459 articles
Horse Basics
Horse Basics
Christmas Horse Treats You Can Make at Home
Four simple horse treat recipes for the holidays, from carrot and oat cookies to a no-sugar hay biscuit, made with safe ingredients and sensible quantities. Plus which horses should skip the sweet ones.
Horse Basics
Can Horses Eat Pumpkin, Apples or Candy Canes? A Holiday Treat Safety Guide
Pumpkin and apples: yes, in small amounts. Candy canes: one will not hurt a healthy horse, but it is pure sugar. Chocolate, yew and mouldy leftovers: never. A food-by-food holiday guide.
Horse Basics
How to Tell If Your Horse Is Cold: A Winter Blanketing Guide
A cold horse shivers, tucks its tail, hunches up and loses weight. A healthy horse with a dry winter coat, shelter and plenty of hay is usually warmer than you are. Here is how to tell the difference, and when a blanket helps.
Horseology
Ancient Horse Breeds That Haven’t Changed in Thousands of Years
Przewalski’s horse, the Arabian, the Caspian, the Icelandic, the Exmoor: which ancient horse breeds are really ancient? What the DNA evidence supports for each, and why the oldest-looking horse of all turned out to be a few centuries old.
Horseology
Horses With Blue Eyes: Which Breeds and Colors Carry Them?
Blue eyes in horses come from two places: a double dose of the cream gene, or white patterns such as splashed white and frame overo. Here are the genetics, the coat colors and the breeds, and whether a blue eye is anything to worry about.
Horse Basics
Why Do Horses Roll? 5 Reasons (and When It Signals Trouble)
Horses roll to scratch, to dry off, to coat themselves in dust, to stretch and because the rest of the herd is doing it. A horse that rolls again and again and doesn’t shake afterwards may have colic.
Horse Basics
Is My Horse Overweight? Body Condition Scoring Made Simple
How to body condition score a horse on the Henneke 1 to 9 scale: the six places to look and feel, what each score means, how to score a cresty neck, and why a fat horse is a laminitis risk.
Horseplay
Barn Sour, Cribbing, Bombproof: Horse Slang Decoded for Non-Horse People
A funny but accurate glossary of the horse-world slang that baffles everyone else: barn sour, cribbing, bombproof, green, easy keeper, proud cut and why 15.5 hands is not a height.
Horseology
Hairy Horses: Breeds With the Best Feathers, Manes and Mustaches
Yes, horses can grow mustaches. A tour of the hairiest horse breeds, from the feathered legs of the Gypsy Vanner and Shire to the curls of the American Curly and the winter coat of the Yakut, with what the hair is for and what it takes to look after.
Horseology
Bay, Chestnut or Black? How Horse Coat Color Genetics Actually Work
Every horse colour starts as bay, black or chestnut, decided by two genes. Cream, dun, grey, roan and the white patterns are layered on top. A plain-English guide to what our foal colour calculator is doing.
Horse Basics
Horse Names: 400+ Ideas by Color, Breed and Personality
More than 400 horse names sorted by coat colour, breed origin (with meanings), personality, classics, funny names, show names and pairs, plus how to choose one and what breed registries allow.
Horseology
Horse Breeds by Country: Every Country’s National Horse
Which countries have a national horse? Canada, Argentina and Brazil made theirs official by law; Turkmenistan put one on its state emblem; most of the rest are national by custom. Here is the full list, with what is official and what is tradition.