Throughout time, horses never have ceased to amaze us with their beauty and mystique.  As a member of the equus (equine) family, horses are related to zebras and donkeys. A long time ago, they would run wild and often were hunted for their meat and skin. It wasn’t until after the year 3000 BC, that horses were tamed and soon used as a method of transportation. In modern times, many people take care of horses and often ride them for recreational purposes.  Whether you’re fascinated by horses, or would like to take care of one (ore more), here are some awesome and useful facts about out favorite members of the equine family.

• Horses actually drink, on average, about 10 gallons of water a day.
• Not only can you feed a horse hay, you also can feed them grass, bran, and oats!
• Horses are herbivores, which means they don’t eat meat.
• Full grown horses are either stallions (male) or mares (female).
• Baby horses are often called foals, but once they reach one year of age, they are called yearlings.
• Colts (male) and fillies (female) are horses between the age of two to four years of age.
• Horses can live up to thirty years of age.
• They have much better vision than people. In fact, they can see two distinct images from each eye.
• Like most animals, horses can understand vocal tones rather than actual words.
• The size of a full-grown horse’s brain is about as big as a potato, but the heart of a horse can weigh 10 pounds!
• There are actually over 350 different types of breeds of horses and ponies.
• Adult horses have a lot of teeth. Mares generally have about 36 teeth, while stallions have close to 40.
• Female horses have longer pregnancy periods of about eleven months.
• Horses don’t really walk so much, they either gallop or trot.

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