Along the countryside these four-legged animals ran across the Great Plains where we live today. These great animals are horses. Horses have been some of the most useful animals for thousands of years. Horses are different from donkeys and zebras, because horses are all over the world, as are donkeys, but there is a big difference between the two. there are four different kinds of horses. There are light horses, light horses are smaller than the draft horses that pull carts. These are the horses that you normally see around our area. Real life examples of these horses are the ones in the above picture. The second type of horse is the Draft or Heavy Horse. They weigh a lot more than light horses. Light horses weigh about 800 pounds, while heavy horses weigh about 2,000 pounds. Examples of these horses are the ones that you see pulling carts and wagons. The third types of horses are ponies. Ponies are different from horses in that in order to be a pony they have to be less than 58" tall and are typically smaller horses. A good example would be the ponies in the book "The Misty of Chincoteague" by Margiute Henry. The last type of horses are the wild horses. There are hardly any wild horses left because people are catching them to sell and some even to keep them for themselves. The few types of wild horses left are ponies.
 

Horses are herbivore, meaning they eat mostly plants. They eat hay for a main breakfast and dinner. For snacks they have sugar cubes and grain when tamed and living with people. If they are living out in the wild then the horses will eat grass. In the winter if it snows where the horses live then they might paw at the ground to get the grass. For extra snacks the horses get salt blocks and they have carrots and oats. The normal diet for owned horses is one flake of hay in the morning and one at night, but also at night they eat one cup of grain with their hay. Some horses are fed more some are fed less.

Where horses live is a simple question to answer. Horses are used on farms. Some people use them for sport, and some are used on ranches. Some people own Dude Ranches, which is where people can learn how to work around the ranch and how to ride horses. Some horses live in stables. Stables are where people can house their horses. Some stables can be used for famous horses that are racing or jumping horses. The last place where horses live is in the wild. Though there are very few left they will still form herds. A herd is where there is a stallion, a lead mare, and other mares. The lead mare will lead the herd and the stallion will follow behind to keep the herd together. These are the many places horses live.

Horses reproduce sexually. The male is called a stallion and the mom is called a dame. A stallion is a male horse that is over the age of four. A dame is a female horse that is over four that is a mother. The babies are called Foals. A foal is the main name for a baby horse while in a mother's womb. A colt is a male baby horse under the age of four. A filly is a female baby under the age of four. Foals can walk, run, buck, and kick within one hour of birth. Most horses give birth during the night in spring. The reason they give birth at night is because predators can smell the blood of the mother. A dame is very protective of her foal at all times.

The predators of horses are as followes: Tigers, wolves, coyotes, and wild dogs. Wild horses in Asia are prey for the Tigers. Around the United States, horses can be prey for coyotes and wolves. Wild dogs can also be predators for horses as well. These are four very difficult predators for our beautiful horses to escape.

There are many different terms for horses. The term hand is used a lot; it is used to measure the height of a horse from the ground to the highest point of the withers. A hand equals 4 inches (10 Centimeters.) A gelding is a male horse that cannot father offspring. A mare is a female horse over four years of age. A breed is a subspecies of horses. These are just a few terms when referring to horses.

Now to tell about some of the different breeds of horses. The first breed is the Paint. It is said that the Paint is decorated by nature. The Paint can be traced back to the two toned Spanish horses. Some of the lively Paints escaped to create wild herds of their own. The Paints were used for herding wild cattle on cattle drives. Next, some trainers use them for showing in order to earn blue ribbons. Then, some people just use them for trail riding.

The way Paints are recognized is from their coloring (Their head and neck are very beautiful.) Each Paint has a very unique coloring of white and one other color in what is called the unique rainbow of color on horses. The colors include black, brown, bay, chestnut, dun, grulla, sorrel, palomino, gray or roan. Some people don't know the difference between a Paint and a Pinto. The horses can be confused because the coat pattern looks the same.

The Pinto is only a coat because it can be on any breed. A Paint is a breed because there are only certain things to make it a breed. The different things that make the horse a Paint are the three color patterns. There is the Overo, Tibano, and the Tovero. The Tibano pattern is distinguished by the marking of a regular horse breed with a solid head or a marking like a blaze, strip, star, or snip. All four legs are white at least up to the knees. The tail is usually two colors. There is the Overo Paint pattern, where there is no white on the hindquarters. All four legs on the Paint will be dark colored. The head will be bold and white with markings like a bald face. There are irregular marks scattered all over the body. The tail is usually one color. Finally, there is the Tovero pattern. This pattern is a mixture of the Tovero and the Overo. The American Paint Horse Association (APHA) had to expand this because some paints didn't fit into either group so that is where the Tovero pattern came in. The Paint is a favorite breed of most because of its coloring.

The Quarter horses are found in the southern part of the United States in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, and Eastern Colorado. The improvement of the breed is the blending of bloodlines. They are short distance running horses because of the thoroughbred blood mixed in with theirs. They are used for pretty much anything for horses. The use of Thoroughbred Dames and Stallions were to make the Quarter horses. Sometime ago when Quarter horses were just beginning, thoroughbreds were used to make the purebred of the Quarter horse. The Thoroughbred Stallions were usually used for the breeding of the Quarter horses. The final of the three breeds is the Arabian. The breed is good for long treks along the desert. They are gentle and proud looking. When the breed was started the people wanted them to be strong, courageous, and have enough stamina for survival. They also wanted then to be speedy for the tribal skirmishes. They are very beautiful. The colors of them are gray, chestnut, bay, or roan. The Arabians are occasionally solid black. The height of these horses is 14.2-15.2 hands. The weight of these horses is 800-1,000 pounds.

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Author: Kelly H. 
Published: April 2006

Sources:

Source 1: Budd, Jackie The best book of ponies Scholastic New York 2001

Source 2: Burton, Jane Horses Cressent Books 1984

Source 3: Clutton-Breck, Juliet Horse New York: Doriling Kindersley 1992 Source 4: Oklahoma state university board of regents "Horses" Online http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/Horses-w.htm 1995-2002 Source 5: Reed, William F. "Horse" The World Book, 2000 Vol. 9 Page 342-366

Photo Credit:
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/livestock/images/horses.jpg http://www.placer.ca.gov/hhs/hhs-sub/com-diseases/images/horses.jpg http://agri.nv.gov/BrandsDocs/j0180610.jpg