No, this is not your typical list of basic facts. You can get those anywhere online, without much effort.
But do you know about the types of US mustangs? The difference between a pinto and a Paint? How many states have a state horse?
If not, then keep reading! These fifteen facts are unusual and interesting horse trivia bits that every horse lover should know.
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1. The difference between a Paint and a pinto.
Pinto is a coloration, any amount of solid color splashed with white or white splashed with color. It can be found on several horse breeds. However, Paint is a breed in itself; A Paint horse is an animal registered with the American Paint Horse Association, mostly Quarter Horse blood. For a horse to be registered as a Paint, they have to have at least one Paint parent. So every Paint is a pinto, but not every pinto is a Paint.
2. The top five equine authors of all time.
Marguerite Henry: Author of the Misty series as well as several others. She sold 5 million copies for Misty of Chincoteague alone.
Anna Sewell: Author of Black Beauty, sold 50 million copies.
Walter Farley: Author of The Black Stallion series, sold 12 million copies of the first book alone.
Terri Farley: Author of The Phantom Stallion, a modern equine author who sold one million copies.
Jessie Haas: Author of Rescue, The Hungry Place, and several others. She has won several awards and has sold millions of copies of her books.
3. The five most toxic plants to horses.
Oleander
Bracken fern
Hemlock
Tansy ragwort
Johnsongrass
4. The top ten most popular horse breeds in the US.
American Quarter Horse
American Paint Horse
Thoroughbred
Arabian
Clydesdale
American Miniature Horse
Appaloosa
Morgan
Shetland Pony
Andalusian
5. States that have state horses.
Alabama: Racking Horse
Florida: Florida Cracker Horse
Idaho: Appaloosa
Kentucky: Thoroughbred
Maryland: Thoroughbred
Massachusetts: Morgan
Missouri: Missouri Foxtrotter
New Jersey: The Horse (state Animal)
North Carolina: Colonial Spanish Mustang
North Dakota: Nokota Horse
South Carolina: Carolina Marsh Tacky
Tennessee: Tennessee Walker
Texas: American Quarter Horse
Vermont: Morgan (state animal)
Virginia: Chincoteague Pony
6. Horses have three eye colors.
The main eye color of horses is brown. But there are also blue eyes (found mostly on Paints and horses with wide white face markings) and green eyes. Green eyes are found on champagnes are are a result of a dilution gene that adds a gold band around the pupil of a blue eye, making the eyes look green.
7. Dressage originated from Greek Calvary drills
Dressage comes from the French word ‘to train’, and is believed to have originated from Ancient Greek military drills, later used by Europeans. The historian Xenophon wrote extensively on the subject of horses that were trained to turn tightly and move their feet with precision.
8. Top three most unusual horse sports.
Horseball: Basically basketball on horseback, played in South America and Asia.
Horse Agility: Like a dog agility contest, except with horses!
Equicaching: Using a GPS to find certain locations to get clues. Like a scavenger hunt on horseback.
9. The types of wild horses in the US
Pryor Mountain Mustang: Wyoming/Montana
Cerbat: Arizona
Kiger Mustang: Oregon/Washington
Nokota Horse: North Dakota
Chincoteague Pony: Virginia/Maryland
Cumberland Island horse: Georgia
Banker Pony: South Carolina
Eminence, Missori Mustangs: Missouri
10. Equine TPR stats.
Temperature: 99.0-101.5 Fahrenheit
Pulse: 28-48 BPM
Respiration: 8-12 breaths per minute.
11. The parts of the horse’s hoof.
The wall is the external part of the hoof, similar to our fingernails. The triangular portion is the frog and acts as a shock absorber, and the flat space around the frog is the sole, the most sensitive part of the foot.
12. Unusual equine companions.
Some unusual equine companions are:
Goats
Dogs
Kangaroos
Emus
Ostriches
Camels
13. Three odd horse quirks.
Flehmen Response: A horse lifts his upper lip to study a scent. It makes it look like the horse is smiling. Very normal.
Weaving: Seen in Thoroughbreds. The horse will sway back and forth, as if he’s dancing. It causes a lot of wear on the limbs. The horse may also bob his head.
Cribbing: The horse will grab wood with his incisors and gulp in air, making an odd grunting noise. Colic may result from subsequent action.
14. Three unusual horse colors.
Brindle: Basically, dark colored stripes running down a lighter colored coat.
Chimera: A horse that has two distinct, different colors mashed onto the same horse. Caused by twins fusing together in the womb.
White: I’m not talking about white with blue eyes. A true white horse has pink skin and dark brown eyes, and a pure white coat.
15. Three unusual horse careers.
Digital editor of a horse magazine
Equine geneticist
Equine chiropractor
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So there you have it! Fifteen horse facts that every horse lover should know. Were you surprised by some of the answers?
Is there an equine topic here that particularly piqued your interest? Did you do your own research and found something else I should add? Let me know in the comments!
Isn’t it true that some horses (primarily Paints) can have two different colored eyes?
I have heard of that, but that more refers to horses with an uneven amount of white on the face.
These were very interesting facts! I was definitely surprised by like, almost all of these 😂. I enjoyed learning about them! Thanks!