Animal #1 - Horse - Science

The first talking animal I'm going to be writing is a horse. Since I am currently working on a horse scene.

Animal – Horse

Classifaction Scientific name – Equus caballus

Genus – Equus (One toed hoofed animals - Horses, zebras, asses)

Family – Equidae (Odd toed hoofed animals - Horses, tapirs, Rhinos)

Order – Perissodactyla (hoofed animals)

Essence – running, strong, graceful

Unusual traits – long legs, can sleep standing up, nervous

Voice – whinnies, grunts, squeals, nickers, whistles

Relationship with nature – comfortable but limited, good

Food – grass, and other vegetation, hay, straw

Other animals – can be easily spooked, can make good friendships

Plants – grazes ecosystem down to grasslands

Habitat – social, active mostly day, some night, grasslands, some forest, semi-nomadic, some seasonal migration

Predators – occasionally wolves, coyotes, bears, pumas

Shelter - quiet valleys

Distribution – world wide except Antarctica, wild populations generally restricted to marginal habitat to limit competition with grazing livestock, formerly south west Mongolia

Populations – abundant in captivity, feral - ~ 300,000, Mongolian Wild – 1,500 reestablished (all captive bred)

Life cycle - long

Average length of life – 30 - 50 years

Average size – length - ~ 6.5- 9 ft (2 – 2.8 m), tail length - ~ 39 in (100 cm), height at shoulders - ~4.3 - 5 ft (1.3 - 1.5 m), weight - 440 – 1500 lb (200 - 680 kg)

Average gestation length - 11 months

Number of offspring – 1 foal, rarely twins, weaned 11- 23 months

Average age to maturity – 1- 4 years, males rarely breed before 5years and strong enough to defend a harem

Relationship with humans – useful, great

Domestication – Probably about 4000 BC

Uses – riding, pulling, carrying, worship

Issues – needs lots of space
Symbolic - Horse : virility, purity, strength, water, storms, thunder, wealth, power, divinity, peace, good harvest, indestructibility, loyalty

Ass : matter, body, misfortune, rampant sexual desire, ridicule, lazy, stupid, poverty

Next time I'll get into the mythology of horses. I plan to include information about unicorns, Pegasus, centaurs, hippogriffs, night mares, Slepnir and any other horse beast I can find. If you know of any other mythological horses/half horses please let me know, so I can research them.