Horse

The horse is a tall, strong animal with a long face, a flowing mane, and hard hooves that let it run fast across open ground. People have kept horses on farms and in stables for thousands of years, and horses have helped us travel, carry loads, and work in fields all over the world.

Long ago, horses came from wild herds that lived on the wide grasslands of central Asia. People first began keeping them around five thousand years ago. Today there are many different kinds, from tiny ponies no taller than a big dog to gentle giant horses as tall as a doorway.

Horses are herbivores, which means they eat only plants. They love to graze on grass, munching quietly for many hours a day, and farmers also feed them hay, oats, and other grains. A horse’s soft lips help it pick out the tastiest bits of grass.

Baby horses are called foals, and they are amazing from the very start. A foal can wobble up onto its long legs within about an hour of being born, and by the end of its first day it can trot and even run beside its mother. Foals stay close to their mothers, drinking milk and learning the world around them.

Horses are friendly animals that like to live together in a group called a herd. They talk to each other with little sounds, flicks of the ears, and swishes of the tail. A happy horse may nuzzle its friends or stand nose to tail with them, swishing flies away from each other’s faces.

People take good care of horses, giving them fields to roam, fresh water, and a warm place to sleep. In return, horses carry riders, pull carts, and are gentle companions, and there are more horses in the world now than ever before.