Horse Facts

Horses

Horses are mammals. Horses are also ungulates meaning that they have hooves.

The eyes of horses are on the sides of its head. They do not have blunt faces but they have a pointy face. On their head and neck there is hair called a mane. Horses vary in size and colour. Their legs are skinny(Like sticks but just a little fatter!)

The behaviour of horses are very different from other animals. Horses communicate by making a low pitched noise called a 'nicker'. When a mare(female horse) is ready to breed, the head of the group chases her away. Horses have 4 gaits: Walking, trotting, galloping and cantering. There are beats to these gaits. Walking has 4 beats and the horse's feet go separately. Trotting has 2 beats, Cantering has 3 beats and galloping has 4 beats.

Wild horses are intelligent and always work as a team when they are looking for their prey. Horses can also be used for team work by people. For example they are also used for pulling loads, ploughs and to carry things for humans. Humans domesticate horses by breaking them in. Breaking them in means that when a human hops on the horse, he or she stays on while the horse is bucking him or her until the horse starts slowing down and begins to quieter and allow the person to stay on its back.

Horses are intelligent and helpful to people because they can pull and carry things for people and they can also give you rides.