Equus caballus, horse

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Taxonomic lineage of the horse

cellular organisms - Eukaryota - Fungi/Metazoa group - Metazoa - Eumetazoa - Bilateria - Coelomata - Deuterostomia - Chordata - Craniata - Vertebrata - Gnathostomata - Teleostomi - Euteleostomi - Sarcopterygii - Tetrapoda - Amniota - Mammalia - Theria - Eutheria - Laurasiatheria - Perissodactyla - Equidae - Equus - Equus subg. Equus - Equus caballus

Ponies

Pony can be defined as any horse that is 14.2 hands (58 in) or less in height. There are many breeds of ponies. Occasionally a pony can grow taller than 14.2 hands but it does not make it a horse - it is still a pony. However, ponies that are taller than the maximum height have lesser commercial value and are not allowed to compete in ponies' events. Typical characteristics of ponies: deep, compact bodies; great strength in relation to their height; stockier build; shorter legs; cannon bone, in particular, short and dense; wide through forehead with a tapering muzzle; small alert ears; longer coat; small alert ears; highly adaptable - driving, riding, pulling. Examples are: Highland pony (Scotland), Bardigiano (Italy), Bashkir (Russia), Dales pony (England), Shetland pony (Scotland), Norwegian Fjord (Norway), Dartmoor pony (England), Landais pony (France). Some breeds of ponies, for example, Fallabella, American Shetland pony, and Australian pony, have horse-like characteristics.

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Light horses

A light horse can be defined as any horse, other than a heavy horse or pony, whose size and build make it suitable for riding or driving. Most light horses are between 14.2 and 17.2 hands (58-70 in) in height. Their back is not too broad, with strong shoulders and well-defined withers enables them to be easily fitted with a saddle. The oldest and most pure is the Arabian horse. This breed, together with the Barb and the Spanish horse (of which the Andalusian is a descendant), is thought to be foundation of all light horse breeds, including the Thoroughbred, which is widely used for racing. Some light horses' breeds: Frederiksborg (Denmark), Lipizzaner (Slovenia), Cleveland Bay (England), Saddlebred (US), Arabian (Middle East), Don (Russia), Kabardin (Northern Caucasus).

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Heavy horses

Heavy horses are large and powerful. They have been used in agriculture and for hauling heavy loads. They typically stand between 14.2 and 18 hands high (58 - 72 in), and may weight as much as 2,200 lb (1,000 kg). Heavy horses are characterized by relatively short backs and legs; broad chests; good temperaments; great stamina. Some heavy horses have fine hair (feathering) around their lower legs. Some heavy horses' breeds: Jutland (Denmark), Breton (France), Shire (England), Persheron (France), Murakozer (Hungary), Dutch Draft (Holland).

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Horse external features

Two types of social organization in equids

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• Type I: Harem forming

  This type of social organization is characteristic to Equus caballus (horse), Equus zebra (mountain zebra), and Equus burchelli (plains zebra). The major stable social unit is a harem, where usually one mature stallion lives with several mature mares and their offspring in a band that on average consists of 3-12 members. Immature males (bachelor stallions) normally leave the natal band at the 2-3 years of age. Some of them join bachelor herds and some remain solitary. Immature females are not guarded by the stallion and allowed to stray from the band. Eventually they leave the natal group and either form new bands with available bachelor stallions or join existing harems. This mechanism reduces inbreeding.
  The herd has been proposed as another type of social structure and defined as social unit mad up of groups (bands) of horses that follow similar movement pattern within a common home range.
  Before mating, both the mare in estrus and the stallion engage in courting ritual. During breeding period stallions at pasture mates as often as every 1 to 2 h. Diestrus mares continue socialize with the stallion between breeding periods, they will often graze and rest together and groom each other as long as stallion does not exhibit any courting behavior.
  Human-directed mating usually is arranged in a manner that usually does not allow communications between animals prior the copulation.

• Type II: Male-territorial

  Equus asinus (African wild ass), domesticated ass (donkey), Equus hemionus (onagers), Equus grevyi (Gervy's zebra) exhibit the type of social organization described as male territorial. This is a system in which each breeding male guards a territory and mates with the females passing through or residing within the territory. Usually group of jennies in estrus tease the jack at some distance by exhibiting inter-female sexual behavior. The aroused jack after achieving erection, approaches and mounts one of the jennies. The jack does not guard or herd jennies as a horse stallion does.

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Horse embryology, life cycle and development

Average gestation period is 11 months (320-365 days). Fertilization rates during natural mating are high - up to 90%. However, an estimated 30-40% of pregnancies are lost within 2 weeks.

Sexual maturity is attained at about 1-2 years; successful breeding usually does not occur until 2-3 years of age.

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Origin of horses

A major part of the evolution of horses occurred in North America.

The first equid was Hyracotherium.

By the late Miocene, Merychippus was the one of the first bona-fide speedy plains grazers.

The first Equus were 13.2 hands tall (pony size) with a classic horse body.

Until about 1 million years ago, there were Equus species all over Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

In the late Pleistocene all the horses of North and South America went extinct.

For about eleven thousand years there were no horses in North America.

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Horse domestication

Domestic species such as dogs, cattle, sheep, and goats were established several thousand years before the horse was domesticated.

Horse domestication made a profound impact on history of the mankind. It is associated with the spread of Indo-European languages and culture, development of new technologies (such as bronze metallurgy), enhanced mobility, specialized forms of warfare, and commerce.

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Horse learning and training abilities

Throughout their lives, horses in work learn to respond in order to lessen or eliminate unpleasant stimuli. This is underpinned by principle of negative reinforcement.

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Taxonomy of equids

Horses (family Equidae), together with rhinoceroses (Rhinocerotidae) and tapirs (Tapiridae), belong to order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates). The horses include only two genera Equus and Hippidion. Hippidions (Greek for "like a pony") that inhabited plains of South America 2.5-2 million years ago became extinct during the great late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction around 10,000 years BP (before present).

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Horse coat color genetics

Several horse coat color features: silver, Champagne, white, chestnut.

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References

Articles

• Orlando L et al. Geographic distribution of an extinct equid (Equus hydruntinus: Mammalia, Equidae) revealed by morphological and genetical analyses of fossils. Mol Ecol. 2006 Jul;15(8):2083-93.
• Outram AK et al. The earliest horse harnessing and milking. Science. 2009 Mar 6;323(5919):1332-5.
• Travis J. Third International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology. Trail of mare's milk leads to first tamed horses. Science. 2008 Oct 17;322(5900):368.
• Vilà C et al. Widespread origins of domestic horse lineages. Science. 2001 Jan 19;291(5503):474-7.
• Ludwig A et al. Coat color variation at the beginning of horse domestication. Science. 2009 Apr 24;324(5926):485.
• Sharp DC. The early fetal life of the equine conceptus. Anim Reprod Sci. 2000 Jul 2.
• Betteridge KJ. Equine embryology: an inventory of unanswered questions. Theriogenology. 2007 Sep 1.
• Stout TA, Meadows S, Allen WR. Stage-specific formation of the equine blastocyst capsule is instrumental to hatching and to embryonic survival in vivo. Anim Reprod Sci. 2005 Jul.
• Betteridge KJ. Comparative aspects of equine embryonic development. Anim Reprod Sci. 2000 Jul 2.
• Betteridge KJ et al. Development of horse embryos up to twenty two days after ovulation: observations on fresh specimens. J Anat. 1982 Aug.
• McDonnell SM. Reproductive behavior of stallions and mares: comparison of free-running and domestic in-hand breeding. Anim Reprod Sci. 2000 Jul 2.
• Crowell-Davis SL. Sexual behavior of mares. Horm Behav. 2007 Jun.
• Crowell-Davis SL. Sexual behavior of mares. Horm Behav. 2007 Jun.
• Murphy J, Arkins S. Equine learning behaviour. Behav Processes. 2007 Sep.
• Farmer-Dougan V, Dougan J. The Man Who Listens To Behavior: Folk Wisdom And Behavior Analysis From A Real Horse Whisperer. J Exp Anal Behav. 1999 Jul.
• Murphy J et al. What Horses and Humans See: A Comparative Review. International Journal of ZoologyVolume 2009 (2009).
• Hothersall B, Nicol C. Role of diet and feeding in normal and stereotypic behaviors in horses. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 2009 Apr.
• Krueger K, Heinze J. Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses' behavior. Anim Cogn. 2008 Jul.
• McGreevy PD. The advent of equitation science. Vet J. 2007 Nov.
• Free full-text articles: major topic "Horses"

Websites

• Horse embryonic development
• BEHAVIOR OF FERAL HORSES AND PONIES. William D. McCort. Presented at the symposium 'Ethograms of Feral Livestock and their Application to Contemporary Livestock Production and Experimentation,' Joint Can.-Amer. Soc. of Anita. Sci. Annu. Meet., Univ. of Guelph; August 8--11, 1982. (.pdf)
• Horse Evolution by Kathleen Hunt

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