Curiosities of horses

I actually had a horse growing up so these fun facts will be interesting. You know that there are people called "Horse Whisperers". Perhaps you seen the movie with the same name with the actor, Paul Newman. These people claim to have the ability to communicate with horses. Some use this ability to heal and train horses.

• -horses do not lie down together, one stands guard for dangers

• -they have small stomachs and short intestines

• -horses can't vomit

• -one front leg is shorter then the other and the mane falls to that side

• -arabian horses have one less rib, back vertebrae and neck vertebrae

• -horses lock thier legs when they sleep so they don't fall over

• -horses have close to 360 degrees all around vision

Always be careful when in front or behind a horse because these are thier blind spots. It is easy for a horse to spook and kick you. Also the upper lips of a horse are very sensitive and can feel different objects. This is called a "prehensile" lip. That just means that the horse can take hold of something with thier lips.

Here are some more fun facts:

• -a horses brain is the size of a potato

• -a horse can poop up to 15 times a day- well that explains why barns look and smell like they do and why stalls need constant cleaning and mucking out

• -the ears point where they are looking

• -in the wild mares decide where the herd goes

• -horses can interpret tones rather than words

• -horses see better at night than people

• -a horse sees two different images from each eye

• -horses can't breath through thier mouths

• -a horses age can be determined by thier teeth till the age of 9

• -thier heart weighs 9-10 pounds

The oldest recorded horse was 62 years old when he died. He was a barge horse. He lived from 1760 to 1822. That is longer then some humans live!

• Talk about being sleep deprived. Horses only sleep 3-4 hrs in a 24 hr period.

• A horse in Chilie actually jumped an astounishing 8 feet!

• Talk about being sleep deprived. Horses only sleep 3-4 hrs in a 24 hr period.

• A horse in Chilie actually jumped an astounishing 8 feet!

The country of China not only is populated by the most people but apparently they have the most horses too! They have 10,000,000 horses!

So we have learned some fun facts about our equine friends. Just remember never stand behind them or you could be in a world of pain!