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Free-roaming mustangs (Utah, 2005). Horse behavior is best understood from the view that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight response.Their first reaction to a threat is often to flee, although sometimes they stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is untenable, such as when a foal would be threatened.
1860 engraving depicting the performing horse Marocco. A significant portion of medieval technical literature consists of treatises on veterinary care. [S 11] Arab and Muslim scholars made notable contributions to the knowledge of equine medicine, education, [5] and training, in part due to the contributions of the translator Ibn Akhî Hizâm, who wrote around 895, [6] and Ibn al-Awam, who ...
Horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. In an adaptation from life in the wild, horses are able to enter light sleep by using a "stay apparatus" in their legs, allowing them to doze without collapsing. [116] Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while others stand guard to watch for predators.
Equus (/ ˈ ɛ k w ə s, ˈ iː k w ə s /) [3] is a genus of mammals in the family Equidae, which includes horses, asses, and zebras.Within the Equidae, Equus is the only recognized extant genus, comprising seven living species.
Adaptation is an observable fact of life accepted by philosophers and natural historians from ancient times, independently of their views on evolution, but their explanations differed. Empedocles did not believe that adaptation required a final cause (a purpose), but thought that it "came about naturally, since such things survived."
Friesians have long arched necks, well-chiseled short-ears, and Spanish-type heads. They have sloping shoulders, compact muscular bodies with sloping hindquarters and a low-set tail. Limbs are short and strong, with feathering—long hair on the lower legs. A Friesian horse also has a long, thick mane and tail, often wavy.
The notion of a leisure horse is difficult to define. According to various sources (including Carlos Henriques Pereira), it is a horse defined by its adaptation to all forms of equestrian leisure, rather than by a particular breed or type, as can be the case for sport and stock horses. [1]
A horse with an upright shoulder usually does not have good form over fences. An upright shoulder is best for gaited or park showing, parade horses, and activities requiring a quick burst of speed, like roping or Quarter Horse racing.