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Horses
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild Horse
The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus Equus (genus), ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domestication of the horse, domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the Endangered species, endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii'', sometimes treated as a separate species i.e. ''Equus przewalskii''). The European wild horse, also known as the tarpan, that went extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century has previously been treated as the nominate subspecies of wild horse, ''Equus ferus ferus'', but more recent studies have cast doubt on whether tarpans were truly wild or if they actually were feral horses or hybrids.Tadeusz Jezierski, Zbigniew Jaworski: ''Das Polnische Konik. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei Bd. 658'', Westarp Wissenschaften, Hohenwarsleben 2008, Other subspecies of ''Equus ferus'' may have existed and could have been the stock from which domesticated horses are descended. Przewalski's horse had reached t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domestication Of The Horse
It is not entirely clear how, when or where the domestication of the horse took place. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 BCE, these were wild horses and were probably hunted for meat. The clearest evidence of early use of the horse as a means of transport is from chariot burials dated . However, an increasing amount of evidence began to support the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes in approximately 3500 BCE. Discoveries in the context of the Botai culture had suggested that Botai settlements in the Akmola Province of Kazakhstan are the location of the earliest domestication of the horse. However, Taylor and Barrón-Ortiz (2021) argue that Botai findings only reflect intensive exploitation of wild horses—possibly involving some level of management, herding, or seasonal capture—but not full domestication in the way we see in later horse-using societies. Warmuth et al. (2012) pointed to horses having been domes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Points Of A Horse
Equine anatomy encompasses the gross and microscopic anatomy of horses, ponies and other equids, including donkeys, mules and zebras. While all anatomical features of equids are described in the same terms as for other animals by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature in the book '' Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria'', there are many horse-specific colloquial terms used by equestrians. External anatomy * Back: the area where the saddle sits, beginning at the end of the withers, extending to the last thoracic vertebrae (colloquially includes the loin or "coupling", though technically incorrect usage) * Barrel: the body of the horse, enclosing the rib cage and the major internal organs * Buttock: the part of the hindquarters behind the thighs and below the root of the tail * Cannon or cannon bone: the area between the knee or hock and the fetlock joint, sometimes called the "shin" of the horse, though technically it is the third metacarpal * Chestnu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Markings
Markings on horses are usually distinctive white areas on an otherwise dark base equine coat color, coat color. Most horses have some markings, and they help to identify the horse as a unique individual. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the course of the horse's life. Most markings have pink skin underneath most of the white hairs, though a few faint markings may occasionally have white hair with no underlying pink skin. Markings may appear to change slightly when a horse grows or sheds its winter coat, however this difference is simply a factor of hair coat length; the underlying pattern does not change. On a gray (horse), gray horse, markings visible at birth may become hidden as the horse turns white with age, but markings can still be determined by trimming the horse's hair closely, then wetting down the coat to see where there is pink skin and black skin under the hair. Recent studies have examined the genetics behind white markings and have located ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equine Anatomy
Equine anatomy encompasses the gross and microscopic anatomy of horses, ponies and other equids, including donkeys, mules and zebras. While all anatomical features of equids are described in the same terms as for other animals by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature in the book '' Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria'', there are many horse-specific colloquial terms used by equestrians. External anatomy * Back: the area where the saddle sits, beginning at the end of the withers, extending to the last thoracic vertebrae (colloquially includes the loin or "coupling", though technically incorrect usage) * Barrel: the body of the horse, enclosing the rib cage and the major internal organs * Buttock: the part of the hindquarters behind the thighs and below the root of the tail * Cannon or cannon bone: the area between the knee or hock and the fetlock joint, sometimes called the "shin" of the horse, though technically it is the third metacarpal * Chestnu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feral Horse
A feral horse is a free-roaming horse of domesticated stock. As such, a feral horse is not a wild animal in the sense of an animal without domesticated ancestors. However, some populations of feral horses are managed as wildlife, and these horses often are popularly called "wild" horses. Feral horses are descended from domestic horses that strayed, escaped, or were deliberately released into the wild and remained to survive and reproduce there. Away from humans, over time, these animals' patterns of behavior revert to behavior more closely resembling that of wild horses. Some horses that live in a feral state but may be occasionally handled or managed by humans, particularly if privately owned, are referred to as " semi-feral". Feral horses live in groups called a ''herd'', ''band'', ''harem'', or ''mob''. Feral horse herds, like those of wild horses, are usually made up of small harems led by a dominant mare, containing additional mares, their foals, and immature horse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of The Horse
The evolution of the horse, a mammal of the family Equidae, occurred over a geologic time scale of 50 million years, transforming the small, dog-sized, forest-dwelling '' Eohippus'' into the modern horse. Paleozoologists have been able to piece together a more complete outline of the evolutionary lineage of the modern horse than of any other animal. Much of this evolution took place in North America, where horses originated but became extinct about 10,000 years ago, before being reintroduced in the 15th century. The horse belongs to the order Perissodactyla ( odd-toed ungulates), the members of which one will share hooved feet and an odd number of toes on each foot, as well as mobile upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means that horses share a common ancestry with tapirs and rhinoceroses. The perissodactyls arose in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This group of animals appears to have been origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Gait
Horses can use various gaits (patterns of leg movement) during Terrestrial locomotion, locomotion across solid ground, either naturally or as a result of specialized horse training, training by humans.Ensminger, M. E. ''Horses and Horsemanship'' 6th edition USA: Interstate Publishers 1990 pp. 65–66 Classification Gait, Gaits are typically categorized into two groups: the "natural" gaits that most horses will use without special training, and the "Ambling gait, ambling" gaits that are various smooth-riding, four-beat footfall patterns that may appear naturally in some individuals. Special training is often required before a horse will perform an ambling gait in response to a equestrianism, rider's command. Another system of classification that applies to Quadrupedalism, quadrupeds uses three categories: walking and ambling gaits, running or trotting gaits, and leaping gaits.Tristan David Martin Roberts (1995) ''Understanding Balance: The Mechanics of Posture and Locomotion'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mounted Police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in the United Kingdom, UK for crime prevention and high visibility policing roles. The added height and visibility that the horses give their riders allows officers to observe a wider area, and it also allows people in the wider area to see the officers, which helps deter crime and helps people find officers when they need them. When employed for crowd control, there is a risk that some people may be trampled (resulting in injuries or death). The officer riding the horse might or might not be held legally responsible for injuries depending upon the totality of the circumstances. Mounted police may be employed for specialized duties ranging from patrol of parks and Wilderness, wilderness areas, where police cars would be impractical or noisy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equine Coat Color
Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive horse markings, markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them. While most horses remain the same coat color throughout life, some undergo gradual color changes as they age. Most horse markings, white markings are present at birth, and the underlying skin color of a healthy horse does not change. Certain coat colors are also associated with specific breeds, such as the Friesian, which is almost exclusively black. The basic outline of equine coat color genetics has largely been resolved, and DNA tests to determine the likelihood that a horse will have offspring of a given color have been developed for some colors. Discussion, research, and even controversy continue about some of the details, particularly those surrounding spotting patterns, color sub-shades such as "sooty (gene), sooty" or "flaxen gene, flaxen", and horse markings, markings. Basic coat colors The two basic pigment colors of horse hair ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pony
A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and shorter heads. In modern use, breed registries and horse shows may define a pony as measuring at the withers below a certain height; height limits varying from about to . Some distinguish between horse or pony based on its breed or phenotype, regardless of its height. The word ''pony'' derives from the old French ''poulenet'', a diminutive of meaning foal, a young, immature horse. A full-sized horse may sometimes be called a pony as a term of endearment. Definition For many forms of competition, the official definition of a pony is a horse that measures up to at the withers. Standard horses are taller than 14.2. The International Federation for Equestrian Sports defines the official cutoff point at without shoes and with shoes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odd-toed Ungulate
Perissodactyla (, ), or odd-toed ungulates, is an order of ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three families: Equidae (horses, asses, and zebras), Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses), and Tapiridae (tapirs). They typically have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three or one of the five original toes, though tapirs retain four toes on their front feet. The nonweight-bearing toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or positioned posteriorly. By contrast, artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) bear most of their weight equally on four or two (an even number) of the five toes: their third and fourth toes. Another difference between the two is that perissodactyls digest plant cellulose in their intestines, rather than in one or more stomach chambers as artiodactyls, with the exception of Suina, do. The order was considerably more diverse in the past, with notable extinct groups including the brontotheres, palaeotheres, chalicotheres, and the paracer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
