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by: AazdakAlisimo
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Word Count: 434

Horses were once the critical step in much of our transportation industry. The automobile certainly replaced them, but horses are still amazing creatures. Here are some interesting tidbits about horses you may or may not know.

A broad splash of white that covers most parts of the forehead between the eyes and carries down the nose to the muzzle is called a Blaze.

Horses make 8 basic sounds - snort, squeal, greeting nicker, courtship nicker, maternal nicker, neigh, roar, blow.

A breed of horses called Akhal-Teke from Russia can go for days without water or food.

Most of the time, wherever a horse's ear points is where the horse is looking. If the ears are pointing in different directions, the horse is looking at two different things at the same time. There are exceptions to this. For example, if a horse has its ears pinned back against its neck in anger, this does not mean it is looking backwards with both eyes.

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.

The horse has one stomach. In contrast, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, deer, elk, caribou, moose, and camels are ruminants which means they have four digestive chambers instead of just one stomach.

A horse's age can usually be accurately determined by its teeth until the horse is about 9 years old. After that, a horse is known as smooth mouthed or aged and it becomes far more difficult or impossible to tell its age by its teeth.

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.

Horses are herd animals, with a clear hierarchy of rank, led by a dominant animal. Horses are also social creatures who are able to form companionship attachments to their own species and to other animals, including humans.

Scientists believe that the first known ancestor of the horse lived about 50 million years ago. This prehistoric horse is called Eohippus and had four padded toes on the front legs and three padded toes on the back legs.

With his long limbs and large heart and lungs, the horse is designed for galloping. Jumping is not a natural activity for horses and left to their own devices most will go around obstructions.

A hinny is a cross between a male horse and a female donkey. Hinnies are usually sterile.

About the Author

Aazdak Alisimo writes about horse riding stables and other issues for HorseRidiingBoardingStables.com.

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