10 Amazing Facts About Horses

1. The original horse was no larger than a Jack Russell. Known as Hyracotherium or Eohippus; it looked more like a deer than the modern day horse! Hyracotherium lived about 50 million years ago and was a forest dweller. In contrast to the horses of today it had four padded toes on the front legs and three padded toes on the back legs.
2. Horses have the largest eyes of any other land mammal.
3. An adult horse’s brain weights 22 ounces, about half that of a human.
4. Horses can’t vomit due to them having a strong band of muscle around their oesophagus, known as the Cardiac Sphincter. Other animals that can’t vomit include rabbits, guinea pigs, frogs and rats.
5. The world’s smallest horse breed is the Falabella which ranges from 38-76 cm tall!
6. Horses cannot breathe through their mouth, only through their nose!
7. Equinophobia is the fear of horses.
8. When foals are born their hooves are covered with a soft tissue. This prevents damage to the mare’s birth canal and uterus. This tissue has several names such as fairy slippers or golden hooves.
9. Just like humans, some horses are quite sensitive to the sun and can get sunburned on the non-pigmented pink areas of the skin. Common areas of sunburn include around the eyes and muzzle, especially on horses that are light coloured, such as greys.
10. The oldest ever recorded horse was ‘Old Billy’, who is said to have reached the age of 62! He was born in Lancashire in 1760.  Old Billy died on November 27^th 1822 near Manchester.