This is a tribute to our dear beautiful horses. The horse (Equus
ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It
is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family
Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years
from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal
of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and
their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC.
Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some
domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These
feral populations are not true wild horses, as this term is used to
describe horses that have never been domesticated, such as the
endangered Przewalski's horse, a separate subspecies, and the only
remaining true wild horse. There is an extensive, specialized
vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering
everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings,
breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses' anatomy enables them to
make use of speed to escape predators and they have a
well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight
response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild
is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and
lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for
approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can
stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses
begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two
and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have
an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. Horse breeds are
loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament:
spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such
as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and
"warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold
bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding
purposes, particularly in Europe. There are more than 300 breeds of
horse in the world today, developed for many different uses. Ponies
are taxonomically the same animals as horses. The distinction
between a horse and pony is commonly drawn on the basis of height,
especially for competition purposes. However, height alone is not
dispositive; the difference between horses and ponies may also
include aspects of phenotype, including conformation and
temperament. The traditional standard for height of a horse or a
pony at maturity is 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm). An animal 14.2
h or over is usually considered to be a horse and one less than
14.2 h a pony, but there are many exceptions to the traditional
standard. In Australia, ponies are considered to be those under 14
hands (56 inches, 142 cm), The International Federation for
Equestrian Sports, the world governing body for horse sport, uses
metric measurements and defines a pony as being any horse measuring
less than 148 centimetres (58.27 in) at the withers without shoes,
which is just over 14.2 h, and 149 centimetres (58.66 in), or just
over 14.21/2 h, with shoes. Height is not the sole criterion for
distinguishing horses from ponies. Breed registries for horses that
typically produce individuals both under and over 14.2 h consider
all animals of that breed to be horses regardless of their height.
Conversely, some pony breeds may have features in common with
horses, and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2
h, but are still considered to be ponies. Ponies often exhibit
thicker manes, tails, and overall coat. They also have
proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, shorter
and thicker necks, and short heads with broad foreheads. They may
have calmer temperaments than horses and also a high level of
equine intelligence that may or may not be used to cooperate with
human handler
General
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