With care and love, a horse can become a valuable pet for a family just like a cat or a dog.
A horse, however, is much bigger than the usual domesticated pet and they have different needs.
A horse's pregnancy lasts between 335 to 340 days, or eleven months.
Colts are generally carried four more days than fillies.
A horse's breeding season usually falls between March and October, however a horse's reproductive hormones could be triggered sooner by artificially increasing light in its stall.
Physically, a horse can be at least eighteen months old before she's put out to foal, but it's recommended they be closer to four, as the horse is still growing.
Mares usually don't show much sign of abdominal enlargement until the last three months of pregnancy.
Regular exercise during pregnancy helps to keep the mare healthy.
Also, it's recommended that the mare receive extra food, especially protein, to help promote fetal growth.
Mares can usually breed late in life, however it is challenging to get an old horse to foal late in life.
Domesticated horses usually have a life expectancy between twenty-five to thirty years.
A few horses live into the forties.
For competitions, a horse should be a minimum of four years old.
Usually they are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere, and August 1 in the southern hemisphere.
For endurance riding however, it's based on the horse's actual age.
A horse less than a year old is known as a foal and if they are still nursing they're sometimes called a suckling.
Most domesticated foals are usually weaned between four-to-six months.
A horse of either sex between one to two years is called a yearling.
A colt is a male horse under four.
Young colts can be difficult to handle if they aren't castrated, so the decision to make a colt a gelding (castrated) or a stallion (a non-castrated horse over four) rests on the owner's ability to take charge of the horse.
A filly is a female horse under four and a mare is a female horse older than four that has foaled.
Through DNA evidence, it's been shown that domesticated horses have evolved from multiple wild populations.
In regards to breeding, two terms have come to be used interchangeably, but they do have different meanings.
A Thoroughbred is a specific breed, such as an Arabian.
To be a thoroughbred, an Arabian for example, a horse must have two parents of the same breed.
A purebred is controlled through a breed registry.
One of the earliest registries was the General Stud Book for Thoroughbreds which began in 1791.
The horse is an animal with a long history of domestication.
They make wonderful pets.
When their owners are aware of the care required for them they become a valued member of the family.
A horse, however, is much bigger than the usual domesticated pet and they have different needs.
A horse's pregnancy lasts between 335 to 340 days, or eleven months.
Colts are generally carried four more days than fillies.
A horse's breeding season usually falls between March and October, however a horse's reproductive hormones could be triggered sooner by artificially increasing light in its stall.
Physically, a horse can be at least eighteen months old before she's put out to foal, but it's recommended they be closer to four, as the horse is still growing.
Mares usually don't show much sign of abdominal enlargement until the last three months of pregnancy.
Regular exercise during pregnancy helps to keep the mare healthy.
Also, it's recommended that the mare receive extra food, especially protein, to help promote fetal growth.
Mares can usually breed late in life, however it is challenging to get an old horse to foal late in life.
Domesticated horses usually have a life expectancy between twenty-five to thirty years.
A few horses live into the forties.
For competitions, a horse should be a minimum of four years old.
Usually they are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere, and August 1 in the southern hemisphere.
For endurance riding however, it's based on the horse's actual age.
A horse less than a year old is known as a foal and if they are still nursing they're sometimes called a suckling.
Most domesticated foals are usually weaned between four-to-six months.
A horse of either sex between one to two years is called a yearling.
A colt is a male horse under four.
Young colts can be difficult to handle if they aren't castrated, so the decision to make a colt a gelding (castrated) or a stallion (a non-castrated horse over four) rests on the owner's ability to take charge of the horse.
A filly is a female horse under four and a mare is a female horse older than four that has foaled.
Through DNA evidence, it's been shown that domesticated horses have evolved from multiple wild populations.
In regards to breeding, two terms have come to be used interchangeably, but they do have different meanings.
A Thoroughbred is a specific breed, such as an Arabian.
To be a thoroughbred, an Arabian for example, a horse must have two parents of the same breed.
A purebred is controlled through a breed registry.
One of the earliest registries was the General Stud Book for Thoroughbreds which began in 1791.
The horse is an animal with a long history of domestication.
They make wonderful pets.
When their owners are aware of the care required for them they become a valued member of the family.
SHARE
