National Geographic Readers: Gallop! 100 Fun Facts About Horses
Level 3 Fact Reader Gallop 100 FUN Facts About Horses Kitson Jazynka National Geographic Washington D.C.
1 Horses can sleep standing up locking their legs to keep from falling 62 2 The oldest known horse an English horse named Old Billy lived to be 62 years old 3 4 5 Like most mammals horses have a belly button A horse’s teeth take up more space in its head than its brain does Closely related to rhinos and tapirs horses belong to a group of mammals that have an odd number of toes 6 7 Horses belong to the equine EE-kwine family which also includes zebras donkeys and mules 8 A horse’s brain weighs about the same as a human child’s about a pound and a half The term equine refers to a horse or describes things having to do with horses It comes from the ancient Greek word equus which means quickness 9 In the late 1800s European carriage horses wore straw hats to help shade them in the summer 25 HORSES ABOUT 4 COOL FACTS
10 Tough Welsh ponies roamed the hills and valleys of Wales Great Britain as far back as 1600 b c 11 Horses with blue eyes are rare but they can occur in many breeds 12 Horses tend to move faster when they are headed home 15 13 14 As many as eight million horses served during World War II An adult horse produces about 10 gallons of saliva per day 16 Blueskin and Nelson were two of General George Washington’s war horses during the American Revolution 17 Like homeless dogs and cats many horses around the world are waiting to be adopted At a world-famous riding school in Vienna Austria a stallion is referred to as a professor once he’s finished his training 18 19 Some horses have wardrobes that include rainproof sheets and fitted blankets to keep them warm and dry Until the invention of the steam engine in 1698 horses provided the fastest and most reliable transportation on land 20 A horse’s hooves grow about a quarter inch per month 21 The famous racehorse Exterminator had a series of companion ponies all named Peanuts 22 23 Horses carried gear across the Rocky Mountains for the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark 25 24 In the timed sport of barrel racing horse and rider race a cloverleaf pattern around a set of three barrels Some birds like to make nests out of discarded horse hair Male horses have more teeth than females do including four extra fighting teeth 55
