. The Eohippus gradually evolved and grew and eventually gave birth to two other species, including the Mesohippus 40 to 50 million years ago and the Mérychippus 20 to 25 million years ago.

The Mérychippus continued its evolution toward an animal better adapted to life on a plain. Its teeth changed so that it could graze the grass. Its vision widened to detect predators in all directions. The limbs evolved toward a single hoof, which allowed it to run on complex terrain that had lots of stones.

Today's horses and ponies are descended from wild horses, which appeared less than a million years ago in Eurasia. Wild horses then migrated to the Americas and Africa, and its evolution gave rise to the zebra and the donkey.

Today's horses are directly descended from bred horses. Their ancestor was a wild horse called tarpan, which lived in steppes in Europe and Asia. It became extinct in the early 20th century.

The Przewalski's horse, one of the last existing breeds of wild horses.

Though the tarpan disappeared, its cousin, the Przewalski's horse, survived. It currently lives in parts of Mongolia, but it is critically endangered.

When Europeans arrived at the New World, they took horses with them, and some escaped. There were no horses in America until then. The escaped horses became wild and lived in herds; they are known as mustangs.

Physiology

The frontal part of a horse's body is called the forequarters, which includes the head, neck, chest, and forelimbs. The back part is called the hindquarters, which consists of the butt, hips, and tail. Both the forequarters and the hindquarters are connected to the center part of a horse's body. The forequarters is to define the body parts in front of a rider, while the hindquarters is to define what is behind them.

Unlike other quadruped animals, horses have legs that end in hooves, not paws. Hooves are actually like either fingernails or toenails and grow similarly to them. A horse moves by supporting each leg on a hoof, an essential part of the horse's health typically black in color.

Carlo Ruini wrote one of the first works on horse anatomy in 1598.

Body parts

• Withers: They are an important part of the horse, we measure its height at the withers, which tells us if this animal is a horse or a pony.
• Flank: It is the belly of the horse. This is the place where a human applies the heels to indicate to the horse to move forward.
• Neck: Like humans and many other animals, horses have necks, but they are much larger. When a person thanks a horse or a pony, they either gently stroke or pet it on the neck.
• Nose: Horses have a large nose, and it helps a human add a bridle to it.
• Ears: They allow horses to hear sounds, like most other animals. A person can look at the ears of a horse to determine its mood.

Coats

To learn more, read the article: Animal coat.

Horses come in various different colors, or more specifically "coats," depending on the breed.

The most common coats are:

• Chestnut - Brown/red hair, brown/red body. Chestnut is the most common coat color.
• Gray - White with black hairs scattered throughout the coat.

Some of the other coats are:

• Isabelline - Black hair, yellow body, and black limb tips.
• Appaloosa - It is an actual horse breed with a spotted body.
• Palomino - It has a white mane and yellow/gold body
• White: A very rare type with a white body and mane as well as pink tips on their noses and around their eyes. Light-gray horses are sometimes confused with them.
• Piebald: It is with large spots colored either black, bay, or chestnut.
• Dark chestnut: The body and mane are dark brown with red highlights.

Horses' coats sometimes have peculiarities. On their limbs, white markings of varying size are sometimes seen above their hooves. They can be tiny and not extend beyond the fetlock, but can also extend all the way to the top of the limb.

Weight

An adult riding horse weighs about 300 to 500 kg. The heaviest draft horses, which are bred for manual labor, can reach 1,200 kg.

Height

A horse's height is measured at the withers. Riding horses have an average height of around 1.65 m. Horse have a height greater than 1.48 m at the withers, while ponies have a height less than or equal to 1.48 m at the withers.

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports has divided the height of horses into five classes for equestrian competitions: "A," describing horses that are fewer than 1.07 meters; "B," which range from 1.07 to 1.30 m; "C," which range from 1.30 to 1.40 m; and "D," from 1.40 to 1.48 m. Additionally, the "E" type is of a pony breed, but they can be more than 1.48 m at the withers, like the Connemara pony.

Outside of horse racing, the distinction between a horse and pony is less clear. For example, the Camargue horse is considered a horse breed, not a pony, despite a vast majority of them being pony-sized. The term double-pony is also used to refer to large ponies.

Senses

Horses have five senses, just like humans. However, horses not perceive things identically to humans nor do they have the same sensitivity in each of the different senses.

A horse's vision is adapted to its nature as a prey animal, that is, an animal that can be eaten by other animals, known as predators. Horses have eyes on the sides of their head that allow them to see all around them, so a horse has a 340-degree angle of vision, with only two blind spots located exactly in front of and behind it. A horse cannot see what is at the end of its nose or what is exactly behind its head, so it cannot see its rider unless it tilts its head to the sides.

Diet

The horse is a herbivorous animal, so it only eats plants, including vegetables.

Horses living in stables typically eat pellets supplemented with hay and straw, but they also eat grains such as oats, barley, or, less commonly, corn.

Horses out on the pasture eat grass, hay, and legumes.

A horse drinks approximately 15 to 20 liters of water per day, but this can double in summer or for heavy horses. Some horses drink up to 100 liters of water per day.

Reproduction

The mare is said to be in heat, and the gestation period is 11 months (310 to 360 days). After enough time, the mare gives birth to a foal or filly, rarely to twins. While some breeds are allowed to reproduce naturally, others are assisted to prevent the stallion from injuring the mare, and vice versa.

Names

The horse has different names depending on its gender, its age, or the overall ability to reproduce.

• Scientific name: Equus caballus
• Adult male: Stallion, particularly those used for breeding
• Adult female for breeding: broodmare
• Male without reproductive organs (castrated): gelding
• Young male: Foal
• Young female: Filly
• A horse aged one or two: yearling

Categories

To learn more, read the article: List of horse breeds.

The great diversity of horse breeds stems from the selection and crossbreeding from humans on domesticated horses, as well as the strong adaptability of horses to its environment. There are a multitude of horse breeds:

• Camargue horse, a gray horse that lives in the Camargue
• Akhal-Teke
• Appaloosa
• Shetland, a small pony of British origin owned by nearly all pony clubs in France
• Hanover
• Thoroughbred, the fastest type of sport horse
• Selle Français, a show jumping horse
• Fallabella, the smallest horse in the world (less than one meter at the withers)
• Percheron, a draft horse of French origin
• Andalusian horse, used for bullfighting
• Shire, the largest draft horse in the world, averaging at 2 meters
• Arabian horse
• Quarter horse
• Mustang
• Paint Horse
• Freiberger, a type of horse in Switzerland
• Trakehner
• Orlov Trotter
• Fjord horse
• Comtois horse, a draft horse characterized by its mainly chestnut coat with washed mane, used not only for leisure but also as a butcher's horse

Uses

Horses were domesticated by humans a little over 5,500 years ago.

Initially, the horse was a source of food, but humans discovered that it had a lot more uses. Therefore, the horse has been used throughout history for many tasks:

• Move: A horse is capable of carrying a man on its back, known as horse riding. A horse is also capable of pulling carriages and carts to transport several people at once.
• Transportation: Humans used horses to transport goods, materials or mail, but this has become a lot less common with the invention of cars and other vehicles.
• Agriculture: Horses can plow the land in agricultural work.

Humans have used horses for one of two main purpose: either as a steed or to transport heavy objects, which brought about the distinction between the saddle horse and the draft horse.

A saddle horse is able to have a rider on its back, while the draft horse is better suited to pulling heavy loads. A horse breed generally specializes in one of the two jobs, but the distinction is not always clear. Some horse breeds can be used for both jobs. Depending on the horse's temperament and training, it can perform tasks not originally intended for its breed.

Today, horses are primarily used for leisure and sport. The most popular equestrian sports are Show jumping and dressage. In equestrian sports, a horse is used for galloping and trotting races.

In recent times, horses have been used for even more purposes:

• Equine-assisted therapy: the horse helps sick or struggling people to heal
• As mounts used by police
• Collecting wood, which is called skidding

In some countries, horses are still eaten for their meat, a practice known as hippophagy, but this is very uncommon.

Lifespan

A horse lives for 20 to 30 years on average. Ponies and draft horses generally live longer. A domestic horse benefits from human care and lives longer than a horse in the wild. Some horses live to over 40 years old.

Legendary horses

Characters

There are many horses in the mythology and religions of other countries.

There is a winged horse in Greek mythology named Pegasus, who allows only poets to ride his back.

In a medieval epic, the horse Bayard, with its prodigious leaps, carried the four sons of Aymon together on its back.

In Norse mythology, there is an eight-limbed horse named Spleinir, which is very shy and appears only to people deemed pure of heart, but if Spleinir is left unattended, it would leave forever.

Although it is not a horse, the Kelpie in Scottish folklore was a water monster disguised as a white horse to deceive its victims.

Species

In Greek mythology, the Sun's chariot was pulled by horses for its daily journey across the sky. Phaethon, son of Helios, wants to steer the chariot to emulate his father. Since the horses do not recognize their usual driver, they veer off course, which would be catastrophic for the inhabitants of Earth, so Zeus throws Phaethon into a river to put an end of the events.

Centaurs are also in Greek mythology, and they are horses with a human torso. The most famous centaur is Chiron, who was credited with the invention of music and medicine in Greek mythology, as well as the education of heroes such as Achilles and Odysseus.

The unicorn is a fictional species of horse with a horn on its forehead, and they are associated with fairy tales in general.

Other

The Trojan Horse is a gigantic wooden horse and a war ruse used by Greek warriors in Greek mythology. It was abandoned in front of the gates of the city of Troy, which they tried to take over. The Trojans seized the Trojan Horse and brought it into their city, unaware that it contained enemy soldiers who went on to open the gates to the rest of the Greek army, which then took over Troy.

In fictional media

Video games

• In The Legend of Zelda series, Link rides around on a horse named Epona to travel around, particularly within the 3D games.
• Nintendo of America's defunct Camp Hyrule website had a brown horse for a mascot, named Stumpy the Horse.
• Mario and other playable characters ride on horses during the Equestrian event of Mario Sports Superstars, as well as with Sonic the Hedgehog and his cast in two of the Mario & Sonic titles: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Source : This page has been adapted from the page « Cheval » on Vikidia in French. (Authors list)

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