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Horses, as well as zebras, asses and donkeys, are equids – they are in the 'horse family'. Equids have manes of long hair on their heads and necks and thick, tufted tails. Their long legs, deep chests and powerful muscles allow them to run a long way at great speed without getting tired. Horses have strong bodies that are equipped with large muscles that provide the power for running and jumping. Horses are measured in ‘hands’. A ‘hand’ is the same as 10 centimetres (4 inches). A pony is a horse that is less than 14.2 hands tall.
A horse’s skeleton is made of a hard material called calcium. Bones provide a strong framework for the animal’s body and protect the delicate organs, such as the heart and lungs. A horse’s skeleton is divided into two main sections: the axial skeleton – the skull, spine, ribcage and pelvis, and the appendicular skeleton – the bones of the limbs. In a horse’s backbone there are usually 54 vertebrae. A horse’s body is packed with muscles. These help it to run fast, jump and leap, and pull heavy loads.
A horse’s eye is twice as large as a human’s eye, and is even bigger than an elephant’s. Horses’ eyes are positioned on the side of their heads, which means they can see in almost every direction. That’s helpful when you always need to be on the look-out for a hungry predator.
Horses have a single toe on each foot, or hoof, so they are called ‘odd toed’ animals, unlike cows and deer, which have two toes on each foot. A hoof is made of keratin, the same substance found in your fingernails.
An expert can tell how old a horse is by looking at its teeth. The front, cutting, teeth are incisors and they are used to slice grass and other tender plants. As a horse ages, its incisors change from an oval shape to round, then become triangular and flattened. By examining the length and shape of a horse’s teeth, it is possible to estimate its age.
The fur of horses and ponies comes in a wide range of colours. The most common are bay (red-brown), chestnut (red-gold), grey (which can be almost white to dark grey), brown (dark bay) and black. There are also many other colour variations, such as dun (sandy brown), bright bay (light bay) and liver chestnut (dark chestnut).
Different kinds of markings on a horse’s face are given different names. For example, a ‘stripe’ is a narrow band of white running down the face. A ‘blaze’ is a broad band, a ‘star’ is a white mark on the forehead and a ‘snip’ is a little patch between the nostrils.
The way in which a horse moves is called the ‘gait’ or ‘pace’. In the wild, horses move at their own pace and only have two gaits, walking slowly as they graze and galloping when they are frightened. Domestic horses are trained to perform at least four different gaits. The ‘walk’ is the slowest gait. It has a four-beat rhythm. The ‘trot’ is the next fastest gait and it has a two-beat rhythm. The canter and gallop are the fastest two gaits.
When a horse canters it has a three-beat rhythm, and there is a moment when all four of the horse’s feet are off the ground at once. Galloping is the most exciting of the gaits. It is similar to the canter, but faster and with longer strides. When galloping, a horse supports all its weight on one hoof. |
