Horse Facts

*Kingdom: Animalia

*Section: Deuterostomia

*Phylum: Chordata

*Subphylum: Vertebrate

*Class: Mammalia

*Subclass: Theria

*Superorder: Mesaxonia

*Order: Perissodactyl

*Suborder: Hippomorpha

*Superfamily: Equoidea

*Genus: Equidae

*Subgenus: Equus (true horse); Hippotigris (zebras); Dolichohippus (zebras); Asinus (African asses); Hemionus (Asina asses).

*Horses don't have gall bladders.    

*Horses can see color.

*The approximate gestation period is 337 days.

*The teeth of a horse take up more space in the head than the brain.

*Horses on the barrier islands drink salt water.

*Human hair and fingernails are made from the same protein as horse hooves.

*Horses hooves grow about 1/4 inch per a month, taking almost a year to grow from coronet to ground.

*Adult male horses generally have 40 teeth while the females only have 36.

*A 1,000 pound horse produces 1,500 BTU of heat per an hour (36,000 BTU/day) and exhales 2 gallons of water daily. Which is why stables need to be well ventilated, but not heated.

*There were no horses in Australia until 1788.

*The horse is New Jersey's state animal.

*The names Phillip and Phillippa mean lover of horses.

*Hippocrates means horse master.

*One horsepower (cars)= 746 watts; one metric horsepower= 736 watts.

*Maryland has twice as many Thoroughbreds as any other state next to Kentucky.

*A furlong is from the British furrow-long, the standard length of a farmer's field. A furlong= 220 yards. One mile= 8 furlongs, as 1 furlong= 1/8 mile.

*The only mode of transportation on the Greek island of Hydra are horses and ponies.

*Horses are more comfy when facing the rear of the trailer they are riding in.

*Manhole covers were originally designed with raised surfaces to keep horses from slipping.

*Most breeds of horses have 18 ribs, 6 lumbar bones, and 18 tail vertebrae. Arabians have 17 ribs, 5 lumbar bones, and 16 tail vertebrae.       

 *Approximately 90% of all Thoroughbreds can be traced back to Eclipse, a stallion brought to England in the early 1700s. The horse got its name because it was foaled during a solar eclipse. He died in 1789. Eclipse, a liver chestnut with a blaze and one hind stocking, was by Marske, out of Spilette by the Godolphin Arabian.

*Lord Lonsdale's Monkey sired 300 foals before dying in 1747.

*The Arabian Horse Club was started in 1908.

*As of 1994 there were over 540,000 horses registered with the Arabian Horse Registry of America.

*Registered Arabians can have no more than 17 characters in their name.

*Breed standards call for a height of 14.1 to 15.1hh, and a weight of 800 to 1,000 pounds.

*Registered Thoroughbreds can have no more than 14 letters in their name.

*The T'ang horse was developed in China during the T'ang Dynasty (618-907), by crossing many different types of horses until the type was fixed.

*The Narangasett Pacer was the first breed developed in the U.S., in the Rhode Island area. The ancestry is said to trace back to either the Irish Hobby or the Scottish Galloway pony.

*Most Pacers were about 15hh; sorrel or chestnut.

*Highway improvement and the trotter contributed to the extinction of the Pacer.

*The dams of three of Justin Morgan's foals were Narangasett Pacers, as was the dam of Gaines Denmark (1851), the progenitor of the American Saddle Horse.

*Pacers were used to power the sugar mills in the 1600s in the West Indies.

*The Quarter Horse was developed in part from Irish Hobbys brought to Virginia in 1666.

*The AQHA was founded in 1940.

*A Quarter Horse mare that had been bred to a jack gave birth to a mule colt and a horse filly in Texas in 1983. This is a unique occurrence.

* The late pro wrestler Andre the Giant (1947-1993) raised Quarter Horses on his North Carolina ranch. Being 7ft 4in, 520 pounds, he couldn't ride any of them.

*The Norwegian Fjord is one of Norway's national symbols. They have been bred there for 2,000 years.

* The birthplace of the Lipizan breed, the Lipizaner stud at Lipizza (Lipica), was founded by Archduke Charles in 1580. It was destroyed, along with all 90 horses in 1992, during the war with former Yugoslavia.

*Lipizzans are born dark and turn white as they age. A few keep their dark color.

*Many of their bloodlines were lost during the war. The six extant (as of 1993) stallion lines are Siglavy (1765), Conversano (1767), Pluto (1772), Maestoso )1773), Favory (1779), and Neapolitano (1790).

*A Lipizzan stallion given to the U.S. government by Austria in 1964 was used by the Old Guard's Caisson Platoon, the "White Horse Team," based at Ft. Meyer, Virginia.

*The American Saddle Horse Breeders Association was formed in 1891.

*The Morgan Horse was named the state animal of Vermont in 1961.

*Morgans were in large part responsible for the extinction of the Narangasett Pacer, being a stronger and more versatile breed.

*Shetland ponies were first imported into the U.S. in 1885.

*The American Shetland Pony Club was founded in 1890, two years before Britain's Shetland Pony Stud Book Society.

*Buffalo Bill Cody bred Shetlands.

*The Clydesdales became the Anheuser-Busch symbol on April 7, 1933.

*The first stud book of the Przewalski horse was established in 1959 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where it is still maintained.

*The Appaloosa Horse Club was formed in 1938.

*The name Appaloosa comes from the Palouse River which flows through Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. From "a palouse horse," to "appalouse," the name ended up appaloosa.

*No horses or ponies have been brought into Iceland in 800 years, and any Icelandic pony who leaves is not allowed back in.

*The American Mustang Association was formed in 1962.

*The Palomino Horse Breeders Association of America was formed in 1941.

*The Pony of the Americas breed was established in 1956 from foundation sire Black Hand, who was by a Shetland pony out of an Appaloosa mare.

*The American Shire Horse Breeders Association was formed in 1885.

*The Standardbred Stud Book was established in 1871.

*The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders Association was formed in 1935.

*The Welsh Pony Society of America was founded in 1946.

Silly Laws    

*In New York City, it is illegal to open or close an umbrella in the presence of a horse.

*In Kansas City, Kansas, an ordinance prohibits driving a horse without holding the reins.

*Donkeys are not allowed to sleep in bathtubs in Brooklyn, New York.

*Blowing your nose around horses is a no-no in Waterville, Maine and Leahy, Washington.

*California, Prescott (Arizona), and Ellensburg (Washington) all prohibit riders from bringing horses into taverns or saloons. California law actually says you can't ride your horse into the tavern. California also bans horses from mating within 50 feet of a tavern. In Burns, Oregon you can bring your horse into the bar if you pay an admission fee for him. Lourdsburg, New Mexico prohibits mules from going into saloons, but doesn't say anything about donkeys or horses.

*Colorado bans fishing from horseback, as do Washington D.C. and Utah. Tennessee prohibits riders from lassoing fish.

*In Clarendon, Arizona it is illegal to water your horse from a bucket that has a hole in it.

*In Milwaukee, Wisconsin if you leave your car parked for over two hours, you must tie a horse to it. In Omaha, Nebraska you can tie your horse to the hitching post every house is required to have in front of it.

*Human females weighing over 200 pounds, when wearing shorts, may not legally ride a horse in Markanville, Illinois. It's women wearing kimonos who can't ride down a public street in Raton, New Mexico.

*Suffolk, Virginia bans cars driven under their own power; only those pulled by one or more horses are allowed.

*In Iowa, you can't house a horse in one room of an apartment, and in California you can't keep one in a rented apartment. In Minneapolis, Minnesota you can keep a mule in your apartment but not a goat.

*In Emporia, Kansas one of the people in a car must walk in front of it through the city and warn people so they can get their horses off the street. In St. Paul, Minnesota a driver meeting a horse-drawn vehicle must get out and help the driver of the horse to pass.

*It is illegal in Arizona to walk through hotel lobbies wearing spurs.

*It is against the law in Ohio to call a doctor a horse doctor even if he is one.

*Denver does not allow acrobats on the sidewalks as they may scare the horses. In Fairbanks, Alaska it is a misdemeanor to ride a horse or mule on the sidewalk. In Philip, South Dakota it is illegal to have a horse or mule on the sidewalk no matter what.

*Saco, Missouri prohibits scary hats so you won't frighten horses, and Steadfield, Michigan bans riders from wearing masks and being unshaven.

*In Charlotte, North Carolina you can't bathe your horse on the street and in Lexington, Missouri you can't bathe one in a watering trough.

*In Alabama and Franklin, Kentucky it is illegal to trade horses-clean or dirty-after dark.

*An ordinance (235) in Ada, Oklahoma reads: it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to leave, keep, or permit, any horse, mule or mules, vehicles, wagons, buggy, automobile, except if the same is provided with a grease pan.

*In Leahy and Wilbur, Washington it is against the law to ride an ugly horse.

*In Fountain Inn, South Carolina horses are required to wears pants at all times. In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida horses must be equipped with taillights and horns.

*In Exssex Falls, New Jersey if your horse neighs (duck quacks, dog barks) between 10pm and 6am you can be arrested.

*It is within the law to arrest and prosecute horses and other animals in Illinois.

*A Kentucky statute and its amendment: No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within the state unless she is escorted by at least two officers or unless she is armed with a club. The provisions of this statute shall not apply to females weighing less than 90 pounds or exceeding 200 pounds, nor shall it apply to female horses.

*In Nebraska motorists must send up warning rockets and Roman candles when approaching a horse. After the rockets, a scenic tarp must be thrown over the car to conceal it from the horse and soothe him. If that doesn't work, the machine must be taken apart and the parts hidden in the grass.

*Setting fire to a mule is prohibited in Maine and in Ohio, you can't set a fire under one. You can't legally kick a mule in Taylor, Arizona although the mule can kick you. Kentucky law says that walking behind a mule without first talking to it is contributory negligence.

*In Minnesota if a horse is frightened by the noise your car makes after cranking, you are responsible for any damage it does.

*It is unlawful to allow a horse to ride in the back seat of your car in Hillsboro, Oregon.

*In Lang, Kansas in August you can not drive a mule down Main Street unless the mule is wearing a straw hat.

*If you are riding a bicycle and wish to pass a horse-drawn vehicle, you must first get permission from the driver in Osceola, Michigan.

*It is against the law to let your horse eat a fire hydrant in Marshalltown, Iowa.

*Virginia law says it is a no-no for any person to take any unhaltered horse, age one or more, into any place of public worship or permit one to accompany him there. Kentucky revised statutes say that you can only ride a female horse near a church when services are in progress.

*A New Orleans, Louisiana law from 1898 says: it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to hold, hitch, or fasten a stallion or any noisy animal within 80 feet of any public worship or during the time Sunday school is in attendance in New Orleans.

*It is against the law to use a horse, mule or cattle to take waterfowl.

*Women of "bad character" are forbidden to ride horseback in the streets in Columbia, South Carolina.

*Horses are required to wear hats in hot weather in Rasario, Argentina.

*A British law states that an Englishman must not sell a horse to a Scotsman.