12 Fascinating Facts about Horses

Anyone who loves horses knows that they’re majestic, athletic, and absolutely fascinating animals. They also have some unique attributes and history. Let’s take a look at some 12 fascinating facts about our horses.

1. A horse’s heart weighs about 10 pounds (in comparison to the human heart, which weighs less than a pound). But in an amazing coincidence, two Thoroughbred racehorses who competed in 1973’s Triple Crown series possessed extra-large hearts: 22 pounds for the amazing Secretariat and 18 pounds for his rival, Sham!

2. This probably comes as no surprise, but horses are incredibly intelligent. In fact, studies have shown that horses understand variances in human facial expressions, are capable of indicating preferences, and can exhibit at least some degree of empathy.

3. Horses have exceptionally large eyes (some of the largest eyes of any mammal), and the prominent placement of the eyes on the sides of a horse’s face results in vision that is known as monocular. Humans have binocular vision, meaning that the eyes work together to view the same scene. With monocular vision, horses see two different scenes independently.

4. The average gestation period of equines is approximately 340 days, which makes it similar to the gestation periods of llamas, alpacas, and seals. Variations can and do occur, but most mares typically carry their foals in the range of 320 to 370 days. Situations beyond either extreme aren’t unheard of, but they aren’t common, either. Mares carrying colts (male foals) tend to have slightly longer gestation periods than mares carrying fillies (female foals), and foals born in January tend to have shorter gestations than foals born later in the season.

5. Bay, black, buckskin, cremello, chestnut, champagne—the genetics behind equine coat colors can be complicated! Thankfully, some of the rules are easy, so here are a couple to keep in mind:

◆ A gray horse must have at least one gray parent.

◆ Two chestnut horses will always produce a chestnut foal.

6. Envision the skeletal system of the human body, and then mentally compare it to the skeletal system of a horse. Which one do you think has the higher number of bones? The answer: they’re virtually identical! Adult humans have 206 bones, while most adult horses have 205 bones.