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About This Quiz
Horses used to be pretty much essential to a functioning society. Getting from A to B with any sort of speed, carrying any significant amount of freight, or simply lording it over the peasants was pretty much impossible without a horse. Horses were friends, workers, status symbols and assets. A good stable was a key part of any working farm or estate. In cities, as late as 1910, there were emergency meetings about what to do about all the horse dung that was clogging up the streets and would inevitably destroy the city entirely in another generation due to growth in the horse population. However, once cars came of age, it only took 15 years for them to almost entirely displace horses on our roads. Now horses are almost entirely used for recreation, outside of a few landscapes where they still work. They are amenities and companions instead of industrial cogs.
While everyone loves horses - at a distance if not up close - not everyone truly knows them. Knowing all about how to care for a horse is one thing, but knowing how horses got here and how they grow and function is the sign of a true horse lover. Are you one? Let's find out!
What is the smallest horse breed, on average?
Shetland
Falabella
Falabellas are tiny little horses, even smaller than Shetland ponies. They are usually smaller than 32 inches tall.
Miniature horse
Tennessee Walker
What is the collective noun for horses?
Herd
It's a herd of horses, as you doubtless know. Hang in there - this quiz is about to get harder.
Pack
Flange
Flock
When were horses first domesticated?
10,000 years ago
6,000 years ago
Horses were domesticated a few thousand years after farming was invented. Once the choke collar was replaced by traces, horses became critical to farming. In this way, the domestication of the horse is one of the most important historical events ever.
3,000 years ago
20,000 years ago
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What is a baby horse called?
Colt
Filly
Foal
Any of the above
A male baby horse is a colt, a female is a filly. A foal is either.
What is the fastest horse breed?
Arabian
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbreds are the fastest horses. They are a mix of English horses with Arabian.
Cobb
Friesian
What is special about Arab horses?
They are the fastest.
They can handle the heat best.
They have one less vertebrae.
Arabians are among the oldest breeds and have one fewer vertebrae than other horses. They are also among the fastest, generally speaking.
They have a dish-shaped face.
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What is the biggest breed, on average?
Percheron
Clydesdale
Shire
Shire horses are huge but they are one of the kindest, most agreeable breeds. They have nothing to prove, clearly.
Suffolk punch
What is colic?
Lots of stomach issues under one umbrella
Colic is an umbrella term for a few things. Horses cannot vomit so if they get a gut problem, it can really mess them up.
Bowel problems
To put it bluntly, it's gas!
Twisted intestine
What other animal is most closely related to horses?
Zebra
Donkey
Donkeys are of course the most closely related to horses!
Giraffe
Cow
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What is dressage?
A kind of gymnastics
Dressage is riding a horse in an elegant, flexible, beautiful routine. It's like floor work at the Olympics. A truly talented dressage horse is a joy to watch.
Jumping
Racing
A kind of dance
Why do horses wear shoes?
Fashion!
To protect the whole foot
Horses like to be barefoot some of the year but generally speaking, shoes protect the whole foot from splitting, cracking, injury etc. There are different shoes for different landscapes.
To protect the frog
To prevent hoof splitting
What does it mean when a horse is spavined?
It has arthritis in the hock.
A horse that is spavined is probably out of competition for good, poor thing. There are good drugs for this but they are not permitted in competition horses.
It has a growth in the leg bone.
It has sprained a leg.
It has twisted an ankle.
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What does it mean when a horse is "piebald"?
It's brown and white.
It's black and white.
Piebald is black and white. Skewbald is brown and white.
It's bald!
It's white.
What is special about a quarter horse?
It's a quarter as big!
It can sprint for a quarter mile.
The quarter horse's specialty is short sprints, hence the name.
It has great quarters.
It's a quarter as expensive.
What is a frog, as relevant to horses?
It's a little amphibian creature.
It's a spongy part in the hoof.
The frog of the hoof is a spongy part that protects the horse from impact. It's basically a little shock absorber.
It's a benign growth under the skin.
It's not relevant to horses.
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Where is the withers?
The top of the horse's butt
The base of the neck
The withers is where you measure the horse's height from. It is at the base of the neck.
The highest point on the neck
Underneath where the girth sits
What does it mean when a tail is docked?
The fleshy part is chopped off.
Docking is banned in many places. Sometimes it is necessary if the horse is injured. However horses need their tails and there's no good reason to mutilate them.
It is braided up neatly.
It is injured.
It is split into two.
What distinguishes a pony from a horse?
Height
Ponies are smaller than horses - under 14.2 hands. They are also often a little less friendly.
Weight
Breed
Temperament
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How many teeth do horses have?
28
32
40
Adult horses have 40 teeth. A horse's tooth is like a tree ring in reverse: you can accurately tell the horse's age by looking at them, as well as a lot about the horse's health and history. That's why it is rude to look a gift horse in the mouth - because it suggests you think the giver is fobbing you off with a crappy old horse.
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What are fetlocks?
Ankles
Tufted hair at the ankle
Fetlocks are a tuft of hair at the ankle. They're very cute but they do pick up the muck! Shire horses have big beautiful feathery ones.
Tufted hair on the head
Tails
What are hocks?
Elbows
Knees
Shoulders
Ankles
A hock is essentially an ankle, though it's halfway up the leg. It has several joints in it.
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What is a horse walker?
A person who walks horses
A big merry-go-round to exercise horses
A horse walker is a device that ensures horses get exactly enough exercise, but no more. It's good for horses coming off an injury, who cannot be left in a field as they may hurt themselves.
A fairground ride with real horses
A lunging session
Horses have four gaits. One of them is trotting. Which of the below is NOT one of the other three?
Walk
Canter
Gallop
Lope
Walk, trot, canter, and gallop are the four gaits of a horse.
What does it mean to have "four in hand"?
Owning four horses
Grooming four horses
Four horses pulling a carriage
Four horses pulling one carriage are "four in hand".
A herd of four mares and one stallion
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What is a flying change?
Moving from canter to gallop
Moving from gallop to canter
Changing the leading leg in canter
Flying change is when the horse's leading leg is switched. Canter is a three-beat gait, so it has one leg that lands in the front.
Changing the leading leg in gallop
What is collected trot?
Trotting with the horse's neck curved in so the chin is tucked
Collected trot looks pretty but is contrary to a horse's natural instinct, so it has to be learned. It's not uncomfortable for the horse, just a new skill.
Trotting in place
Trotting really fast
Trotting crabwise
Which of these is NOT a type of white face marking on a horse?
Blaze
Star
Sock
A sock is on the leg. A snip, blaze or star is on the face.
Snip
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What color is a bright bay?
Chestnut
Chestnut and black
A bright bay has a reddish body and a black mane and tail.
Light brown
Tan and black
What important Chinese equestrian invention came to Europe in the Middle Ages?
Saddle
Girth
Stirrup
The stirrup was invented in China and made its way west. It is vastly easier to ride with stirrups.
Reins
What is the difference between bucking and rearing?
One is front legs up, one is back legs up.
Rearing is when a horse rises up on its back legs. Bucking is the opposite.
Trick question - they are the same.
One dumps the rider, the other doesn't.
One is to the left, one is to the right.
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What is shying?
Walking sideways
Rearing
Walking backward
Freaking out and lurching to the side
Horses shy when they are startled, which happens a lot.
What are the Lipizzaner horses famous for?
Dancing
The horses "dance" and it is very beautiful to watch - and also, not cruel, as they clearly enjoy it.
Speed
Their color
Always having twins
What's the process by which a horse can thicken its coat in the winter by up to 30%?
Fluffing
Piloerection
Piloerection is really what it is called. It fluffs up the fur to make the air get trapped, which warms the horse. It's basically like goosebumps.
Fuzzing
Bigging
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Can horses sleep standing up?
Yes
They sure can! It's a great skill.
No
Only if leaning on something
Only if there is no place to lie down
You Got:
/35
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