Portal:Horses

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The Horses Portal

Horse and foal

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE in Central Asia, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, which are horses that have never been domesticated. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predators, and possess a good sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep significantly more than adults. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under a saddle or in a harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods", such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods", developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, developed for many different uses. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
This 15th-century depiction of Charlemagne and Pope Adrian I shows a well-bred medieval horse with arched neck, refined head and elegant gait.

Horses in the Middle Ages differed in size, build and breed from the modern horse, and were, on average, smaller. They were also more central to society than their modern counterparts, being essential for war, agriculture, and transport.

Consequently, specific types of horse developed, many of which have no modern equivalent. While an understanding of modern horse breeds and equestrianism is vital for any analysis of the medieval horse, researchers also need to consider documentary (both written and pictorial) and archaeological evidence. (Full article...)

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Credit: Ralf Roletschek

A farmer plowing with horses. The plough (American spelling: plow) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture.

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

The Shire is a breed of draught horse originally from England. The Shire has a great capacity for weight-pulling; it was used for farm work, to tow barges at a time when the canal system was the principal means of goods transport, and as a cart-horse for road transport. One traditional use was for pulling brewer's drays for delivery of beer, and some are still used in this way; others are used for forestry, for riding and for commercial advertising. Shires have held some of the world records for the largest horse and for the tallest horse.

The Shire breed was established in the mid-eighteenth century in England, and a breed society and stud-book were established in the 1870s. Today, there are stud-books and breed associations in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Canada. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated)

  • ... that a media columnist in Columbus, Georgia, opined: "If TV-16 was a horse, it would have been shot long ago"?
  • ... that when built in the 1880s, London's Hesper Mews was home to servants, stables, and horses, but within a century it was populated by artists, military officers, and an Astronomer Royal?
  • ... that the 17-animal inheritance puzzle has variously been stated with 17 camels, 17 elephants, or 17 horses?
  • ... that the horses in Signorelli's Adoration of the Magi have been said to be "badly-drawn ... with curious mannerisms of too closely-placed nostrils, and human eyebrows"?
  • ... that Caulfield railway station had a ticket office for the adjacent racecourse and a platform for delivering horses to it?
  • ... that the distant horse relative Palaeotherium was first misidentified as an amphibious animal, then as a canine?

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The following are images from various horse-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Topics

Horse • Pony • Asinus • Equus (genus) • Equidae • Zebra • Glossary of equestrian terms • List of horse breeds • Evolution of the horse • Domestication of the horse • Horse care • Stable • Horse training • Equestrianism • Horse tack • Saddle • Equine nutrition • Equine anatomy • Equine conformation • Equine coat color • Equine coat color genetics • Horse markings • Equine vision • Horse hoof • Horseshoe • Horse gait • Horse behavior • Horse breeding • Breed registry • Equine infectious anemia • Horse colic • Lameness • Laminitis • Horse slaughter • Horses in warfare • Arabian horse • Thoroughbred

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