10 Cool Facts about Horses
1. Horses can’t breathe through their mouths, only through their nostrils.
2. They can’t burp or vomit which is why colic is such a concerning condition for horses, their digestive tract is designed to move food in only one direction.
3. A horse has the largest eyes of any land mammal. They have a 350-degree field of vision, 65-degree binocular and 285-degree monocular vision. They have 2 blind spots directly in front of their face and behind their heads.
4. Horses aren’t colour blind. They have what is called dichromatic vision or two-colour vision, meaning they see colours in two wavelength regions of vision, unlike humans who see in three wavelengths.
5. Horses have 10 different muscles in their ear, hence they can move them in so many different directions. Their ears can rotate 180 degrees giving them a full range of hearing from all sides.
6. The smallest horse on record is 17inches high, the tallest was 20 hands 2 ¾ inches.
7. A horse’s skeleton has 205 bones
8. The Arabian horse has one less vertebrae than other breeds
9. Horses only need 30-60 minutes of deep sleep per day, they just doze the rest of the time
10. They reach 90% of their full adult weight by the time they are 2 years old.
Written by Selena P.
Experts in Equine Nutrition
Every product in the Ranvet range has been developed to meet a horse’s most specific need at any given time, be it in a training environment or on a breeding farm. Having pioneered the formulation of specific medications and dietary supplements for horses, the company is now recognised as a leader in the areas of equine health and nutrition.
