I imagine you have at least one horse, or at least are thinking of getting one.

Horse are awesome! Here’s a podcast I wanted to share of 22 surprising things you didn’t know about horses.

I’d love to know if any of them surprised you, or if you have any others to add. (please post in the comments).

Summary:

Summary by AI:

Renee, a horse vet with 30 years of experience, shares 22 surprising facts about horses that most people don’t know. Horses have whiskers they use for sensing, can walk up to 20 miles a day, and their body structure works like a suspension bridge, allowing them to sleep standing. Their hooves are like giant toenails that constantly grow, and while shoes protect them, they can also affect hoof health. Horses live about 24 years on average, move in herds led by stallions, and can produce loud calls heard five miles away. They have unique anatomy—such as over 100 feet of intestines, specialized foot cells, and eyes that see nearly 350 degrees. Horses grind food instead of chewing, sweat a foamy detergent, and have a heart that can pump 60 liters per minute. Surprisingly, they have more facial expressions than dogs or chimpanzees, remember human faces, and can even sync their heartbeat with ours. Overall, Renee emphasizes that horses are complex, sensitive, and deeply connected animals, and her Tucker Biokinetic Technique helps people better care for and bond with them.

Transcription:

Renee (00:00:00.00)
Do horses have whiskers? How much do they walk per day? How do they sleep? Are they built like a suspension bridge? I’ve been a horse vet for 30 years, and here are 22 surprising facts that 99% of people don’t know about horses. Number one, horses do have whiskers, and they use them like a cat for sensory information about their environment. The horse’s whiskers are softer and more flexible than a cat’s, but they’re still very important to the horse because they can’t see directly in front of their mouth. In fact, the FAI in Europe has banned whisker clipping. Surprising fact number two. In nature, horses can walk an average of 20 miles per day. That’s a lot of walking. Surprising fact number three. Horses are designed like a suspension bridge. This one needs a little more explanation. Keep in mind that horses do weigh a thousand pounds on average, and a draft horse can weigh 2000 pounds. Horses also have surprisingly small feet for that amount of weight. The whole top of their back, the top line and the top of their neck, are all connected in one big, giant ligament. This supports all the rest of the ligament, and they hang down.

Renee (00:01:11.16)
It’s just similar to the design of a suspension bridge. This suspension bridge idea leads us to interesting fact number 4, that horses can sleep standing up. Yes, they can sleep standing up. They can lie down as well. But due to the suspension bridge design, as well as the stay apparatus in their front legs, horses can lock part of their leg and sleep standing up and not fall over. Surprising fact number 5. Horses hoof walls are basically giant toenails. Yes, they’re made of keratin, just like your fingernails, and they grow about a quarter inch per month. Because they’re constantly growing, horses’ hoofs do need to be trimmed on a regular basis, usually every 5 to 6 weeks. Surprising fact number 6. Horses shoes actually hurt horses. Now, it doesn’t hurt the hoof wall because it’s made of keratin like we just talked about. But because the horseshoe is in the hoof, it affects proprioception, it affects how the hoof grows, and things like that. I talked more about how horses shoes hurt horses in this video. Surprising fact number 7, in the wild, Horses move about in groups. Each group is led by a herd stallion.

Renee (00:02:19.15)
At night time, each of those herd stallions calls out to the other groups, looking for answers to know everything is okay. The crazy fact is those calls can be heard five miles away. In fact, the guy who heard this up close and personal is Jamie Jackson. He has many books on this. He’s great. He was sleeping near these herd stallions, and when the first time he heard this call in the wild, he thought there was a dinosaur nearby. It was so loud and thundering and almost earth-shaking. He’s looking around for a dinosaur when in fact, it’s the herd stallion. They’re that loud. Number eight, the average horse age is Most horses live to about 24 years of age, but the longest horse’s age ever recorded was 62 years old. Number 9, did you know that our ankle is equivalent to the horse’s Hawk? And the horse’s knee, which is in the front leg, is equivalent to our wrist. Interesting and dizzying information. Number 10, what’s the difference between horses and ponies? It’s not cuteness, it’s actually height. The dividing line is 14. 2 hands, which is 58 inches. Anything below 14. 2 hands is a pony, and anything above 14.

Renee (00:03:39.07)
2 is a horse. Fun bonus fact, miniature horses are not ponies. Number 11. Horses have more teeth in their skull than brains. Of course, horses are super intelligent, but I want to emphasize how much teeth horses have. Horses’ molar teeth are on average 4 is long. They fill most of the X-ray of an adult horse’s skull. But why are their teeth so long? Fact number 12. Horses do not chew their food like we do. Instead, they grind them down, literally like a wheat grinding machine, which is two stones just grinding against each other. That’s what the horse’s teeth do. So as they grind their food, they also grind their teeth down. They use them up. So that’s why they start out so long and they use them up over all the decades of their life. Number 13. Horses have what are called corpora nigrans in their eye. These are thought to shade the sun’s brightness, but may do more than that. Number 14. Horses’ vision is nearly 350 degrees Because of the placement of their eyes, they can see almost all the way around them, except for two small blind spots. Number 15, horses have over 100 feet of intestine.

Renee (00:04:56.21)
That’s a lot of guts. Most of it is large intestine, but this This amount of intestine explains why digestive issues in horses can be quite a problem. That’s why in my next video, I’ll share the real causes of horse diarrhea and fecal water system and how to cure that forever. Subscribe so you don’t miss that. Number 16. A baby horse, called a foal, takes 11 months for gestation. Number 17. Horses have specialized cells that are only found in horses. These cells are in the foot, and they’re called digital cushion cells. These cells help reduce the concussive force of that thousand pounds of weight hitting the feet. Number 18. Horse sweat contains a natural detergent called latherin. It helps the sweat spread over the horse’s coat so it can evaporate faster so they get cooled off faster. This is why horse sweat can sometimes look foamy. Number 19. Their heart weighs about 10 pounds. During intense work, it can pump up to 60 liters per minute. Number 20, I don’t think you’ll guess this, but horses have more facial expressions than dogs or chimpanzees. A 2015 study showed that horses use 17 different facial movements to express emotion.

Renee (00:06:13.20)
They express emotion when they’re trying to communicate with us, but we can also communicate with them. Yes, you can communicate with your horse, and I explain how to do that in this video. Number 21, horses can recognize and remember human faces much more than people think. They’ll also remember what happened, whether it was kindness or cruelty. Last fact, number 22. Horses can sense your heartbeat and match it. Research has shown that horses can sink their heartbeat with humans, a sign of deep emotional connection. All of these facts tells us one thing, that horses are complex and sensitive and magnificent. But knowing is only half the battle. The real power comes from using that knowledge to help them. For years, I found that traditional medicine and body work were missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. That is, they are treating symptoms and not getting to the root cause of the problems. Because of that, I created the Tucker biokinetic technique. My TBT course is for anyone who wants to develop a deeper connection to their horse and learn the skills they need to help heal the primary causes of health and behavioral issues. Some of my students even use TBT as a daily practice on horses, even making it a business.

Renee (00:07:27.05)
And that way, they get to work on what they love and enjoy. Check out this video to watch their stories. If you’re ready to change the way you see and interact with horses forever, check the link in the description below. Thanks. See you next time.

Want to Align and Heal Horses? You Can!

LEARN MORE HERE