Of all of the animals on Earth, the horse may be the one that has most closely shared in mans adventures and has been most intimately allied with his progress. The horse has been a participant in the pleasures, the dangers and the hard work that have been a part of mans life for thousands of years. Perhaps, because of this relationship, the horse holds a special place in mans affection. It is not clear when exactly man and the horse first became companions. Some historians are of the belief that man probably hunted the early horse, just as he did other game animals. There are drawings, engravings and sculptures that date back many thousands of years that were most likely made by hunters and medicine men as offerings to the gods in exchange for the blessing of a good hunt. Eventually, perhaps man recognized the advantage of the horses fleetness and began to tame the horse and began using them in his pursuit for other animals that he needed for food. When food would become scarce in one area, man could utilize the horse to move and settle in other areas that were more productive. Gradually, man was able to find more and more uses for the horse, and therefore, became increasingly dependent on it, and as this dependency grew, the horse became a partner in mans life. It shared the dangers of war, the satisfactions pf peace, the splendors of knighthood, as well as the sufferings and privations of exploring and settling new lands and earning a living from the soil. The horse has also made possible some of mans favorite pastimes, as it has carried him through hunting fields, in polo matches and in races. It drew the wagons for circuses and traveling players, and then often appeared as a performer in the acts that they presented. Man has been prompted to show off his pride in this magnificent animal in horse shows, and his admiration for this animals grace and beauty has inspired him to portray it in art as well as in literature. The horse was in integral part of mans everyday life until around the early 1900s, when machines began to perform many of the jobs that horses had done. Then, the population of horses especially in the areas of Europe and North America dropped drastically. For example, in 1915, there were more than 21 million horses in the United States, but by 1955, their number had dropped to only slightly more than 3 million. However, there have been surveys that have indicated that there has been an increase in the population of light horses. Horsemen think that this increase is as a result of the growing interest in riding for pleasure and breeding fine horses. The horses anatomy enables it to be not only a beautiful animal, but also a utilitarian one. Both its beauty and its utility result from the relationship among all its body parts in form and in function. Horsemen often speak of the conformation of a horse, referring to the general shape and appearance of a horse. Conformation also includes the form and the proportion of each of the parts of the horses body, and the way that they fit together to give it its overall balance, structure and smoothness. The balance, or proportion, of a horses body is important because each of its body parts have a functional relationship to the rest of the parts in its body. Breeders have come to develop horses of many different colors, sizes and other special attributes, but each of them have retained their horse like appearance. In general, the horse is a relatively large animal that weighs about 1,000 pounds or more. It usually stands about 5 and a half feet high at the shoulder and is about 9 feet long from the tip of its nose to its tail. Horses have long muscular necks, a large chest, a rather straight back and powerful hindquarters. Its legs are very strong yet, comparably slender. When a horse is in motion, the hind legs are what provide the propelling force and the front legs act primarily as supports. A horses head and neck make up approximately two fifths of its total length. A horses head is held naturally at a 45-degree angle to the neck. The head and neck act as a counterbalance as the center of gravity shift when the horse is in motion. The ears are held upright and turned forward when the horse is alert. They are proportionate to the head and are neither too small nor so large that they look mulish. The ears are able to move freely so that the horse can pick up sounds from multiple directions. A horses eyes are larger than those of any other land animal. The eyes of a horse have excellent long-range vision, both at night and in the daytime. Each of the eyes of a horse can see things above and below as well as behind and in front. A horses eyes sees things separately. Often times, an object is seen first with one eye, and then with the other. Sometimes stationary objects, particularly small ones, seem to jump, which can cause the horse to become frightened. Horsemen will put pads, called blinders or blinkers, near the horses eyes to limit their vision so that they can keep the horse from being startled. The nose has wide and flaring nostrils. Horses have to use their nasal passages to get all of their air, as they do not get extra air through their mouths like cows, sheep and other animals do. Even on a very hot day, or when the horse has been racing or working hard, it does not pant through its mouth. The reason for this is most likely because a horses soft palate forms a muscle like curtain that separates the cavity of the mouth from the breather passages, except when the horse is swallowing. Horses have large jaws and teeth that are large and strong. Mature male horses have 40 teeth and a mature female has 36. Their front teeth, or incisors, are separate from the rear teeth, the molars or grinders, and are by a wide space that is sensitive and is called a bar. The bar forms the space into which the bit fits. Male horses also have two extra teeth that are called tushes. Horsemen can check a horses teeth in order to estimate its age. Horses teeth grow longer and at a more oblique angle as they age, and the surfaces of their teeth wear away. A horses body is large and sleek. Thy have a wide chest that houses their huge lungs and heart that are necessary for them to have extreme endurance for running and the power that they need for pulling heavy loads. Their back is very muscular and strong, and is rigid enough to provide the legs with freedom to move very easily. When a horses back curves downward in the center, it is called a swayback, and one that curves upward is called roach, or hog back. The legs of a horse are long, and very strong and slender. The front legs are used to help support weight and help the horse to maintain its balance and stability. They also contribute to the forward movement of the animal. The knee of the horse is comparable to the wrist joint of a human. The horses hind legs are very muscular in order to provide the propelling force in running and the pushing force when it is pulling a heavy load. The central point for these forces lies in the hock joint. The hock joint bears the burden for all of the horses forward movement. The hock joint is comparable to an ankle joint in a human. The horses foot is actually a single toe, and the hoof is a thick toenail. The tip of the toe bone fits within the hoof and the heel angles upward. The bone of the foot is so porous that it looks very similar to a pumice stone. The toe bone as well as two other bones make up the horses foot. All of them are encompassed within the hoof, where they are well protected. The hoof is made up of the same kind of material as that in a humans fingernail. The part of the hoof that can be seen when the horses feet are on the ground is the wall. The wall is what protects the front and sides of the horses foot. It is longest and thickest in the front and decreases toward the back of their foot. The area where horseshoes are put is on the underpart of the wall and helps to protect the wall from extensive wear and tear. Horseshoes need to be changed and the hooves need to be trimmed about once a month. A hoof can grow about one-third inch in four weeks. When a horse raises its foot, the parts that can be seen are the sole and the frog. The sole covers most of the undersurface of the foot and is arched in order to protect the bones and the soft parts of the foot that are located above it. The frog is a soft elastic section that is shaped much like a triangle with its base at the heel and its apex pointing forward. It acts as a shock absorber that cushions the jarring impact that occurs every time the horses foot comes in contact with the ground. When a horse is born, it is called a foal. Foals can be born at any time of the year, but many horse breeders prefer that the horse gives birth in the spring. Foals that are born in the winter need more stable room and also require more food and care than those that are born in warmer temperatures. Foals that are born in the spring are able to roam around outside and can graze on grass in order to supplement their diet. Regardless of what time of year a foal is born, its first birthday is recorded as being the first day of January after it is born. This means that New Years Day is the official birthday of every horse. The gestation period, or the length of time a mare carries the foal inside her body, is typically about 11 to 12 months long. The actual birth process takes a very short time, usually only 15 to 30 minutes. A foal is usually born with its front feet first, with one leg extended and the other one slightly bent. Then, the head is thrust between its two legs. Once a foal is born, it usually rests quietly for 10 or 15 minutes, and then it tries to get up and is very soon able to stand on its own. Within only a few short hours after being born, a foal is able to frisk around quite well on its long, gangly legs. Interestingly, the legs of a newborn foal are almost as long as those of the mare. They grow only slightly during their lifetime. The rest of the foals body develops and the legs gain muscle and become large and strong. The big bones of the legs remain about the same size. Even though a horse has reached its full height several years before, a horse is considered to be mature at the age of seven years old. Newborn foals start to nurse as soon as they can stand up after they are born. Foals depend mostly on the mares milk for nourishment for at least the first six months. Foals do gain supplemental nourishment from grain that is supplied by their owner, as well as the grass and clover that it nibbles. When the foal reaches sixths months of age, it has grown enough that it dont have to spread its long legs wide, much like a giraffe, in order to eat, which makes grazing easier. At six months old, it is weaned from its mother, and becomes completely independent. Within a week to ten days after it is born, the newborn foal has two upper and two lower incisor teeth. By the time it is one year old, it has six upper teeth and six lower teeth. All of these teeth are milk teeth, which means that they are much shorter and smaller than the permanent teeth. Permanent teeth begin to come in when the foal is about two and a half years old, but the horse doesnt get all of them until they are about five years old. The training of a horse begins almost immediately after it is born. Trainers handle the foal and brush its thick, fuzzy coat frequently. This helps the foal become familiar with its trainer and helps it become accustomed to interaction. By the time a horse is a month old, it has become accustomed to wearing a halter. As a yearling, it is trained to respond to reigns, and at two years old it is saddle trained. When it is three years old, the colt begins its specialized training for whatever career has been chosen for it perhaps as a riding horse, polo horse, circus horse or racehorse. Young colts are usually not required to do exhaustive work until they are at least five years old. One year in the life of a horse is equal to about three years of a humans life. Therefore, seven years of a horses life is comparable to 21 years in a humans life. Horses are not considered useful by the time they reach about 23 or 24 years old, but they are still able to do some types of light work. A horses life span is typically about 25 to 30 years, although some horses can live up to 40 years old. The animal that we are familiar with today as the horse is the result of many centuries of selective breeding. Breeders throughout history have carefully selected different kinds of horses with various characteristics to fit a wide variety of needs. The great horse of the Middle Ages, for example, was bred for its size and strength in order to carry a knight who was laden with heavy armor and weapons. The massive horses of such breeds are often referred to as cold bloods. The Arabs bred lithe desert horses that were both small and swift, and they are referred to as being hot bloods. Cross breeding of hot blooded and cold blooded horses in order to achieve different characteristics have produced breeds that range from riding horses to draft horses. The Thoroughbred horse is considered by many to be the highpoint of elegance and fine selective breeding. People often mistake the name Thoroughbred to refer to any pure bred horse, but a Thoroughbred horse is a very distinct breed of running horse. Its ancestry can be traced through the male line directly back to three Eastern stallions: the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. Each of these horses had been imported into England before 1750. There, they were used by breeders to develop the infamous Thoroughbred racing horse. To make the distinction of the different breeds of horses more convenient, horses have been divided into three major groups, which are: ponies, heavy or draft horses, and light horses. A person who is purchasing a horse for pleasure riding may choose a horse for its color and markings, much like one would choose the color and design of an automobile. However, horse breeders take many other things into consideration when purchasing a horse. They do consider color an important point in judging the value of a horse. Certain breeds are required to have certain colors and patterns in order to be registered. Breeds such as the Appaloosa or the Palomino, for example, may not accept horses with colors or patterns that are undesirable. Color is most definitely one of the most conspicuous features of a horse and is more likely than not the basis for its description, such as bay, chestnut or gray. All of these colors can differ somewhat from the usual conception of the color. Some of the most common colors for horses include the following. Black means that all hairs are completely black with no lighter color appearing. Brown means that all of the hairs are brown, but may be so dark brown that they may look black. The true color shows in hairs around the horses nose and eyes. Bay means hairs may be brown but show auburn shades of red, but the mane, tail and stockings are black. Chestnut means the hairs are the same color as the bay, except the mane, tail and stockings are the coat color or lighter. Dun means that hairs are a dull grayish yellow or a dull grayish gold, but the mane and tail are black. Gray means that the hairs are black or brown at birth, but then lighten with maturity. Palominos have hairs that are gold or yellow, but the mane and tail are both white. White means hairs are white or nearly white at birth and remain white through maturity. True white horses are albinos. Horses may also have other makings that are distinctive features. Many horses have white face marks. White markings on the face or legs may occur on horses of any coat color. The markings of the Appaloosa and Pinto horses are distinctive. Appaloosa horses have light coat patterns with dark spots, or dark coat patterns with light spots. They are often called spotted horses. Pinto, or paint, horses have coats with large, splashy patterns. The brown and white patterns are called skewbald, and the black and white patterns are called piebald. There are many horse aficionados that consider the Lipizzan or Lipizzaner to be the most beautiful of all horses; the royalty of all of the horse breeds. Anyone who gets to see these magnificent horses cant help but to be impressed by their grace and dignity. The Lipizzans are one of the best known horses in the world. At the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, perfectly trained horses perform difficult movements with seemingly effortless grace. The feats that they are taught are not artificial efforts like those that are seen at the circus or trick riding rings, but are feats that are based on the natural movements of a horse, similar to those seen by playful horses in high spirits, frisking around in an open pasture. These horses are carefully trained for years in order to perfect each of the Lipizzans movement. The name Lipizzan is basically synonymous with white horse in the minds of most; however, some Lipizzans can be chestnut, bay or roan. In fact, all Lipizzans are actually born dark at birth, even the white ones, who will become white only at the age of four years or even as late as ten years old. The Lipizzan breed matures much more slowly than other breeds of horses. Lipizzan colts run free with the herd for the first four years of its life. Then, a trainer, who has himself been specially trained, is chosen for the colt. The trainer assumes complete responsibility for not only the colts training, but also its care and over all wellbeing. No one else is allowed to touch the horse except the trainer. The initial training of a Lipizzan begins with a beginning stage of training that lasts two years. Usually, only stallions are chosen. For the first three months of this training period, the trainer as well as the horse work together on the rudiments of discipline, and the horse learns to trust the trainer completely. The rest of the time of the training consists of exercises that keep the stallion flexible and supple. When the Lipizzan reaches six years of age, its performance training begins. The horse undergoes intensive individual training for the next two years that will make him one of the star performers at the school. He will learn to balance perfectly on his hind legs in the levade, be stately in cadence, quadrille, leap high above the ground in a courbette and soar in the air in the capriole. The Lipizzans life for the next twenty years is spent almost entirely practicing and performing its amazing skills. When the horse is no longer able to perform in the show ring, he then becomes an instructor, and teaches beginning riders that want to become masters of this special art of horsemanship. Almost everyone has seen either on television or at the movies graceful riders on saddled horses that canter along paths, or cowboys who are seated with careless ease on horses as they gallop into the sunset. They make it appear so easy; however, the art of riding actually takes an enormous amount of practice in order to become a master rider. The thrill of becoming an experienced horse rider is well worth the effort. Most riders choose to use gear when riding, such as a bridle and saddle. This gear is referred to as tack. The purpose of tack is to provide the rider with a means by which he can control the horse as well as to provide him with a seat on the horses back. There are two different classes of tack that are used: English and western. Each of these two classes also have different varieties of tack within each class. Horsemen choose their tack carefully so that it suits their preferences as well as the type of riding that they do. Sometimes the way that a horse has been trained also determines what type of tack is used. There have been a great many types of saddles that have been developed over time, but each is built in essentially the same way. The frame, which is called the tree, of the saddle is made of either wood or steel, or even a combination of both. The rigid frame is well padded and is covered with leather. One or more wide straps that are called girths are attached. A girth is a strap that passes under the horses body and is fastened to the other side. Both sides of the saddle also have a leather strap for the stirrup. Saddles are contoured on the underside so that they fit a horses back, as well as on the top, so they can fit a riders body. Every saddle should be properly fitted to the horse so that the riders weight is centered on the horse, but not so that it is directly on the withers or the spine. The English saddles are also called flat saddles because they are very gently contoured and the riders seat appears to be almost flat. The western saddle has a deep seat, and a high pommel from which the saddle horn rises, as well as a high fanlike cantel. A western saddle also has rings and rawhide saddle strings which are used to hold a cowboys equipment. There are many different types of western saddles, and each is designed for its special use. Western saddles do not have much padding, and so a heavy blanket, or a thick pad is used underneath them. A rider has to learn what each piece of tack does and what its purpose is in relation to the horse. A rider must also learn how to balance, as his center of gravity must be directly over that of the horses as he rides over various terrain as well as when the horse is trotting, galloping or simply walking. A horse that has been trained for riding has been taught the language of the aids, which the rider must also have learned. This language is used as a means of communication between the rider and the horse. There are two different types of aids: natural and artificial. Examples of natural aids that are used in communicating are the voice, the action of the hands on the reins, the use of the legs and heels and the use of the back, as well as the distribution of the riders weight. Artificial aids include the whip, the spur and various types of equipment such as side reins and martingales. The reins are one line of communication that a rider has with his horse. Horses are trained to go in the direction of the tension that his put on the rein. There are a number of uses that experienced horsemen use the reins for, but the basic uses are to direct and to lead. If the rider carries his weight slightly to the right and pulls back (to direct) or to the side (to lead) then the horse will turn in the direction of the pull. When the rider pulls both reins straight back, that is the signal to the horse to slow down or stop. Riders must each learn to keep a very light contact on the horses mouth through the stretched rein. Even a slight increase of tension directs the horse, and the relaxation of the tension when the horse responds is the horses reward for obedience. If the rider maintains continued tension, it punishes the horse and can confuse him. The reins are what indicate to the horse the direction of movement that a rider wishes to take, whether it be to turn, go forward or go back. The legs, however, indicate to the horse that the motion should start. The horse moves away from the pressure of a leg or heel. When a rider uses pressure with only his left leg, the horse knows that it needs to move his haunches to the right. When pressure is applied with both legs, the horse knows to move forward. The rider is able to use his weight to help keep in balance with the horse and to indicate a change of direction. A rider who is well-trained and who is riding a well-trained horse needs only to step down in one stirrup and the horse will turn in that direction. When a rider shifts his weight backward slightly, the horse will automatically slow down. The rider will use his voice in order to encourage, praise and to admonish his mount. Just as with any other kind of animal, the horse responds best to proper care and good treatment. Taking care of a horse requires a considerable amount of time and patience. Only people who are able to commit to the time, energy and resources that owning a horse takes should own one. Horses also require adequate space, and for some horse owners keeping their horses at a professional stable can help ensure the proper care and space that is needed for their horse. The minimum size stall for a horse is ten by ten feet. The stall must be large enough that the horse is able to lie down and get up without hurting itself. It also needs to be able to turn around comfortably. A horses stall needs to have areas where bedding, feed, hay and equipment can be stored. Their stable needs to be cleaned daily, and the bedding needs to be removed and changed periodically. The amount of food that is needed to feed a horse properly depends on the size of the horse, its condition and the kind of work that is asked of it. For some horses, grazing in a pasture can provide a sufficient amount of food, but most horses need supplemental feed to keep up their energy. Water is also extremely important in a horses diet. Water should always be given first because grain swells when it is wet. A horse should be thoroughly groomed at least once a day. This helps the horse to keep up its sleek and attractive appearance, but it also serves a more important function. Grooming improves a horses circulation and helps to tone the muscles. Tools that are used for grooming usually include a brush, a curry comb and a hoof pick. All parts of the horses body need to be groomed. This also gives the horseman the chance to inspect more closely all of the parts of the horses body for cuts, sores or signs of disease.