With the end of the year and the beginning of 2022, I thought it might be helpful to talk more about… horses. In particular, their external characteristics that every equestrian should know to properly care, train and ride a horse. Let’s start by looking at horse’s body parts:
Next, the hoofs. The hoofs do more than just support the horse. The bottom of the hoof is hard to the touch yet flexible enough to ‘give’ when the horse walks. As the horse takes a step, the blood that has been forced down the leg is now forced back upward toward the heart. To learn more about hoof care click here.
Close up of a horses hoof with a new horse shoe.
The front legs of the horse bear most of the horse’s weight. The powerful back legs act as the motor that drives the animal forward. Horses carry the weight of a rider on their backs just behind the withers. A saddle helps distribute the weight evenly over the weight bearing ribs. The horse will get sore and not perform well if the saddle is improperly placed.
The tail of a horse is used quite effectively as a fly swatter. However, did you know that horses use their tails to communicate as well? Horses will raise their tails when they are very alert. They also hold their tails high during mating season to help attract the attention of a mate.
Horses’ teeth continue to erupt throughout its lifetime. Their grinding surface is worn down through chewing. As a result of this pattern of wear, a rough estimate of a horse’s age can be made from an examination of the teeth. Abnormal wear of the teeth, caused by conformational defects, abnormal behaviors, or improper diets, can cause serious health issues and can even result in the death of the horse.
Horses come in a variety of vivid coat colors, ranging from solid and static to multifaceted and ever-changing. Here are some common equine coat colors you might come across.
There are several different kinds of horse markings. They are used to identify specific horses. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the course of the horse’s life.
The horse has one of the largest eyes of all land mammals. The eye of the horse is set to the side of its skull. The horse has a wide field of monocular vision and a good visual acuity. Horses have two-color, or dichromatic vision, which is somewhat like red-green color blindness in humans. Since horse’s vision is closely tied to the behavior, their visual abilities are often taken into account during handling and training them.
The hearing of horses is good, superior to that of humans, and the pinna of each ear can rotate up to 180°, giving the potential for 360° hearing without having to move the head. Often, horse’s eye is looking in the same direction as the ear is directed.
Everyone, from riders, through traders, coaches, farriers, veterinarians, judges, and trainers base their everyday work on the information above. Equine anatomy, along with the awareness of anomalies and certain deviation from desired norms, should be common knowledge among all horse lovers.
