The horse a great friend to man.

The Horse

Introduction: The horse is a great friend to man. In prehistoric times the wild horse was probably first hunted for food. It is supposed that the domestication of hordes took place long after the domestication of the dog or of cattle. It is supposed that the horse was first used by a tribe of Ind-European origin that lived in the steppes north of the chain of mountains adjacent to the Black and Caspian seas. Influenced by climate, food, and humans, the horse rapidly acquired its present form.

Description: The horse is a four-footed animal. Usually it is the size of a cow, Its body is covered with short hair. Its skin is soft and glossy. It has no horns. It has mane or long hair on its neck. It drives away fly and other insects with its long tail.

Usefulness: Horses draw carriages, cart etc. The also carry loads on their backs and lough the land. The horse serves its master in travels, ears, and labors. Man rides horses. Horses are used to run races. They are also used in hunting and circuses. Even after death horses provide us many commodities. Long before their domestication horses were hunted by primitive tribes for their flesh. Horse-meat is still consumed by people in parts of Europe and in Iceland. It is also the basis of many pet foods. Horse bones and cartilage are used to make glue. Tetanus antitoxin is abstained from the blood serum of horsed previously inoculated with tetanus toxoid. From horsehide a number of articles are manufactured, including fine shoes and belts. The cordovan leather fabricated by the Moors in Cordoba, Spain, was originally made from horsehide. Stylish fur coats are mad of the sleek coats of foals. Horsehair has wide use in upholstery, mattresses, and stiff lining for coats and suits; high-quality horsehair, usually whit, is employed for violin bows. The Scythian s for fuel used horse manure, which today provides the basis for cultivation of mushrooms. The Scythian, the Mongols, and the Arabs drank mare’s milk.

Form and function: A mature male horse is called a stallion, the female a mare. A stallion used for breeding is known as a stud. A castrated stallion is commonly called a gelding. Formerly, stallions were employed as riding horses, while mares were kept for breeding purposes only. Geldings were used for work and as ladies riding horses. Recently, however, geldings generally have replaced stallions as riding horses. Young horses are known as foals; make foals are called colts and females fillies.

Classification: The first domesticated horses were developed in Central Asia. They were small, lightweight, and stocky. In time, two general groups of horses emerged; the southerly Arab-Barb types and the northerly, so-called cold-blooded types. The modern breeds as: (a) the light, fast, spirited breeds typified by the modern Arabian, (b) the heavier, slower, and calmer working breeds typified by The Belgian and (c) the intermediate breeds typified by the Thoroughbred.

Color and Pattern: There are horses of a variety of colours and patterns, some highly variable and difficult to distinguish. Among the most important colours are black, bay, sorrel, chestnut, palomino, cream, and white.

Nutrition: The horse’s natural food is grass. For stabled horses, the diet is usually hay and grain. Oats are given especially to foals. Older horses, whose teeth are worn down, or those with digestive troubles, and be provided with crushed oats. Crushed barley is sometimes substituted in part for oats. Hay provides the bulk of the horse’s food. Mash is bran mixed with water and with various invigorating additions or medications. It may be given to horses with digestive troubles or eating problems. Corn is used as a fattening cereal. Salt is needed by the horse at all times and especially when shedding. Bread, carrots, and sugar are tidbits often used to reward an animal by the rider or trainer. In times of poverty horses have adapted to all sorts of food-potatoes, beans, green leaves, and in Iceland even fish. A number of commercial feed mixes are available to modern breeders and owners; these mixes contain minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients and given with hay.

Behavior: The horses’ nervous system is highly developed and gives proof to varying degrees of the essential faculties that are the basis of intelligence: instinct, memory, and judgment. Foals, which stand on their feet a short while after birth and are able to follow their mothers within a few hours, even at this even at this early stage in life exhibit the traits generally ascribed to horses. They have a tendency to flee danger. They express fear sometimes by showing panic and sometimes by immobility. Horses rarely attack and do so either when flight is impossible of when driven to assault a person who has treated them brutally.

Reproduction and development: The onset of adult sex characteristics generally begins at the age of 16 to 18 months. The horse is considered mature at approximately three years and adult at five. Fecundity may last beyond age 20 years with thoroughbreds and to 12 or 15 with other horses.  The gestation period is 11 months. A mare gives birth to one foal at a time, twins occasionally, and triplets rarely; the foal is weaned at six months.

Service Period: The useful life of a horse varies according to the amount of work it is required to do and the care taken by its owner. A horse that is trained carefully and slowly and is given the necessary time for development may be expected to serve to an older age than a horse that is rushed in its training. Racehorses that enter into races at the age of two rarely remain on the turf beyond eight. Well-kept riding horses, on the contrary, may be used more than 20 years.

Life Span: the life span of a horse is calculated at six to seven times the time necessary for his physical and mental development; that is, about 20 generally live longer than larger horses.

Conclusion: Horses are our great friends. So it is our duty to treat them kindly and take proper care of them.