1. Why do horses wear shoes?
Horses that are regularly ridden, harnessed, or driven on hard surfaces, as well as those that live in muddy fields, wear shoes to protect their sensitive feet from injury and prevent wear and tear on their hooves.
For jumping and other events that require a lot of traction, irons can be fitted with small studs to give them more grip on the ground, much like cleats.
Horses that spend all their time on loose surfaces can stay barefoot, but their hooves should still be filed down regularly by a farrier so that they are not too long, as this will interfere with walking.
2. What is the maximum speed of a horse?
Different races gallop at different paces, but on average their maximum speed is 45 km/h.
Over short distances, some thoroughbreds and quarter horses can sprint at 80 km/h.
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3. Do horses distinguish colors and see in the dark?
Like dogs, horses have dichromatic vision: they can see blue and yellow (and therefore green) but not red.
Their night vision is better than ours, but they take longer to adapt to changes in light.
4. How many breeds of horses and ponies are there?
There are hundreds of breeds in the world, but there is no official figure and estimates vary from 150 to over 1000. The breeds are divided into four categories – ponies, saddle horses, saddle horses, draft and feral horses – depending on their size, weight and whether they are domesticated or not.
5. Are horses smart?
Horses are intelligent animals.
They are able to learn by training and watching others, and many of them can solve problems on their own (like opening the lock on their box).
Horses are sensitive and form strong associations from their experiences.
They have a good memory and remember people who mistreated them for a long time.
Scientists have shown that they are capable of complex thoughts and that they would even be able to recognize human facial expressions.
6. Why do we mount a horse from the left?
Mounting and dismounting from the left is a tradition that dates back to when horses were used in the military.
Soldiers wore their saber along their left leg so they could easily pull it out with their right hand, and mounting from the left prevented them from hurting themselves or their mount.
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