Horse Facts
A group of horses living together
Herd
Mane
True or False: Trails of Purpose offers services to clients free of charge
True!
True or False: Horses can have allergies like humans do
True! Horses can be allergic to different plants/pollen in their environment and even different types of grains (ex. soy)
True or False: The horse and seahorse are distant relatives
True or False: A horse can sleep standing up
True - horses have a special group of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that allow them to keep their legs locked in place while at rest when standing
True or False: Horses have sensitive skin
True! Horses have special muscles in their skin that are sensitive enough to feel a fly land on them, that will twitch automatically when triggered
Name the 2 cities in Hampton Roads where Trails of Purpose has a farm
Chesapeake
Virginia Beach
True or False: A horse's vision is their strongest sense, like a human's is
False! A horse's sense of smell is their strongest sense
True or False: Horses can recognize people by their smell
True! The horse's strongest sense is their sense of smell, and they get the most information about things in their environment from smelling them
Name 3 things a horse eats (not including treats!)
Hay
Grass
Grain
Horses have hooves - name 3 other animals in Virginia that also have hooves
Cows
Goats
Deer
Pigs
Sheep
True or False: All of the therapy horses at Trails of Purpose are different breeds than one another
True! While not on purpose, none of our therapy horses are the same breed(s) as one another!
Name 3 basic needs that horses and humans share
Food
Air
Water
Shelter
Companionship
True or False: In the wild, it is common for young males to be kicked out of their herd around age 2
True - This behavior is mother nature's way of preventing inbreeding within herds!
True or False: The horse is a distant relative of the rhinoceros
True! Aside from donkeys and zebras, the next closest relative to the horse is the rhino
True or False: Horses have 2 knees
True! Horses have knees on their front legs but not on their back legs
Name 3 of the animals (horses or others) on the farms at Trails of Purpose
Horses: Chance, Desi, Drummer, Iris, Jet, Marshall, Millie, Southwind, Perri, Zion
Cats: Ana, Bing, Elsa, Maisey, Mitsy
Pigs: Daisy, Miley, Otis
Sheep: Casper, Emma
Goats: Crackle, Pop, Snap
Dogs: Addie, Breezy, Montana, Tucker
Name 4 emotions that horses experience that humans also experience
Fear/Worry/Anxiety/Nervousness
Excitement/Happiness
Calmness/Contentment
Acceptance (regarding friendship with others)
Silliness
Loneliness/Isolated
Protective
True or False: Horses are colorblind
False! Horses mostly see in shades of gray, but are able to see blues and yellows clearly, and shades of green somewhat as well.
Fun fact: horses cannot see the color red at all!
Name 3 color types of horses
Black
Grey
Palomino
Paint/Pinto
Chesnut/Sorrel
Roan
Bay
Buckskin
White
True or False: Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal
True! In fact, the only other animals with larger eyes than the horse are whales, ostriches, and some breeds of seal.
Fun fact: the largest eyes in the world belong to giant squid, which can be up to the size of a football!
Aside from horses, name 5 other types of animals that might be found at the Chesapeake farm
Dogs
Cats
Sheep
Goats
Pigs
Name 3 body parts that a horse has the same number of as humans do
Eyes
Ears
Tongue
Nose
Knees
Elbows
In addition to horses, Trails of Purpose has these animals at the Chesapeake farm (5 types of animals)
Cats
Dogs
Sheep
Goats
Pigs