Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Funny, but true horse facts


•A horse’s heart weighs nine pounds
oNine pounds! Wow guess that’s how they have so much spirit. 
•There are about 75 million horses in the world
oThat’s a lot of horses I would have never guessed it was that many.
•In the state of Arizona, it is illegal for cowboys to walk through a hotel lobby wearing their spurs
oHah that’s weird some cowboys mush have gotten into a fight with there spurs at some point?
•Arabians have one less rib, one less lumbar bone, and one or two fewer tail vertebrae than other horses.
oAhh I told you they were built smaller!
•A horse typically sleeps two and half to three hours a day
oNo way could I live with that little sleep. Not to mention most of that time they are not even laying down.
•Horses younger than 4 years can concentrate for a maximum of 10-15 minutes
oOhh so that’s why the two year thoroughbred gets distracted so easily.
•Horses lie down only about 43.5 minutes a day
oSee told ya not much
•Horses sleep longer in the summer than in the winter
oWell who can blame them in the summer they can sun bath all day in the winter they are stuck eating hay and moving around to keep warm.
•A zedonk is the offspring of a zebra and a donkey
oHunh I’ve never heard of a
Zebra and a Donkey mix wonder what that looks like.
















•No two horses are iden

You can say that again and they obviously don't all get along.
•The left side of a horse is called the “near side” and the right side is the “off side”
oYup every horse I have ever been on has had an “off side” or maybe that was just an “off day”
•A horse has approximately 205 bones
oGuess that explaines why they are so big
•A horse’s teeth can be used to estimate its age
oThat interesting just like a tree with the rings
•Horses generally dislike the smell of pigs
oI don’t know of anyone that likes the smell of pigs. Just goes to show how smart horses are!
•The "OLDEST" horse recorded to date is - "Old Billy", an English Barge horse born in 1760 who lived to the age of 62 years old.
oWow that is old! The average life span for a horse is between twenty and thirty years. I need to find out what kind of supplements this horse was on!
•The World's Largest Horse ever recorded was a Shire gelding named Samson, bred by Thomas Cleaver of Toddington Mills, England. Foaled in 1846, this horse measured 21.2 1/2 hand high ( 7 ft. 2 inches) in 1850, and weighed 3,360 pounds.Samson is also recorded as the "HEAVIEST" horse weighing 1524 kg (3360 lbs.)
oWOW THAT IS HUGE!!!!
•The longest horse mane was 18 ft. long and grown by a Californian mare named Maude.
That horse could walk and get tangled up in its own main!
•In the wild horse world, the mare decides when and where the herd will go while the stallion follows.
oWell that sounds about right. How it is with humans too.
My dad has never been and animal lover and I just don’t understand it. Animals are just people in a lot of ways. I can point out many ways they are alike just in these few facts. Horses sleep longer in the summer then winter. I cannot tell you how many times I have fallen asleep outside sun bathing. Horses love it just as much as we do. A horse less then 4 years old cannot concentrate very long. That sounds just about right I see a lot of kids running around and parents chasing after them. It’s that same thing as when I’m chasing the little filly around…right. No to horses are identical well I could have told you that one and I don’t think I even need to bother relating that one to people. Horses don’t like the smell of pigs. I find that very interesting. I move my horse a pig farm not to long ago and she was acting really funny. Now I know maybe it had to do something with the smell and poor thing who can blame her.
I just find it very interesting how horses and people can be so alike. But for all of you non animal people yah yeah I get your side too.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Uses

Arabians are known as a versatile breed. They are used in Saddle Seat, Western Pleasure, Hunt Seat, Dressage, Cutting Reining, and Endurance Riding, train riding, and working ranch horse. They are also very commonly found for children to ride. Of all of these disciplines they are most commonly found in Endurance riding. This is because of there high stamina. The Tevis Cup is 100 miles long in one day the Arabians are the most common bread to win. In the factual evidence it shows that they can be good at jumping, but that is not what I have found to be true. The Arab DC that I worked with would not jump a fence to save her life. My farrier has also told me stories about how Arabians horses are just not known to be good jumpers. I guess there’s exceptions to every breed. They are also very common in activities not just competitions. They are most commonly seen in fairs, movies, parades, and circuses. They movies they were popular in for example was The Black Stallion, The Young Black Stallion, and Hidalgo. In the movie The Young Black Stallion there were over 40 Arabians used to film this movie. They were in movies dating all the way back from the 1926’s. They are also great for showing off in a crowd. They are used as mascots for football teams like the University of Southern California Trojans.
Arabians are a really nice breed, short, but strong, smart, but hot headed. They are really balanced and I have always enjoyed working with them.

Arabians


Some people love the horse breeds of Arabians like I love Thoroughbreds. The Arabian horse is known to be very intelligent, spirited, and have great stamina. The Arab is one of the most recognizable breed in the world. This is because of there distinct head shape slender bodies and holding there tail straight into the air. Arabs have archaeological evidence that they are one of the oldest horse breeds. There are bones that resemble the modern day Arabians dating all the way back 4,500 years. They originated in the Middle East, but spread around the world by war and trade. They were traded to help other breeds improve on speed, refinement, endurance, and good bone. Arabian blood lines are fond in most breeds of horses today.
It is sad that because they came from the desert people would bring them into the tents with them to keep them warm and safe. The close connections to humans has made this breed good natured, quick to learn, and willing to please. The also were in war so this is where they got there high alert and endurance.
I trained an Arabian for about six years now. Everything the facts say I can personally relate to. The one thing that the text does lay out however is that being smart does not always mean having common since. I will agree that they are a very smart breed, but they can also be a bit of an air head. Arabians are one of the top ten most loved breed.

Style

The Arabian horses have a wedge shaped head, big forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and small muzzles. The also have a slight forehead bulge between the eyes called a jibbah. This adds additional sinus capacity and it is believed to be a trait developed to help them adapt to there original desert climate. They also have a long curved neck witch is very distinct.
14.2 is genuinely the cut off between horse and pony, but of the Arabs this does not apply. The normally stand anywhere between 14.1 and 15.1 hands high. It is a myth that Arabians are so strong because they have a greater bone density, short cannons, sound feet, and a broad short back. The height has nothing to do with how strong they are.
Arabians that were of good discipline were allowed to reproduce. This is why the Arabian is often seen as a family horse of horse for children. The United States Equestrian Federation also allows children to be around stallions at shows which is not normal for other breeds. They can be considered a hot breed, mainly because of there intelligence they are quick to act. The Arabian that I worked with was a little hot headed, but nothing like most thoroughbreds. There are a lot of people that think the hot blooded horses are harder to train. This is not the case in most Arabians. There good nature overcomes the every now and aging hot heading thing to do. DC was the name of the Arab that I worked with and she is a spitting image of factual look of an Arabian.

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