Portal:Horses

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The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large single-toed animal of today, originally in North America. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE in Central Asia, primarily associated with the Botai culture; their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. However, contemporary genetic evidence indicates that modern domesticated breeds do not descend from this lineage, instead pointing to the Western Eurasian steppes in the lower Volga-Don region as the homeland of modern domestic horses. The modern horse breed replaced the local populations through their rapid expansion across Eurasia from 2000 BCE. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, which are horses that have never been domesticated. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predators, and possess a good sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this ability to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep significantly more than adults. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under a saddle or in a harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

Horse breeds are broadly classified into three categories based on temperament: spirited "hot-blooded" horses known for their speed and endurance; "cold-blooded" horses, such as draft horses and some ponies, suited for slow, heavy work; and "warm-bloods", developed by crossing hot-blooded and cold-blooded horses, and often bred for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe. More than 300 horse breeds exist worldwide, having been developed for a wide range of uses. (Full article...)

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Poco Pine (1954–1974) was an American Quarter Horse stallion and breeding stallion. He earned 50 Grand Championships in his showing career and after his death was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Association's (or AQHA) AQHA Hall of Fame in 2010. Two of his descendants have also been inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. 37 of his offspring earned an AQHA Championship during their own showing careers. (Full article...)

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Grévy's Zebra, sometimes known as the Imperial Zebra, is the largest species of zebra.

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... that African-American groom Eddie Sweat is depicted with Secretariat in a life-sized statue at the Kentucky Horse Park?
...that a Lithuanian Heavy Draught horse could weigh up to 920 kilograms (2,030 lb)?
... that the Quarter pony horse breed was developed from horses that did not meet the American Quarter Horse Association's original height requirement of 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) high?
... that thoroughbred horse Lord Avie, bought for $37,000 in 1980, was put to stud after retiring in 1981 and by 2002 had sired 578 starters, including 429 individual winners with total earnings of $35 million?

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The Clydesdale is a breed of draught horse which originated in the seventeenth century, and takes its name from the Clydesdale district of Scotland. The first recorded use of the name "Clydesdale" for the breed was in 1826; the horses spread through much of Scotland and into northern England. After the breed society was formed in 1877, thousands of Clydesdales were exported to other countries, particularly to Australia and New Zealand. In the early twentieth century numbers began to fall, both because many were taken for use in the First World War, and because of the increasing mechanisation of agriculture. By the 1970s, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered the breed vulnerable to extinction. Numbers have since increased slightly.

Clydesdales are large and powerful, although now not as heavy as in the past. They were traditionally used for draught power, both in farming and in road haulage. They are now principally used as carriage horses, and may be ridden or driven in parades or processions. The Anheuser-Busch brewery has several matched teams of eight horses which they tour internationally for publicity, known as the Budweiser Clydesdales. (Full article...)

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... that Kamaipuʻupaʻa, the mistress of King Kamehameha V, blamed the 1871 Lānaʻi earthquake on a foreigner riding a horse?
... that Golden Horse Awards–winning film composer Luming Lu worked as a cram-school tutor before pursuing a career in music?
... that Elizabeth II's childhood toys at 145 Piccadilly included 30 toy horses and a farm set collected from Woolworths?
... that baritone Simon Neal's 2020 performance as Don Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio included riding a horse on the stage of the Royal Opera House?
... that horses were responsible for delaying the deciding match of the Barcelona women's football team's 1973 winning season?
... that a Japanese racehorse was named the tourism ambassador of a city in Hokkaido?

General images

The following are images from various horse-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Pliohippus pernix (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 2Chariots of Ramesses II and the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh, 1274 BCE. Modern interpretation of a relief on the walls of the Ramesseum (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 3In China, Tang dynasty tomb figures include pottery figures of horses. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 4Hoof anatomy (from Equine anatomy)
Image 5Reconstruction of possible ancestral coat colors. (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 6Mounted skeleton of Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens) (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 7Equine colon (from Equine anatomy)
Image 8Terracotta urn in the shape of a horse (Iran, 1000 BCE) at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 9Restoration of Phenacodus (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 10Equus caballus germanicus front leg, teeth and upper jaw at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 11Fossil Megahippus mckennai (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 12Restoration of Mesohippus (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 13The early stages of domestication were marked by a rapid increase in coat colour variation. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 14Extinct equids restored to scale. Left to right: Mesohippus, Neohipparion, Eohippus, Equus scotti and Hypohippus. (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 15Skeletal evolution (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 16This image shows a representative sequence, but should not be construed to represent a "straight-line" evolution of the horse. Reconstruction, left forefoot skeleton (third digit emphasized yellow) and longitudinal section of molars of selected prehistoric horses (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 17Points of a horse (from Equine anatomy)
Image 18The Uffington White Horse, a British Bronze Age chalk-carved figure associated with the construction of a nearby hill fort. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 19Relief depicting Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in a chariot, inspecting booty and prisoners from Babylon (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 20Restoration of Eurohippus parvulus, a mid- to late Eocene equid of Europe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin) (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 21The dispersal of the DOM2 genetic lineage, believed to be the ancestor of all modern domesticated horses, is linked with the populations which preceded the Sintashta culture and their expansions. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 22A Luristan bronze horse bit (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 23Skull of a giant extinct horse, Equus eisenmannae (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 24A horse's skeleton (from Equine anatomy)
Image 25Merychippus, an effective grazer and runner (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 26alt=Muscles of the Horse Torso (from Equine anatomy)
Image 27Surroundings of the Shirenzigou archaeological site in Barkol County. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 28Eohippus, with left forefoot (third metacarpal colored) and tooth (a, enamel; b, dentin; c, cement) detailed (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 29A dehydrated anatomical specimen of a foal (from Equine anatomy)
Image 30A horse painting from a cave in Lascaux (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 31Diagram of digestive system (from Equine anatomy)
Image 32Protohippus simus (from Evolution of the horse)
Image 33Drawing of a horse, a mammoth, and a rhinoceros in the Shulgan-Tash Cave, 25-10 thousand years B.C. (from Domestication of the horse)
Image 34The ears can rotate (from Equine anatomy)

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Topics

Horse • Pony • Asinus • Equus (genus) • Equidae • Zebra • Glossary of equestrian terms • List of horse breeds • Evolution of the horse • Domestication of the horse • Horse care • Stable • Horse training • Equestrianism • Horse tack • Saddle • Equine nutrition • Equine anatomy • Equine conformation • Equine coat color • Equine coat color genetics • Horse markings • Equine vision • Horse hoof • Horseshoe • Horse gait • Horse behavior • Horse breeding • Breed registry • Equine infectious anemia • Horse colic • Lameness • Laminitis • Horse slaughter • Horses in warfare • Arabian horse • Thoroughbred

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