Shannon Margolis: The Horse

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Article Title: The Horse
Author Name: Shannon Margolis
Word Count: 8184
Author's Email: shan...@horsegalore.com

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Article Body
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The Horse
Written by Shannon Margolis

The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild
Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of
ten modern species of the genus Equus. Horses have long been among the
most economically important domesticated animals; although their
importance has declined with mechanization, they are still found
worldwide, fitting into human lives in various ways. The horse is
prominent in religion, mythology, and art; it has played an important role
in transportation, agriculture, and war; it has additionally served as a
source of food, fuel, and clothing.

Almost all breeds of horses can, at least in theory, carry humans on their
backs or be harnessed to pull objects such as carts or plows. However,
horse breeds were developed to allow horses to be specialized for certain
task; lighter horses for racing or riding, heavier horses for farming and
other tasks requiring pulling power. In some societies, horses are a
source of food, both meat and milk; in others it is taboo to consume them.
In industrialized countries horses are predominantly kept for leisure and
sporting pursuits, while they are still used as working animals in many
other parts of the world.

Age

Depending on breed, management and environment, the domestic horse today
has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. It is uncommon, but a few horses
live into their 40s, and, occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable
record was "Old Billy," a horse that lived in the 19th century to the age
of 62.[1] In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in the Guinness
Book of World Records as the world's oldest then-living pony, died at age
56.[2]

Regardless of a horse's actual birthdate, for most competition purposes,
horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the
northern hemisphere and July 1 in the southern hemisphere. The exception
is endurance riding, where the minimum age to compete is based on the
horse's actual calendar age.

The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages:

* Foal: a horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal
is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a
weanling. Most foals are weaned at 4-6 months of age.
* Yearling: a horse of either sex that is between one and two years
old.
* Colt: a male horse under the age of four.
* Filly: a female horse under the age of four.
* Mare: a female horse four years old and older.
* Stallion: a non-castrated male horse four years old and older. Some
people, particularly in the UK, refer to a stallion as a "horse."
* Gelding: A castrated male horse of any age, though for convenience
sake, many people also refer to a young gelding under the age of four as a
"colt."

In horse racing the definitions of colt, filly, mare, and stallion or
horse may differ from those given above. In the United Kingdom,
Thoroughbred horse racing defines a colt as a male horse less than five
years old and a filly as a female horse less than five years old.[citation
needed] In the USA, both Thoroughbred racing and harness racing defines
colts and fillies as four years old and younger.[3]

A very rough estimate of a horse's age can be made from looking at its
teeth.

Size

The size of horses varies by breed, but can also be influenced by
nutrition. The general rule for cutoff in height between what is
considered a horse and a pony at maturity is 14.2 hands high. (abbreviated
"h" or "hh") (147 cm, 58 inches) as measured at the withers. An animal
14.2h or over is usually considered a horse and one less than 14.2h is a
pony.

However, there are exceptions to the general rule. Some smaller horse
breeds who typically produce individual horses both under and over 14.2h
are considered "horses" regardless of height. Likewise, some pony breeds,
such as the Pony of the Americas or the Welsh pony, share some features of
horses and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2h, but
are still considered ponies.

The difference between a horse and pony is not simply a height difference,
but also a difference in phenotype or appearance. There are noticeable
differences in conformation and temperament. 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 often have calmer temperaments than horses, but
also a high level of equine intelligence that may or may not be used to
cooperate with human handlers.

Light riding horses such as Arabians, Morgans, or Quarter Horses usually
range in height from 14.0 (142 cm) to 16.0 hands (163 cm) and can weigh
from 386 kilograms (850 lbs) to about 540 kg (1200 lbs). Larger riding
horses such as Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds or Warmbloods usually
start at about 15.2 hands (157 cm) and often are as tall as 17 hands (172
cm), weighing from 500 kg (1100 lbs) to 680 kg (1500 lbs). Heavy or draft
horses such as the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire are usually
at least 16.0 (163 cm) to 18.0 hands (183 cm) high and can weigh from
about 680 kg (1500 lb) up to about 900 kg (2000 lb). Ponies cannot be
taller than 14.2h, but can be much smaller, down to the Shetland pony at
around 10 hands, and the Falabella which can be the size of a medium-sized
dog. However, while many miniature horse breeds are small as or smaller
than a shetland pony, because they are bred to have a horse phenotype
(appearance), their breeders and registries classify them as very small
horses rather than ponies.

The largest horse in history was a Shire horse named Sampson, later
renamed Mammoth, foaled in 1846 in Bedfordshire, England. He stood 21.2½
hands high (i.e. 7 ft 2½ in or 2.20 m ), and his peak weight was estimated
at over 3,300 lb (approx 1.5 tonnes). The current record holder for the
world's smallest horse is Thumbelina, a fully mature miniature horse
affected by dwarfism. She is 17 inches tall and weighs 60 pounds.[4]

Reproduction and development

Main article: Horse breeding

Pregnancy lasts for approximately 335-340 days and usually results in one
foal (male: colt, female: filly). Twins are rare. Colts are usually
carried 2-7 days longer than fillies. Females 4 years and over are called
mares and males are stallions. A castrated male is a gelding. Horses,
particularly colts, may sometimes be physically capable of reproduction at
approximately 18 months but in practice are rarely allowed to breed until a
minimum age of 3 years, especially females. Horses four years old are
considered mature, though the skeleton usually finishes developing at the
age of six, and the precise time of completion of development also depends
on the horse's size (therefore a connection to breed exists), gender, and
the quality of care provided by its owner. Also, if the horse is larger,
its bones are larger; therefore, not only do the bones take longer to
actually form bone tissue (bones are made of cartilage in earlier stages
of bone formation), but the epiphyseal plates (plates that fuse a bone
into one piece by connecting the bone shaft to the bone ends) are also
larger and take longer to convert from cartilage to bone as well. These
plates convert after the other parts of the bones do but are crucial to
development.

Depending on maturity, breed and the tasks expected, young horses are
usually put under saddle and trained to be ridden between the ages of two
and four. Although Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse race horses are
put on the track at as young as two years old in some countries (notably
the United States), horses specifically bred for sports such as show
jumping and dressage are generally not entered into top-level competition
until a minimum age of four years old, because their bones and muscles are
not solidly developed, nor is their advanced training complete. For
endurance riding competition, horses may not compete until they are a full
60 calendar months (5 years) old.

Anatomy

Main article: Horse anatomy

Horses have, on average, a skeleton of 205 bones. A significant difference
in the bones contained in the horse skeleton, as compared to that of a
human, is the lack of a collarbone--their front limb system is attached to
the spinal column by a powerful set of muscles, tendons and ligaments that
attach the shoulder blade to the torso. The horse's legs and hooves are
also unique, interesting structures. Their leg bones are proportioned
differently from those of a human. For example, the body part that is
called a horse's "knee" is actually the carpal bones that correspond to
the human wrist. Similarly, the hock, contains the bones equivalent to
those in the human ankle and heel. The lower leg bones of a horse
correspond to the bones of the human hand or foot, and the fetlock
(incorrectly called the "ankle") is actually the proximal sesamoid bones
between the cannon bones (a single equivalent to the human metacarpal or
metatarsal bones) and the proximal phalanges, located where one finds the
"knuckles" of a human. A horse also has no muscles in its legs below the
knees and hocks, only skin and hair, bone, tendons, ligaments, cartilage,
and the assorted specialized tissues that make up the hoof (see section
hooves, below).

Digestion

Main article: Equine nutrition

A horse is a herbivore with a digestive system adapted to a forage diet of
grasses and other plant material, consumed regularly throughout the day,
and so they have a relatively small stomach but very long intestines to
facilitate a steady flow of nutrients. A 1000 pound horse will eat between
15 and 25 pounds (approximately 7-11 kg) of food per day and, under normal
use, drink 10 to 12 gallons (about 38-45 litres) of water. Horses are not
ruminants, so they have only one stomach, like humans, but unlike humans,
they can also digest cellulose from grasses due to the presence of a "hind
gut" called the cecum, or "water gut," that food goes through before
reaching the large intestine. Unlike humans, horses cannot vomit, so
digestion problems can quickly spell trouble, with colic a leading cause
of death.

Teeth

Main article: Horse teeth

Horses are adapted to grazing, so their teeth continue to grow throughout
life. There are 12 teeth (six upper and six lower), the incisors, adapted
to biting off the grass or other vegetation, at the front of the mouth,
and 24 teeth, the premolar and molars, adapted for chewing, at the back of
the mouth. Stallions and geldings have four additional teeth just behind
the incisors, a type of canine teeth that are called "tushes." Some
horses, both male and female, will also develop one to four very small
vestigial teeth in front of the molars, known as "wolf" teeth, which are
generally removed because they can interfere with the bit.

There is an empty interdental space between the incisors and the molars
where the bit rests directly on the bars (gums) of the horse's mouth when
the horse is bridled.

The incisors show a distinct wear and growth pattern as the horse ages, as
well as change in the angle at which the chewing surfaces meet, and while
the diet and veterinary care of the horse can affect the rate of tooth
wear, a very rough estimate of the age of a horse can be made by looking
at its teeth.

Hooves

Main article: horse hoof, horseshoe, and farrier

The critical importance of the feet and legs is summed up by the
traditional adage, "no foot, no horse." The horse hoof begins with the
distal phalanges, the equivalent of the human fingertip or tip of the toe,
surrounded by cartilage and other specialized, blood-rich soft tissues such
as the laminae, with the exterior hoof wall and horn of the sole made
essentially of the same material as a human fingernail. The end result is
that a horse, weighing on average 1,000 pounds, travels on the same bones
as a human on tiptoe. For the protection of the hoof under certain
conditions, some horses have horseshoes placed on their feet by a
professional farrier. The hoof continually grows, just like a large
fingernail, and needs to be trimmed (and horseshoes reset, if used) every
six to eight weeks.

Senses

The senses of a horse are generally superior to those of a human. As prey
animals, they must be aware of their surroundings at all times. They have
very large eyes (among land animals only the ostrich has a larger eye),
with excellent day and night vision, though they may have a limited range
of color vision. The side positioning of the eyes gives the horse a wide
field of vision of about 350°.[5] While not color-blind, studies indicate
that they have difficulty distinguishing greens, browns and grays. Their
hearing is good, and the pinna of their ears can rotate a full 360 degrees
in order to pick up sound from any direction. Their sense of smell, while
much better than that of humans, is not their strongest asset; they rely
to a greater extent on vision.

A horse's sense of balance is outstanding; the cerebellum of their brain
is highly developed and they are very aware of terrain and placement of
their feet. Horses' sense of touch is better developed than many people
think; they immediately notice when a fly or mosquito lands on them, even
before the insect attempts to bite. Their sense of taste is well-developed
in order to determine the nature of the plants they are eating, and their
prehensile lips can easily sort even the smallest grains. Horses will
seldom eat most poisonous plants or spoiled food unless they have no other
choices, although a few toxic plants have a chemical structure that appeals
to animals, and thus poses a greater risk of being ingested.

Behavior

Main articles: Horse behavior and Stable vices

Horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct.
Their first response to threat is to startle and usually flee, although
they are known to stand their ground and defend themselves or their
offspring in cases where flight is not possible, or when their young are
threatened. They also tend to be curious; when startled, they will often
hesitate an instant to ascertain the cause of their fright, and may not
always flee from something that they perceive as non-threatening. Through
selective breeding, some breeds of horses are quite docile, particularly
certain large draft horses. However, most light horse riding breeds were
developed for speed, agility, alertness and endurance; natural qualities
that extend from their wild ancestors.

Horses are herd animals, with a clear hierarchy of rank, led by a dominant
animal (usually a mare). Horses are also social creatures who are able to
form companionship attachments to their own species and to other animals,
including humans. They communicate in various ways, including
vocalizations such as nickering or whinnying, mutual grooming, and body
language. Many horses will become difficult to manage if they are
isolated. When this behavior occurs while being handled by human, the
horse is called "herd-bound". However, through proper training, it is
possible to teach any horse to accept a human as a type of companion, and
thus be comfortable away from other horses.

When confined with insufficient companionship, exercise or stimulation,
horses may develop stable vices, an assortment of bad habits, mostly
psychological in origin, that include wood chewing, wall kicking,
"weaving" (rocking back and forth) and other problems.

Sleep patterns

See also: Horse behavior#Sleep patterns and Sleep#Sleep in non-humans

Horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. They are able to
doze and enter light sleep while standing, an adaptation from life as a
prey animal in the wild. Lying down makes an animal more vulnerable to
predators.[6] Horses are able to sleep standing up because a "stay
apparatus" in their legs allows them to relax their muscles and doze
without collapsing.[7][8]

Unlike humans, horses do not need a solid, unbroken period of sleep time.
They obtain needed sleep by means of many short periods of rest. Horses
may spend anywhere from four to fifteen hours a day in standing rest, and
from a few minutes to several hours lying down. However, not all this time
is the horse actually asleep; total sleep time in a day may range from
several minutes to a couple of hours.[9] Horses require approximately two
and a half hours of sleep, on average, in a 24-hour period. Most of this
sleep occurs in many short intervals of about 15 minutes each.[10]

Horses must lie down to reach REM sleep. They only have to lie down for an
hour or two every few days to meet their minimum REM sleep requirements.[9]
However, if a horse is never allowed to lie down, after several days it
will become sleep-deprived, and in rare cases may suddenly collapse as it
involuntarily slips into REM sleep while still standing.[11] This
condition differs from narcolepsy, though horses may also suffer from that
disorder.[12]

Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while
others stand guard to watch for predators. A horse kept entirely alone
will not sleep well because its instincts are to keep a constant eye out
for danger.[9]

Gaits

Main article: Horse gait

All horses move naturally with four basic gaits; the walk, trot or jog,
canter or lope, and gallop.

Besides these basic gaits, some horses pace, instead of trot. In addition,
there are many "ambling" gaits such as the slow gait, rack, fox trot
running walk, and tölt. These special gaits are often found in specific
breeds, often referred to as "gaited" horses because they naturally
possess additional gaits that are approximately the same speed as the trot
but smoother to ride. Technically speaking, "gaited horses" replace the
standard trot (which is a 2 beat gait) with one of the four beat gaits.

Horse breeds with additional gaits that often occur naturally include the
Tennessee Walking Horse which naturally performs a running walk, the
American Saddlebred which can be trained to exhibit a slow gait and the
rack, Paso Fino, which has two ambling gaits, the paso corto and paso
largo, and Icelandic horses which are known for the tölt. The fox trot is
found in several breeds, most notably the Missouri Foxtrotter.
Standardbreds, depending on bloodlines and training, may either pace or
trot.

Horse Care

Main articles: Horse care, Equine nutrition, Horse grooming, and
Veterinary medicine

Horses are animals that evolved to graze. Therefore, they eat grass or
hay, sometimes supplemented with grain. They require a plentiful supply of
clean water, a minimum of 10 to 12 gallons per day per horse. Although
horses are adapted to live outside, they require shelter from the wind and
rain. Horses require annual vaccinations to protect against various
diseases, need routine hoof care by a farrier, and regular dental
examinations from a veterinarian or a specialized equine dentist. If
horses are kept inside in a barn, they require regular daily exercise for
their physical health and mental well-being. When turned outside, they
require well-maintained, sturdy fences to be safely contained.

Evolution

Main article: Evolution of the horse

The horse as it is known today adapted by evolution to survive in areas of
wide-open terrain with sparse vegetation, surviving in an ecosystem where
other large grazing animals, especially ruminants, could not.[13]

Horses and other equids are odd-toed ungulates of the order
Perissodactyla, a relatively ancient group of browsing and grazing animals
that first arose less than 10 million years after the dinosaurs became
extinct. In the past, this order contained twelve families, but only three
families— Equidae (the horse and related species), the tapir and the
rhinoceros—have survived to the present day. The earliest equids known as
Hyracotherium developed approximately 54 million years ago, during the
Eocene period. One of the first true horse species, it had 4 toes on each
front foot, and 3 toes on each back foot. By the Pleistocene era, as the
horse adapted to a drier, prairie environment, the 2nd and 4th toes
disappeared on all feet, and horses became bigger. These side toes first
shrunk in size until they have vanished in modern horses. All that remains
are a set of small vestigial bones on either side of the cannon (metacarpal
or metatarsal) bone, known informally as splint bones, which are a frequent
source of splints, a common injury in the modern horse. Their legs also
lengthened as their toes disappeared and until they were a hoofed animal
capable of running at great speed.

Over millions of years, equid teeth also evolved from browsing on soft,
tropical plants to adapt to browsing of drier plant material, and grazing
of tougher plains grasses. Thus the proto-horses changed from leaf-eating
forest-dwellers to grass-eating inhabitants of semi-arid regions
worldwide, including the steppes of Eurasia and the Great Plains of North
America. For reasons not fully understood, Equus caballus disappeared from
North America around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age.[14]

Domestication and surviving wild species

Main article: Domestication of the horse

Competing theories exist as to the time and place of initial
domestication. The earliest evidence for the domestication of the horse
comes from Central Asia and dates to approximately 4,500 BC.
Archaeological finds such as the Sintashta chariot burials provided
unequivocal evidence that the horse was definitely domesticated by 2000
BC.

Wild prototypes and modern species

Main article: Wild Horse

Most "wild" horses today are actually feral horses (see feral horses,
below), animals that had domesticated ancestors but were themselves born
and live in the wild, often for generations. However, there are also some
truly wild horses whose ancestors were never successfully domesticated.

The "Four Foundations" theory

There is a theory that there were four basic "proto" horses that developed
with adaptations to their environment prior to domestication. There are
competing theories, some arguing that the prototypes were separate
species, others suggesting that the prototypes were physically different
manifestations of the same species. Either way, the most common theories
of historical wild species from which other types are thought to have
developed suggests the following base prototypes:[15]

* The "Warmblood subspecies" or "Forest Horse" (Equus ferus
silvaticus, also called the Diluvial Horse), thought to have evolved into
Equus ferus germanicus, and which may have contributed to the development
of the warmblood horses of northern Europe, as well as older "heavy
horses" such as the Ardennais.
* The "Draft" subspecies, a small, sturdy, heavyset animal with a
heavy hair coat, arising in northern Europe, adapted to cold, damp
climates, somewhat resembling today's draft horse and even the Shetland
pony
* The "Oriental" subspecies, a taller, slim, refined and agile animal
arising in western Asia, adapted to hot, dry climates, thought to be the
progenitor of the modern Arabian horse and Akhal-Teke
* The "Tarpan subspecies," dun-colored, sturdy animal, the size of a
large pony, adapted to the cold, dry climates of northern Asia, the
predecessor to the Tarpan and Przewalski's Horse as well as the
domesticated Mongolian horse.

Species surviving into modern times

The tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, survived into the historical era, but
became extinct in 1880. Its genetic line is lost, but its phenotype has
been recreated by a "breeding back" process, in which living domesticated
horses with primitive features were repeatedly interbred. Thanks to the
efforts of the brothers Lutz Heck (director of the Berlin zoo) and Heinz
Heck (director of Munich Tierpark Hellabrunn), the resulting Heck horse
together with the Konik resembles the tarpan more closely than any other
living horse.

Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), a rare Asian species, is the
only true wild horse alive today. Also known as the Mongolian Wild Horse,
Mongolians know it as the taki, while the Kirghiz people call it a kirtag.
Small wild breeding populations of this animal, named after the Russian
explorer Przewalski, exist in Mongolia.[16] There are also small
populations maintained at zoos throughout the world. After a battle
against extinction, the Przewalksi's Horse is finally flourishing in the
wild once again.

Other truly wild equids alive today include the zebra and the onager.

Feral horses

Main article: Feral horse

Feral animals, who had domesticated ancestors but were born and live in
the wild, are distinct from wild animals, whose ancestors have never
undergone domestication. Several populations of feral horses exist,
including those in the western United States and Canada (often called
"mustangs"), and in parts of Australia ("brumbies") and New Zealand
("Kaimanawa horses"). Isolated feral populations are often named for their
geographic location: Namibia has its Namib Desert Horses; the Sorraia lives
in Spain and Portugal; Sable Island Horses reside in Nova Scotia, Canada;
and New Forest ponies have been part of Hampshire, England for a thousand
years.

Studies of feral horses have provided useful insights into the behavior of
ancestral wild horses, as well as greater understanding of the instincts
and behaviours that drive horses.

Other modern equids

Main article: Equidae

Other members of the horse family include zebras, donkeys, and onagers.
The Donkey, Burro or Domestic Ass, Equus asinus, like the horse, has many
breeds. A mule is a hybrid of a male ass (jack) and a mare, and is usually
infertile. A hinny is the less common hybrid of a female ass (jenny) and a
stallion. Breeders have also tried crossing various species of zebra with
mares or female asses to produce "zebra mules" (zorses, and zonkeys (also
called zedonks)). This will probably remain a novelty hybrid as these
individuals tend to inherit some of the undomesticated nature of their
zebra parent, but they may inherit the zebra's resistance to nagana pest:
zorses, also called zebroids, have been used in Central African game parks
for light haulage.[citation needed]

Horses within the human economy

See also: Equestrianism

Around the world, horses play a role within human economies, for leisure,
sport and working purposes. To cite one example, the American Horse
Council estimates that horse-related activities have a direct impact on
the economy of the United States of over $39 billion, and when indirect
spending is considered, the impact is over $102 billion.[17]

In wealthier, First World, industrialized economies, horses are primarily
used in recreational pursuits and competitive sports, though they also
have practical uses in police work, cattle ranching, search and rescue,
and other duties where terrain or conditions preclude use of motorized
vehicles. In poorer, Third World economies, they may also be used for
recreational purposes by the elite population, but serve a much wider role
in working pursuits including farming, ranching and as a means of
transportation. To a very limited extent, they are also still used in
warfare, particularly in regions of extremely rugged terrain.

Sport

Main articles: Equestrianism, Horse Racing, and Horse training

Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in many different sporting
events and competitions. Examples include horse shows, gymkhana and
O-Mok-See, rodeos, endurance riding, fox hunting, and Olympic-level events
such as three-day eventing, combined driving, dressage, and show jumping.
Although scoring varies by event, most emphasize the horse's speed,
maneuverability, obedience and/or precision. Sometimes the equitation, the
style and ability of the rider, is also considered.

Sports such as polo and horseball do not judge the horse itself, but
rather use the horse as a partner for human competitors as a necessary
part of the game. Although the horse assists this process and requires
specialized training to do so, the details of its performance are not
judged, only the result of the rider's actions -- be it getting a ball
through a goal or some other achievement. Examples of these sports of
partnership between human and animal also include jousting (reenacting the
skills used by medieval knights), where the main goal is for one rider to
dismount the other, and buzkashi, a team game played throughout Central
Asia, the aim being to capture a goat carcass while on horseback.[18]

The most widely known use of horses for sport is horse racing, seen in
almost every nation in the world. There are three types: "flat" racing;
steeplechasing, i.e. racing over jumps; and harness racing, where horses
trot or pace while pulling a driver in a small, light cart known as a
sulky. Most race horses in the developed world are Thoroughbreds, a breed
which can reach speeds up to 40 mph/70 km/h. In the case of a specialized
sprinting breed, the American Quarter Horse, speeds over 50 mph have been
clocked. In harness racing, performed by Standardbred horses, speeds over
30 mph have been measured. A major part of the economic importance of
horse racing, as for many sports, lies in the gambling associated with
it.

Work

There are certain jobs that horses do very well, and no amount of
technology appears able to supersede. Mounted police horses are still
effective for crowd control. Cattle ranches still require riders on
horseback to round up cattle that are scattered across remote, rugged
terrain. Search and rescue organizations in some countries depend upon
mounted teams to locate people, particularly hikers and hunters, who are
lost in remote areas.

Some land management practices such as logging can be more efficiently
managed with horses, to avoid vehicular disruption to delicate soil in
areas such as a nature reserve. Forestry rangers may use horses for their
patrols.

In poor countries such as Romania, Kyrgyzstan, and many parts of the Third
World, horses, donkeys and mules are routinely used for transport and
agriculture. In areas where roads are poor or non-existent and fossil
fuels are scarce or the terrain rugged, riding horseback is still the most
efficient way to get from place to place.

Entertainment and culture

Modern horses are often used to re-enact their historical work purpose.
One famous example is the Budweiser Clydesdales. This team of draft horses
pull a beer wagon in a manner similar to that used prior to the invention
of the modern motorized truck.

Horses are used, complete with equipment that is authentic or a
meticulously recreated replica, in various historical reenactments of
specific periods of history, and especially famous battles. Popular
subjects include American Revolutionary War and Civil War reenactments, as
well as battles of the 19th century between the U.S. Cavalry and Native
Americans, such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Horses also are used preserve cultural traditions and for ceremonial
purposes. Examples include the use of horses at tourist destinations such
as Colonial Williamsburg or the presence of cavalry horses at significant
funerals of military figures and heads of state. Countries such as the
United Kingdom still use horse-drawn carriages to convey royalty and VIPs
to and from certain culturally significant events.

Horses are frequently used in television and motion pictures to add
authenticity to historical dramas as well as adding charm to films set in
modern-day, or even futuristic science fiction settings.

Assisted learning and therapeutic purposes

See also: Hippotherapy, Therapeutic horseback riding, and Equine
Assisted Learning

People with disabilities obtain beneficial results from association with
horses. The movement of a horse strengthens muscles throughout a rider's
body and promotes better overall health. In many cases, riding has also
led to increased mobility for the rider. Horses also provide psychological
benefits to people whether they actually ride or not. The benefits of
equestrian activity for people with disabilities has also been recognized
with the addition of equestrian events to the Paralympic Games and
recognition of para-equestrian events by the FEI.

Hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding are names for different
physical, occupational and speech therapy treatment strategies that
utilize equine movement. In the hippotherapy environment, a therapist uses
the horse's movement to provide carefully graded sensory input, whereas
therapeutic horseback riding uses specific riding skills.

"Equine-assisted" or "equine-facilitated" psychotherapy uses horses as
companion animals to assist people with psychological problems. Actual
practices vary widely due to the newness of the field; some programs
include Therapeutic Horseback Riding and hippotherapy. Non-riding
therapies simply encourage a person to touch, speak to and otherwise
interact with the horse. People appear to benefit from being able to be
around a horse; horses are very sensitive to non-verbal communication and
are an ideal resource for working with individuals who have "tuned out"
human therapists.[citation needed]

Equine Assisted Learning (EAL), Equine guided education, or equine
assisted professional development, is another relatively new field of
experiential learning for corporate, professional and personal
development.

There also have been experimental programs using horses in prison
settings. Exposure to horses appears to improve the behavior of inmates in
a prison setting and help reduce recidivism when they leave. A correctional
facility in Nevada has a successful program where inmates learn to train
young mustangs captured off the range in order to make it more likely that
these horses will find adoptive homes. Both adult and juvenile prisons in
New York, Florida, and Kentucky work in cooperation with the Thoroughbred
Retirement Foundation to re-train former racehorses as pleasure mounts and
find them new homes.[citation needed] Horses are also used in camps and
programs for young people with emotional difficulties.

Warfare

Main article: Horses in warfare

Horses in warfare have been seen for most of recorded history, dating back
at least to the 19th century B.C. While mechanization largely has replaced
the horse as a weapon of war, horses are still seen today in limited
military uses, mostly for ceremonial purposes, or for reconnaissance and
transport activities in areas of rough terrain where motorized vehicles
are ineffective. Horses have been used in the 21st century by the
Janjaweed militias in the Darfur conflict in attacks against unarmed
civilians.

Products

* Horse meat has been used as food for animals and humans throughout
the ages. It is eaten in many parts of the world and is an export industry
in the United States and other countries. Bills have been introduced in
both the House and the Senate which would put an end to this practice in
the United States. Horse consumption is taboo in some cultures.

* Mare's milk is used by people with large horse-herds, such as the
Mongols. They may let it ferment to produce kumis. Mares produce a lower
yield of milk than cows, but more than goats and sheep.

* Horse blood was also used as food by the Mongols and other nomadic
tribes. The Mongols found this food source especially convenient when
riding for long periods of time. Drinking their own horse's blood allowed
the Mongols to ride for extended periods of time without stopping to eat.

* Premarin is a mixture of female hormones (estrogens) extracted from
the urine of pregnant mares (pregnant mares' urine). It is a widely used
drug for hormone replacement therapy. This horse product is especially
controversial; see the Premarin article.

* The tail hair of the horse is used for making bows for stringed
instruments such as the violin, viola, cello and double bass.

* Horsehide leather has been used for boots, gloves, jackets,
baseballs,[19] and baseball gloves.[20] The saba is a horsehide vessel
used in the production of kumis. Horsehide can be used to produce animal
glue.

* Horse hooves can be used to produce hoof glue.

* Horse bones can be used to make implements. Specifically, in Italian
cuisine, the horse tibia is sharpened into a probe called a spinto, which
is used to test the readiness of a (pig) ham as it cures.[21]

Specialized vocabulary

Main articles: Horse anatomy, Horse coat color, and Equine coat color
genetics

Because horses and humans have lived and worked together for thousands of
years, an extensive specialized vocabulary has arisen to describe
virtually every horse behavioral and anatomical characteristic with a high
degree of precision.

The anatomy of the horse comes with a large number of horse specific
terms.

Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings,
and a specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them. Often, one will
refer to a horse in the field by its coat color rather than by breed or by
sex. The genetics of the coat colors has largely been resolved, although
discussion continues about some of the details.

The English-speaking world measures the height of horses in hands,
abbreviated "h" or "hh," and is measured at the highest point of an
animal's withers. One hand is 4 Imperial inches, or, as defined in British
law, 101.6 mm. Intermediate heights are defined by hands and inches,
rounding to the lower measurement in hands, followed by a decimal point
and the number of additional inches between 1 and 3. Thus a horse
described as 15.2 hh tall, means it is 15 hands, 2 inches, or 62
inches/1.57 m in height.

The origin of modern breeds

Main article: List of horse breeds

Horses come in various sizes and shapes. The draft breeds can top 19 hands
(2 metres, 76 inches) while the smallest miniature horses stand as low as
5.2 hands (0.56 metres, 22 inches). The Patagonian Fallabella, usually
considered the smallest horse in the world, compares in size to a German
Shepherd Dog.

Different schools of thought exist to explain how this range of size and
shape came about. One school, which some refer to as the "Four
Foundations", (see Domestication of the horse and surviving wild species,
above), suggests that the modern horse evolved from multiple types of
early wild pony and horse prototypes; the differences between these types
account for the differences in type of the modern breeds. A second school
- the "Single Foundation" - holds only one type of wild horse underwent
domestication, and it diverged in form after domestication through human
selective breeding (or in the case of feral horses, through ecological
pressures). This question will most likely only be resolved once
geneticists have finished evaluating the horse genome, analyzing DNA and
mitochondrial DNA to construct family trees. See: Domestication of the
horse.

In either case, modern horse breeds developed in response to the need for
"form to function"; that is, the necessity to develop certain physical
characteristics necessary to perform a certain type of work. Thus, light,
refined horses such as the Arabian horse or the Akhal-Teke developed in
dry climates to be fast and with great endurance over long distances,
while heavy draft horse such as the Belgian developed out of a need to
pull plows and perform other farm work. Ponies of all breeds developed out
of a dual need to create mounts suitable for children as well as for work
in small places like mine shafts or in areas where there was insufficient
forage to support larger draft animals. In between these extremes, horses
were bred to be particularly suitable for tasks that included pulling
carriages, carrying heavily-armored knights, jumping, racing, herding
other animals, and packing supplies.

Some countries specialize in breeding horses suitable for particular
activities. For example, Australia, the United States, and the Patagonia
region of South America are known for breeding horses particularly
suitable for working cattle and other livestock. Germany produces many
Warmblood breeds that are used for dressage. Ireland is recognized for
breeding hunters and jumpers. Spain and Portugal are known for the Iberian
horse breeds used in high school dressage and bullfighting. Austria is
known worldwide for its Lipizzaner horses, used for dressage and high
school work in the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna. The United
Kingdom breeds an array of heavy draft horses and several breeds of hardy
ponies. Both the United States and Great Britain are noted for breeding
Thoroughbred race horses. Russia takes great pride in breeding harness
racing horses, a tradition dating back to the development of the Orlov
Trotter in the 18th century.

Breeds, studbooks, purebreds, and landraces

Selective breeding of horses has occurred as long as humans have
domesticated them. However, the concept of controlled breed registries has
gained much wider importance during the 20th century. One of the earliest
formal registries was General Stud Book for thoroughbreds,[22] a process
that started in 1791 tracing back to the foundation sires for that breed.
These sires were Arabians, brought to England from the Middle East.

The Arabs had a reputation for breeding their prize Arabian mares to only
the most worthy stallions, and kept extensive pedigrees of their "asil"
(purebred) horses. Though these pedigrees were primarily transmitted via
an oral tradition, written pedigrees of Arabian horses can be found that
date to the 14th century. During the late Middle Ages the Carthusian monks
of southern Spain, themselves forbidden to ride, bred horses which nobles
throughout Europe prized; the lineage survives to this day in the
Andalusian horse or caballo de pura raza espanol.

The modern landscape of breed designation presents a complicated picture.
Some breeds have closed studbooks; a registered Thoroughbred, Arabian, or
Quarter Horse must have two registered parents of the same breed, and no
other criteria for registration apply. Other breeds tolerate limited
infusions from other breeds; for example, the modern Appaloosa must have
at least one Appaloosa parent but may also have a Quarter Horse,
Thoroughbred, or Arabian parent and must also exhibit spotted coloration
to gain full registration.[citation needed] Still other breeds, such as
most of the warmblood sport horses, require individual judging of an
individual animal's quality before registration or breeding approval, but
also allow outside bloodlines in if the horses meet the standard.

Breed registries also differ as to their acceptance or rejection of
breeding technology. For example, all Jockey Club Thoroughbred registries
require that a registered Thoroughbred be a product of a natural mating
(live cover in horse parlance). A foal born of two Thoroughbred parents,
but by means of artificial insemination or embryo transfer is barred from
the Thoroughbred studbook. Any Thoroughbred bred outside of these
constraints can, however, become part of the Performance Horse Registry.

On the other hand, since the advent of DNA testing to verify parentage,
most breed registries now allow artificial insemination (AI), embryo
transfer (ET), or both. The high value of stallions has helped with the
acceptance of these techniques because they 1) allow a stallion to breed
more mares with each "collection," and 2) take away the risk of injury
during mating.

Hot bloods, warm bloods, and cold bloods