How many breeds of horses are there?  

 

There are over 350 different breeds of horses and ponies. These fall into four main groups: 

1.   "Light" horses with small bones, thin legs and weighing less than 1300 pounds; such as - 

         Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Morgan horses and Arabians  

2.   "Heavy" or Draft horses which can weigh up to 2000 pounds and are strong with large   bones and sturdy legs; e.g. Percherons, Draft, Clydesdale and Shire horses.

3.   Ponies are usually not more than 58 inches tall (14.2 hands and under), making them    smaller than a horse; e.g. Shetland, Haflinger, and Caspian ponies  

4.   Feral horses are wild or semi-wild horses. A mustang is a feral horse. 

 

What are the different colors of horses and ponies? 

 

Horses can be either the same color all over (whole colors) or a mixture of colors (broken colors). There are thousands of different color combinations for horses. 

 

The most commonly recognized whole colors are - bay, black, brown, chestnut, dun, cream, palomino, or grey. The broken colors include piebald (often called pinto), skewbald (also known as paint horses), roan, and spotted (Appaloosa) horses. 

 

Why do some horses wear shoes?  

 

Horses that work or travel on hard roads need their feet (hooves) protected by metal shoes.

Horses? hooves, like our finger and toe nails, also grow continuously and need to be trimmed. To do this, the horse shoes need to be removed and their hooves trimmed every 4 -6 weeks. 

 

After trimming their hooves new shoes are fitted. The person who cares for a horse's hooves is called a farrier or blacksmith. 

 

But a horse doesn?t have to wear shoes. If they are not used regularly on paved surfaces, their hooves don?t wear as quickly. They become harder and can tolerate being ridden very well without shoes. This makes it easier to keep them picked and clean.  

How long do horses live?  

 

An average life span for a horse is around 20 -25 years, though they can live for up to 35-40 years. The oldest recorded horse was "Old Billy," an English barge horse, who lived to be 62 years old.  

How is A Horse Measured?

What do they mean when they say a horse is so many "hands" high?  

 

Horses are measured by the width of a human hand - 4 inches or 10 centimeters. 

 

Measurement is taken from the ground up to the withers, the highest point on the horse's shoulder. A light horse such as a Lipizzaner measures between 15.1 and 16.2hh while a heavy horse such as a Shire is between 16.2 and 17.2hh. Ponies are under 14hh.  The biggest grew to 22hh. WOW!

To find out about some majestic trail rides Go Here!