Horses

Horses belong to the scientific family Equidae, which includes zebras and donkeys!

A group of horses is called a “herd” when they’re in the wild, but can also be called a “team” when they’re working together!

Horses can be found on every continent except Antarctica, living in environments from deserts to mountains!

Wild horses typically live 20–25 years, but horses in captivity can live up to 30 years or more!

A male horse is called a stallion, a female horse is called a mare, and a baby horse is called a foal!

The average horse weighs between 800 and 2,200 pounds, which is as heavy as a grand piano!

Horses are herbivores, which means they only eat plant-based foods like grass and hay!

A horse’s height is measured in “hands,” and each hand equals 4 inches!

The tallest horse ever recorded was a Shire horse named Sampson, who was 21.2 hands (7 feet 2 inches) tall and weighed 3,360 pounds (1,524 kilograms)!

Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal, and they can see almost 360 degrees around them!

A horse’s hooves grow about 1/4 inch every month, just like our fingernails!

Horses can sleep while standing up thanks to special leg muscles and ligaments called the “stay apparatus”! They only lie down for about 2–3 hours per day!

A horse’s heart weighs approximately 10 pounds (4.54 kg), which is about 15 times heavier than a human heart!

Horses have 205 bones in their skeleton, which is 19 fewer bones than humans have!

A horse’s ears can rotate 180 degrees and move independently of each other!

Horses have a special membrane in their eye called the “third eyelid” that helps keep their eyes clean and moist!

A horse’s mane can grow up to 3 feet (0.91 m) long if it’s never trimmed!

Horses can recognize themselves in mirrors, which is a sign of self-awareness that very few animals possess!

Horses communicate using their ears, eyes, nostrils, and tail positions to express their feelings!

Horses can remember people and other horses they haven’t seen for many years!

Horses in a herd take turns sleeping so that there’s always at least one horse keeping watch!

Horses can understand human facial expressions and remember a person’s previous emotional state!

Horses create strong friendships with other horses and often have a “best friend” in their herd!

Horses can learn simple tricks and commands in just a few hours of training!

Horses drink about 10–15 gallons of fresh water every day, which is about 2–3 large buckets of water!

Horses spend about 10–17 hours each day eating grass or hay!

Horses can run within an hour after being born!

A mare (mother horse) carries her foal for about 11 months before giving birth!

Twin foals are extremely rare in horses, occurring in only about 1 in 10,000 births!

A newborn foal weighs about 100 pounds (45 kg) at birth!

Baby horses gain about 3–4 pounds (1.4 to 1.8 kilograms) every day during their first month of life!

Young horses reach their full adult height by age 4-5, but may continue gaining muscle until age 7!

A foal’s legs are almost as long as they will be when fully grown, making them look extra tall and lanky!

Male foals typically play more roughly than female foals, which helps prepare them for adult behavior!

A mare produces about 3 gallons (11 liters) of milk per day to feed her growing foal!

Horses have 12 different types of teeth designed specifically for grinding tough plant material!

A horse’s digestive system is designed to process small amounts of food continuously throughout the day!

Horses can’t throw up because of the special one-way valve in their digestive system!

An average adult horse eats about 20 pounds (9 kg) of food every day!

Horses have a special pouch in their intestines called a cecum that helps them digest tough plant fiber!

Horses prefer to drink slightly warm water rather than ice-cold water!

A horse’s teeth take up more space in their head than their brain does!

Horses can tell the difference between sweet, sour, bitter, and salty tastes, just like humans!

Healthy horses produce about 50 pounds (23 kg) of manure every day, which makes excellent fertilizer for gardens!

Healthy horses produce about 50 pounds (23 kg) of manure every day, which makes excellent fertilizer for gardens!

Wild horses can survive in temperatures ranging from -40°F to 100°F (-40°C to 38°C)!

Horses have survived as a species for over 50 million years by adapting to different environments!

A horse’s kick can deliver up to 2,000 pounds of force, which helps protect them from predators!

Horses’ hooves are made of the same material as human fingernails, but they’re much thicker and stronger!

Wild horses travel up to 20 miles (32 km) per day in search of food and water!