Horse Records

The tallest horse on record was a Shire named Samson. He was 21.2 hands (7 feet, 2 inches) tall. He was born in 1846 in Toddington Mills, England.

The oldest horse on record is "Old Billy," an English barge horse. He was 62 years old when he died, living from 1760 to 1822.

The record for the highest jump made by a horse is held by a horse named Huaso who jumped 8 feet, 1 and 1/4 inches on February 5th, 1949 in Vina del Mar, Chile. He was ridden by Captain Alberto Larraguibel.

The record for the longest jump over water is held by a horse named Something who jumped 27 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches on April 25, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was ridden by Andre Ferreira.

Horse Facts

A stallion is a male horse

A mare is a female horse

A foal is a baby horse

A filly is a young female horse

A colt is a young male horse

A foal is a yearling after it's first birthday

A sire is the word used for the father of a horse

A dam is the word used for the mother of a horse

A pony is not a baby horse. It is a fully grown small horse

A horse's height is measured in hands. One hand =4"

An average life span for a horse is around 20-25 years,

though they can live for up to 30 years. The oldest recorded horse was "Old Billy" an English barge horse, who lived to be 62 years old.

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;e.g. 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 which are usually not more than 58 inches tall (14.2 hands and under), e.g. Shetland,Halflinger, and Caspian ponies.

4. feral horses which are wild or semi-wild horses.

A mustang is a feral horse.

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 Lipizzana measures between 15.1 and 16.2h while a heavy horse such as a Shire is between 16.2 and 17.2h. Ponies are under 14hh.

It is possible to age a horse fairly accurately up to 10

years of age by their teeth. Whether they are first teeth, permanent teeth, the presence of incisor teeth, the length and slope of teeth all help indicate a horse's age. It ia more difficult to age adult horses by their teeth.

Horses belong to the equus family. Equus comes from

the ancient Greek word meaning quickness. Horses are mammals in the same family as zebras, mules, and donkeys.

Conformation- The shape of a horse's body. A horse with good conformation is stronger and more likely to stay sound than one with weak conformation