Characteristics of the Horse

As everyone should know, all horses don’t look alike. But what makes them look different? There are many different characteristics that people use to separate one horse from another. This includes height, weight, and body markings.

A horse’s height can sometimes be a defining feature but most horses are so close together in height that it is hard to tell them apart by that alone. The height of a horse is measured by hands. This measurement originally started by using the size of a male’s hand, but now, the hand is standardized at four inches. The height is measured from the base of the front hoof to the top of the withers, or shoulder of the horse. You will rarely ever hear a horse’s height said in inches, instead it will always be said in hands. An example would be my horse who is 16.2 hands tall or 66 inches. There are also different classifications for horses of different heights. When you hear the word pony, it doesn’t mean that it is a baby horse. When a horse is called a “pony”, it just means that it is 14.2 hands or less. A horse can only be called a horse if it is taller than 14.2 hands. There is also the miniature horse which is classified as less than 9.2 hands high.

The next characteristic is weight, and I bet there are many of you wondering how you can measure the weight of an animal this size. The answer is you really can’t so we do the best we can. The most common way to measure a horse’s weight these days is by using a weight tape. This is simply wrapped around the horse’s girth, around the horse’s belly right behind his front legs, and then reading the weight that is listed on the tape. This gives you a fairly accurate weight for every horse but is not always perfect. There is another way to measure your horse’s weight by using a regular tape measure. You will take the same measurement around the girth, and you will need the length of the horse. This can be done by measuring from the point of the shoulder to the point of the hip. Once you have these measurements, you will do the calculations like this.

(Girth) X (Girth) X (Length) / 300 + 50

This calculation will be almost exact to what your horse’s weight is. The weight of the horse is mostly used to calculate the amount of food a horse should be consuming on a daily bases.

The most common ways to clarify the differences between horses is using markings. There are many different markings on the face alone that can classify the difference between horses such as a snip, star, stripe, and blaze.

A snip is simply a small white mark near or imbetween the horses nostrils. It sometimes even extends into the nostrals.

A star is a mark on the horses forhead.

A stripe is a narrow white stripe going down the horse’s head.

A blaze is when most of the head is covered in white.

Another characteristic of some horses is a dorsal stripe. A dorsal stripe goes directly down the horses spine and is usually black or a shade of brown that is darker than their coat color.

The coat of the horse is probably the easiest way to differentiate between horses. It is the easiest to see, and there are so many different colors to see. The first color, and one of the more common colors, is a black horse. Now there is not just black. This category is actually broken down into two different colors: ordinary black and jet black. Ordinary black horses appear black most of the time, but their coat can fade sometimes to a rusty brown if they are exposed to the sun for long periods of time. Jet black horses will be black all year round, and their coat sometimes looks like it’s almost a bluish black.

The next color is chestnut or sorrel. These colors are basically a reddish-brown. Their manes and tails will always be red or blonde. They will never have any black in their coat.

Quite similar to the chestnut and sorrel colored horses, a bay horse has a reddish-brown coat with a black mane and tail. These are the three main coat colors, but each of these can have different shades which can sometimes cause a different name to be used. There is the dun, grulla, palomino, buckskin, cremello, and silver dapple.

There are also the “white” horses. These horses have white in their coats but do not always look white. They are considered to have patterns of white. Grey horses are pretty much white with grey spots. This also includes paint horses which are one of the colors listed above but also have large white patches all over their body. The classification of paints depends on where their white spots are located. The three types of paint horses are overo, tobiano, and sabino. My horse is considered an overo paint because his white patches do not cross over his spine.

Pushing Personality

The first thing you need to learn about horses before you do anything with them is you need to discover their personality. Every horse has a different personality, and that personality affects the way they need to be treated.

According to Pat Parelli, a horse trainer who focuses on natural horsemanship, there are 4 types of personalities. They would include the right-brained introvert, right-brained extrovert, left-brained introvert, and left-brained extrovert.

A horse that is a right-brained introvert has a personality that is shy, tense, unpredictable, and has a tendency to freeze and then explode. These horses are the definition of fight or flight. They are very unconfident and will run from any situation that is new or unfamiliar. These horses can’t think. They just react. They can be very dangerous to anyone who is not confident and experienced around horses.

Right-brained extrovert horses are quite similar to that or a right-brained introvert except they are very frantic. Unlike the introvert, the extroverted horses just explode. They have a tendency to buck and rear when they sense danger. These horses act instinctively and do not really think about what they need to do to get away from danger. They can be described as fearful, spooky, claustrophobic, over-reactive, hypersensitive, can’t think, emotional, and they have difficulty with change. They have no self control and this may cause them to have trouble learning anything new.

Now, we switch from the right brain to the left brain. Left-brained introverts can have characteristics such as being sully, bored, disinterested, unmotivated, lazy, and stubborn. These horses often win out by not responding to what their rider is telling them until the rider gives up. These introverts are not afraid of people. They are very self-confident and love to play. When they want something from you, they tend to be very pushy and can sometimes get aggressive. These horses can be dangerous if you lose their trust.

Lastly, there is the left-brained extrovert. These horses have characteristics such as being mischievous, energetic, willful, disobedient, and domineering. They are probably the easiest to train unless you are boring and repetitive with your motions. They are similar to the left-brained introvert in that they are self-confident and are not afraid of people, but these horses are very energetic and excitable.

Even though there are only four personalities that are described, many horses can be a mixture of a couple personalities. If put into a scary situation, any horse can show the right-brained characteristics because the fight or flight response is programmed into their brains. When you are around horses, you need to make sure that you are not afraid yourself. Horses can sense that panic which makes them become more uptight and nervous themselves. It is very important to stay relaxed in scary situations. This allows you to keep an open mind and you’re able to keep the horse calm which can allow you to get yourself out of danger.

It is very important to keep all of these personalities in mind when you are around horses. You can be a much safer person if you are able to identify what kind of personality a horse has.

Horse savvy is a great place to learn about your everyday horse care. If you are at all interested in learning about what it takes to care for a horse, this is a great place to start.

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man" ~Winston Churchill