Horse Facts

[kopend]

i need some unusual horse facts please

[Baldric]

http://impressivemagazine.com/2013/09/17/list-things-about-horses/

[DTCwordfan]

They have four legs and many wear socks.....

Australia has the largest herd of feral horses in the world, over 400,000 of them.

[Clanad]

Here in the western U.S., horses are still a way of life.

True horsemen (especially my father) can tell a lot by just a casual inspection of the horse. For one, the inspection of the Galvayne's Groove (named for and Irishman) helps determine the age of the horse if the horse is older... say 10 years or better. It's a groove on the upper third incisor and defines the horses age by length and discoloration.

The Appaloosa horse was developed by the Nez Perce Indians in Oregon and Idaho (before they became States, of course) and is one of the most beautiful horses I've seen. The horse belies the interbreeding (at some stage in hostory) with the Arab since the Appaloosa has, like the Arab, one less vertebrae in its spine than other horses. They are also used for English riding in hunt seat, dressage and hunter style events...
Appaloosas are multicolored aith a large variety of spot patterns and base coloration... but all Appaloosa foals are born black.

In the southern part of the State of Montana is a range of mountains named the Pryor Mountains (after a surveyor in the original Lewis and Clark exploration of 1804). Within the mountains is one of the largest feral and wild horse herds in the U.S. The herds contain a breed recently gentically determined to be true descendants of the Spanish Barb (also called Mustangs) imported in the 1600's by the Conquistadores...

[mallyh]

tell it's age by the teeth.

[jourdain2]

'Frogs and horses are inseparable!' ('Frog' is the name for the V-shaped ridge under a horse's hoof.)

[rsvp]

horses can't vomit
they can sleep standing up by locking certain joints

[-Talbot-]

Red Rum died in 1995 at the age of 30

[BlackadderV]

/horses can't vomit /

Perhaps not, but they compensate for that by making copious discharges at the other end.

[factor-fiction]

According to an old thread on AB "If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. 2
I have no idea whether it's true or not, although I have heard it said before

[DTCwordfan]

The IRA terrorists who kidnapped Shergar did send a ransom note, apparently.

It was pinned to one of Shergar's forelegs, "Send £4 million or this horse never races again."

[BlackadderV]

I have heard that. I believe it's true

[tonyav]

The horses eye is the largest of any land mammal.

[tamborine]

Horses are 14.2hands (58 inches, 147 cm) at the withers or taller.

[woofgang]

factor that horse statue thing isnt true

[BlackadderV]

Horses are the only animals which can defecate and urinate whilst on the move. All other creatures halt.

[Baldric]

Or maybe it is true after all!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue#Hoof-position_symbolism

[-Talbot-]

A poor year for 3 year olds in 1981. Shergar wasn't that great.

[woofgang]

nope, says its an urban legend in the Uk and disproved in the US
Hoof-position symbolism

"Equestrian statue of Confederate General James Longstreet on his horse Hero in Pitzer Woods at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA
In the United States and the United Kingdom, an urban legend states that if the horse is rearing (both front legs in the air), the rider died in battle; one front leg up means the rider was wounded in battle or died of battle wounds; and if all four hooves are on the ground, the rider died outside battle. For example, Richard the Lionheart is memorialised, mounted passant, outside the Palace of Westminster by Carlo Marochetti; the former died 11 days after his wound, sustained in siege, turned septic.

In the United States, the rule is especially held to apply to equestrian statues commemorating the American Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg, but there are at least nine instances where the rule does not hold for Gettysburg equestrian statues. One such statue was erected in 1998 in Gettysburg National Military Park, and is of James Longstreet, who is featured on his horse with one foot raised, even though Longstreet was not wounded in battle. This is not a traditional statue, as it does not place him on a pedestal. One writer claims that any correlation between the positioning of hooves in a statue and the manner in which a Gettysburg soldier died is a coincidence.

[DTCwordfan]

You weren't born in 1978, were you, talbot?

[DTCwordfan]

good year for Burgundy wines though, 1978.