Horses

Fun Facts About Horses

• A horse's heart weighs between 8 and 10 pounds, and is roughly the size of a basketball.
• Horses are able to lock their leg joints and sleep standing up. But they must lie down for essential REM deep sleep which involves full muscle relaxation and brain activity crucial for good health.
• Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal, even bigger than an elephant's or a whale's. Their tennis-ball sized eyes give them nearly 360-degree panoramic vision, though they have blind spots directly in front and behind.
• A horse named Old Billy is the oldest horse ever recorded. He far exceeded the typical 25–30 year lifespan by reaching 62 years old (1760–1822).
• A horse's teeth never stop growing throughout its life. Plus, their gums recede with age, making their teeth appear even longer. Hence why "long in the tooth" became an expression for getting older.
• Horses possess remarkable long-term memory for human faces and can recall people they haven't seen in a decade or more.
• The fastest recorded speed of a racehorse was about 44 mph. She was a two-year-old filly and accomplished this feat in Pennsylvania in 2008. Incidently, the phrase "straight from the horse's mouth" originated in horse racing, referring to the practice of verifying a horse's age and health by examining its teeth, rather than trusting the seller's word.
• Horses have 205 bones, one less than the 206 in humans. Horses are also able to make 17 different facial expressions, more than chimpanzees (13) and dogs (16), to communicate emotions like fear, sadness, and curiousity.