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HORSE, large land mammal notable for its speed, strength, and endurance. Horses are members of the Equidae family, which also includes zebras and donkeys. The horse's influences on human history and civilizations make important domestic animals. Horses were domesticated in Eurasia around 6,000 years ago.
The horse has a hairy coat and a long mane and tail. A heavy winter coat grows in the fall and sheds in the spring. Typical coat colors include black, brown, gray, cream, gold, and white. The mane and tail can be different from the body color, and many variations in color can result from inherited traits that cause spotting, dilution of the basic coat colors, or a sprinkling of white hairs in the coat. Many color patterns have specific names such as bay, chestnut, and palomino.
Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal. The large eyes on the side of the head, enabling horses to see directly behind themselves, even while facing forward. Their night vision is excellent. Horses have limited color vision, which appears to be similar to one of the less common forms of color blindness in humans-they can see red and blue, but the can not tell between green and shades of gray.
As herd animals, horse have highly developed social behaviors that help hold group together and maintain the ranking of each individual within the group. Horse have a basic instinct to form fixed friendship bonds with other members of their group. Horses have a basic instinct to form fixed friendship bonds with other members of their group. Mares in feral herds or farm groups invariably pair off with particular other mares. These pairs often engage in mutual grooming, which involves standing side by side and head to tail while each scratches the other's neck and back with her teeth.
Traditionally, a horse's size is measured at the withers an elevated part of the spine between the neck and the back. The measurement is made in hands equal about 10 cm. typical riding horses stand 14 to 16 hands high and weigh 400 to 500 kg.
Different parts of horses are-hindquarter/Haunch, croup, loins, back, withers, neck, mane, crest, poll, forelock, facial crest, muzzle, chin groove, throat, jugular groove, shoulder, girth, forearm, chestnut, knee, fore cannon, pastern, belly, stifle, hind cannon, coronet band, hoof, heel, fetlock, tail, hock, gaskin, thigh, buttock, hip, flank, and dock.
Different parts of a bridle- crown piece, brow band, rein, throatlatch, cheek pieces, keepers, bit, and noseband.
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