Did you know
Fun facts about horses
1. A foal may not take after its mother. It may inherit the color of its coat from its father or even from a grandparent.
2. All adult horses have at least 36 teeth - 12 front teeth (incisors), and 24 cheek teeth (molars). Male horses usually have 4 extra teeth, called wolf teeth (canines).
3. A horse has 16 muscles controlling each ear and can move the ears separately toward the sound, rather than move the whole head.
4. Horses can detect smells over long distances. A stallion can pick up the scent of a mare that is in season when she is up to 780 yards away. Horses can detect where there is water from a long way away as well.
Dear Shaboom and Clyde,
My family and I have just adopted a yearling wild Mustang filly. She is not very friendly and always runs away when we go out to her pen. What can I do to make her my friend?
Mary from Nampa, Idaho.
Mary,
Adopting a Mustang is always a lot of work but if you are willing to put in the time and effort it can also be very rewarding. Remember that your new horse was born wild and has little experience dealing with people. I suggest standing outside her pen and talking to her. Get her used to your voice as well as the sight and smell of you. Always use a calm, confident voice and make no sudden movements. After a while she will learn to trust you. If she has no other horses with her and gets lonely, she may decide that you are her friend. Be sure however, that you do not enter her pen without an experienced horse person with you as she could get nervous and you could be injured. It also may be a good idea to take her to a professional trainer for gentling and further training. Have fun and good luck with your new horse.
Erica Meets a Star
By Erica Webster, Youth Representative for Washington
I hear all of these stories about how people meet the president, an actor, an artist or someone who is famous. These stories frustrate me because they are almost always about adults meeting the star. I find that average kids can't relate to that. Here is a story of a very average 14 year old girl, me.
When I was 12, I bought my horse, Charlie with my own money. He came from Canada. He was 5 years old at the time. The advertisement said he was a Quarter horse cross. When I saw him I thought Thoroughbred cross. He is 16 hands and big boned. I fell in love with him and brought him home on my birthday.
I noticed that Charlie had a very big trot, and that learning to canter was difficult for him, but we just worked on it. I was at a Pony Club event that had a track and of course I had to try my horse out. Instead of my dream of breaking a track record, my horse trotted the whole thing at probably 575meters per minute. That’s when I first realized that he was Standardbred.
Would you say end of story? Wrong! This is where it all begins. While I was visiting my uncle, a good friend started talking about horses and his family. He mentioned that his brother is a sulky driver, and actually one of the best. He told me to look him up on the Internet. I said I would. Right…I never thought about it again until I was in Canada. I noticed a track with horses on it, and they were Standardbreds. It was sulky racing. Needless to say, our 5 minute look turned into an hour.
When I got home I made some phone calls. I eventually phoned that "best" sulky driver. Actually he is the number one sulky driver in the world. He is on the cover of sulky magazines and is very famous. I have to say that he is the most remarkable man I have ever talked to. Most of our talking was done after he was finished with races on the East Coast. By the time I was done with many phone calls I felt like I had just talked to the President. The phone bill said otherwise. This man was so kind and considerate.
He gave me information about sulky's, horses, drivers, and that industry.
End of story? No. He put me in touch with the government judge at Fraser Downs in Canada. The judge is someone who oversees the whole show from personnel to horses. That judge, Mr. Hugel, is a most amazing man. He told me to come to the track and meet him so I did. High atop the judges stand…
