Horse facts and equestrian information

Welcome to the ultimate online encyclopaedia of horse facts and essential pieces of equestrian information - for both adults and children.

There's everything here from general horse facts, facts about horse's bodies, pregnancy and foals, horses in the wild, natural horsemanship, history and quirky pieces of horse information.

For example, did you know that in Argentina must wear hats in sunny weather? Or that in New York it's illegal to open an umbrella near a horse? Or that any horse under 14.2 hands high is technically a pony? No, neither did I!

Hope you enjoy reading these interesting horse facts, which are especially good for kids, too. There's a navigation menu to right that leads to different sections. Just click on which facts you're interested in and it'll take you there.

The longest living horses was Old Billy from Lancashire, England. He was born in 1760 and died in 1822 at age 62

The tallest horse ever recorded was the English gelding Sampson (also known as Mammoth). He was born in 1946 and by the time he was four-years-old stood seven feet two inches tall

A 42-year-old Australian brood mare was the oldest horse ever to give birth

The smallest pony ever recorded is called Sugar Dumpling. She weighed only 30 pounds and stood just 20 inches tall

The oldest pony on record died in France aged 54

Around 75 million horses are alive in the world today

China has not only the most people on the planet but also the most horses, with around ten million alive there today

There are more than 350 separate breeds of horses in the world

A female horse older than four years old is called a mare; a male horse older than four is a stallion

A father horse is called a sire. A mother horse is called a dam

A castrated male horse is called a gelding

Any horse under 14.2 hands high is technically a pony

Horses are measured in hands and fingers. Each hand us four inches

The scientific name for the horse is Equus caballus. Equus comes from the Greek word for ‘quickness’.

Horses have three different gaits: walking, trotting cantering and galloping. The fastest gait is the gallop

Most horses have approximately 175 bones in their body

Horses have two blind spots: one directly behind and another directly in front of them

It's possible to tell a horse’s age by its teeth

Male horses generally have 49 teeth, while females have 36

Horses can see in two directions at the same time

Horses only breathe through their noses. They do not breathe through their mouths

Soaking hay before feeding it to a horse helps reduce respiratory problems

A fully grown horse weighing 1,000 pounds contains around 13.2 gallons of blood

Horses can require up to 10 gallons of drinking water each day

Horses with coats marked by large patches and white and another colour are known as pintos. While in Britain and Ireland they are known as coloured, piebald, or skewbald

Any marking on a horse’s forehead is called a star, even when it’s a different shape. In fact, most stars resemble diamonds

The longest horse tail ever measured was 22 feet long. It belonged to an American Palomino named Chinook

A normal horse has a body temperature of between 100 and 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit

A horse’s ear can be rotated almost 360 degrees and is controlled by 13 muscles

The heart of a horse weighs about 10 pounds

A healthy horse’s resting heart rate should be between 36 and 40 beats per minute

A horse’s upper lip is prehensile. This means it’s adapted for holding objects and is very sensitive and can feel small differences in the texture of an object

A horse’s hoof will grow about a quarter of an inch each month

Contrary to some beliefs, horse and not color-blind and can in fact see colours

Horse feathers are long hairs on the back of horses’ ankles which help to keep away water from the hoof

A hoof is similar to a fingernail. It grows constantly, and should be clipped before it becomes overgrown and causes distress to the horse

A mare’s gestation period (pregnancy) is usually 11 months, but can sometimes be as short as 10 months or as long as 12 months

Colts may sometimes be capable of reproduction as early as 18 months. However, they are rarely allowed to breed until they are at least three years old

Most foals are born in the springtime, at night, when the herd is unlikely to be on the move and food is plentiful

At birth, a foal’s legs are already 90 per cent of their full-grown length

Foals instinctively recognise the scent of their mothers

Newly born foals cannot reach down to eat grass because their legs are too long

It’s not possible to predict a horse’s colour when it is foal. It will experience several changes before the colour becomes fixed at about age two

A mare can give birth in as little as 15 minutes. But if someone is watching here she may stop foaling and wait until the observer leaves before she continues

Many young domestic horses are handled by people within the first few days of their lives in order to get them used to the touch, sound and smell of humans

A mare’s first milk is called colostrum. It is very rich and protects against disease in the foal

Just one hour after birth, a foal is able to stand. After just two hours, it can run

Mature horses will kick both colts and fillies out of the herd when they reach sexual maturity, helping to prevent inbreeding

Horses and ponies feel safest in herds

In the wild, mares decide when the herd moves to another spot to find food

Horses have a social hierarchy within their herds, with more dominant horses asserting themselves as the leaders. Just like humans, each horse has a different personality

Ponies are able to survive in inhospitable climates because they conserve body heat so well

Like sheep and cattle, horses are browsers, constantly wandering as they feed

Mustangs are related to horses brought to the New World by Spanish explorers nearly 400 years ago. They are one of the few wild North American breeds

Horses and ponies always feel safest when they are in herds

There is usually only one stallion in any herd of horses

In tropical areas, horses are usually small, energetic, hardy, and capable of surviving with little food

In the wild, horses feed on grass and herbs. Combined with water, these alone are adequate for a horse’s sustenance

Horses expand more energy when they are lying down than when they stand upright

Herd bound horses become flighty and difficult to control when they are separated from the herd

In the wild, all horses eat for about 22 hours each day, and sleep for about two

Horses make eight basic sounds: snort, squeal, greeting nicker, courtship nicker, maternal nicker, neigh, roar, and blow

Horses use facial expressions to communicate their emotions and moods. If a horse has its ears back and its nostrils flared, it may be preparing to attack

A healthy horse will be bursting with energy, displayed in its unrestricted movement

Horses will sometimes groom one another by nibbling around the neck region, in the much the same fashion that mares care for their young

Sacking out is the process of slowly introducing a horse to frightening objects in order to prevent it from spooking when it comes across them

Horses sometimes communicate vocally. The whinny means a horse is excited or agitated while a snort usually means that it senses danger

When a horse’s ears are lowered or limp, the horse is relaxed or resting

Horses will often rear up when startled, at play, or excited

A horse’s head shape varies widely based on breed. Arabians usually tend to be dish-faced with a concave profile; draft horses have Roman noses and a convex profile

Standardbred horses generally have larger hearts than other breeds

After elephants, draught horses are the world’s strongest land animals

The Arabian horse is the oldest pure breed in the world. It is also the most likely to pass along its character traits through the generations

Arabian horses are slightly different from other horses in anatomy, with one less rib, one less lumbar bone, and one or two fewer vertebrae

The horse saddle was invented by the Chinese

Horses are not naturally predisposed to jumping. When able to do so most will go round the obstacle instead

From the middle ages to the 1930s, wealthy women were expected to ride side saddle because it was through improper for them to sit with their legs astride

The first recorded horse-jumping competitions were held in Dublin, Ireland by the Royal Dublin Society in 1864

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria, was founded in 1572. It is one of a handful of schools that still teaches classical dressage

A blacksmith, or farrier, is a person who trims and shoes horse’s hooves

Depending on the sporting event, a horse’s mane can be worn in many ways, from naturally down to roached to various kinds of braids

Untrained young horses can be brought cheaply, even those with top bloodlines. Once a horse is trained, however, its price can easily triple

Riding a horse burns between 148 and 690 calories each hour, depending on the gait of the horse and the weight of the rider.

Some fox hunters ride horses called field hunters that are specially trained for the pursuit

Dressage is the art of training a horse to perform precise movements. It requires an equal amount of skill and concentration from horse and rider

When horses are teamed during riding sports, such as in a group of four, either of the two foremost horses is called the leader

A German horse, Meteor, won show-jumping medals at three consecutive Olympic Games, in 1952, 1956 and 1960

The first horse lived around 50 million years ago and was called Hyracotherium. It had four hoofed toes on the front feet, three hoofed toes on the back feet and was about as big as a fox

Alexander the Great’s horse was named Bucephalus. Alexander received the wild horse as a boy and was able to tame it

Hipposandals were used in the first century as a precursor to horseshoes. They were tied to the horse’s hoof with leather strings, rather than being nailed in place as is now done with horseshoes

Both the ancient Romans and Asians looked upon their horses as great warriors. Although the Romans prized large horses in battle for their strength, Asians preferred smaller, more nimble and sure-footed ones

On April 7, 1933, the Clysedale horse became the Anheuser-Busch brewery symbol

The Roman emperor Caligula made his horse, Incitatus, a priest of Rome. The horse had nearly 20 servants, a jewelled collar, and was often feed oats dripped in gold

The Greeks used horses for the first ever Pony Express

The Battle of Komarow on August 31, 1920, was the last major cavalry battle

The Society of Horseman’s Word was a club in Scotland in the 1800s. Elder members were believed to have supernatural abilities to understand and control horses

Horses first evolved in the Americas but they became extinct there until the Europeans reintroduced them

Horses were domesticated by at least 2000bc and there is evidence that they could have been domesticated as early as 4,500bc

There is an archaic British law which states that an Englishman may not sell a horse to a Scotsman

It is illegal to open an umbrella near a horse in New York City

New Jersey’s state animal is the horse

Ribbons were once braided into horses’ tails to keep the animals safe from witches

The bows used on string instruments are often made from the tail hair of horses

In Canada, drinking before or while riding a horse is punishable as a DUI. A horse and carriage is classified in the same category as a car, while horseback riding is the same as bicycle riding.

On the Greek Island of Hydra, horses and ponies are the only legal for of transportation

In statues of a horse and rider, if the horse has both front legs in the air, the rider was killed in batle; if the horse has one leg raised, the rider died as a result of wounds received in battle; if all four legs are on the ground the rider died of natural causes

Julias Caesar rode a horse with three toes. The condition results from a rare genetic mutation that can affect the front of rare hooves

In Rosario, Argentina, horses are required to wear hats in warm weather

The national sport of Afghanistan is Buzkashi, a game in which riders on horseback attempt to capture a goat carcass

Hippotherapy is the use of horses and horseback riding in physical, occupational, speech and psychological therapy

Hippophobia and equinophobia both refer to the fear of horses

Hippocrates translates to ‘horse master’