Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What is the life expectancy of a horse?
Depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable record was "Old Billy", a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in "Guinness World Records" as the world's oldest living pony, died in 2007 at age 56.
On Gili islands, horses suffer a bad treatment.
Whereas horses normally live about 25 years, they do not live more than a few years on Gili islands because of the amount of work they are demanded and the lack of care from their owners who ignore what they need. Pulling carts around the island wouldn’t be a problem for their health if they could drink fresh water and rest regularly, and be treated when they need to.
That’s why the Gili Eco Trust opens its clinic for free to the horses of the island every 1st and 15th day of the month, in association with the horse center Umalas from Bali and encourages businesses to install in front of their shop a fresh water bucket for the horses.
Horses require both shelter from natural elements like wind and precipitation, as well as room to exercise. Worldwide, horses and other equids usually live outside with access to shelter for protection from the elements. In some cases, animals are kept in a barn or stable for ease of access by managers, or for protection from the weather for various reasons. For horse owners who do not own their own land, fields and barns can be rented from a private land owner or space for an individual horse may be rented from a boarding farm. Horses that are not on full-time turnout in a field or pasture normally require some form of regular exercise, whether it is being ridden, longed or turned out for free time. However, if a horse is ill or injured it may need to be confined to a stable, usually in a box stall.
In English-speaking countries, the height of horses is often stated in units of hands and inches: one hand is equal to . The height is expressed as the number of full hands, followed by a point, then the number of additional inches, and ending with the abbreviation "h" or "hh" (for "hands high"). Thus, a horse described as "15.2 h" is 15 hands plus 2 inches, for a total of in height.
The size of horses varies by breed, but also is influenced by nutrition. Light riding horses usually range in height from and can weigh from . Larger riding horses usually start at about and often are as tall as , weighing from . Heavy or draft horses are usually at least high and can be as tall as high. They can weigh from about .
The horse adapted to survive in areas of wide-open terrain with sparse vegetation, surviving in an ecosystem where other large grazing animals, especially ruminants, could not. Horses and other equids are odd-toed ungulates of the order Perissodactyla, a group of mammals that was dominant during the Tertiary period. In the past, this order contained 14 families, but only three—Equidae (the horse and related species), Tapiridae (the tapir), and Rhinocerotidae (the rhinoceroses)—have survived to the present day.
A horse has an average total of 18 thoracic vertebrae, with 5 located in the withers. Each thoracic vertebra is also associated with a rib. A horse also has, on average, six lumbar vertebrae. Some breeds, such as the Arabian, will sometimes, but not always, have five lumbar vertebrae and 17 thoracic vertebrae. There appears to be little correlation between back length and number of vertebrae, as many horses with short backs do have the typical number of vertebrae. The length of each vertebra in the lumbar region seems to have the greater influence on the strength of the horse's back.
Each wooden carousel horse that is attached to the operational carousel required several hours of restoration labor. Upon arrival to the museum, many of these artifacts dated close to 100 years old, and had an original life expectancy of around five years. Due to wood rot, many of the horses had to be completely re-carved by hand. The process of re-carving utilized the same primitive tools that would have been used in the original making. It is estimated that thousands of hours of labor were volunteered to complete the projects. To keep with historical building styles, each horse contains wooden dowels instead of nails (Reinhardt,2014).
Due to scarcity of water, the Namib Desert Horse sometimes goes without water for as long as thirty hours in summer and has been known to go close to 72 hours without water during the winter, significantly longer than most horses, even other feral herds. A 1991 study suggested that in 75 years of genetic isolation and water scarcity the population had developed physiological mechanisms which improved their ability to conserve water. In 1993, a second study showed that the physiological water-conservation ability did not differ between Namib Desert Horses and other populations when dehydrated for periods of up to 60 hours, but suggested that the Namib Desert Horse would show improved conservation ability when dehydration periods were extended to upwards of 72 hours, a common occurrence in their feral state.
Horses can be bathed by being wet down with a garden hose or by being sponged off with water from a bucket. Horses do not require bathing and many horses live their entire lives without a bath. However, horses are often hosed off with water after a heavy workout as part of the cooling down process, and are often given baths prior to a horse show to remove every possible speck of dirt. They must be trained to accept bathing, as a hose and running water are unfamiliar objects and initially may frighten a horse. A hose is usually used for bathing. Start near the legs, being careful to point the hose at a downward angle. When spraying the body, be sure to angle the hose so that water doesn't hit the horse in the face. Either horse or human shampoo may be safely used on a horse, if thoroughly rinsed out, and cream rinses or hair conditioners, similar to those used by humans, are often used on show horses. Too-frequent shampooing can strip the hair coat of natural oils and cause it to dry out. Though horses in heavy work, such as racehorses, may be rinsed off after their daily workout, it is generally not advisable to shampoo a horse more than once a week, even in the show season. A well-groomed, clean horse can be kept clean by wearing a horse blanket or horse sheet.
Although the average lifespan of a queen in most subspecies is three to five years, reports from the German-European black bee subspecies previously used for beekeeping indicate that a queen can live up to eight years. Because a queen's store of sperm is depleted near the end of her life, she begins laying more unfertilized eggs; for this reason, beekeepers often replace queens every year or two.
Since 1896, the Devon Horse Show is the oldest and largest outdoor multi-breed horse competition in the United States. The Annual Horse show and Country Fair promotes horsemanship and horse breeding for conformation, performance and speed. The original ideas and activities of the show have changed dramatically over the decades. The show attracts people from all over the world, as both competitors and spectators.
Tyrolean Hounds have an average life expectancy of about 12 to 14 years overall. These dogs are robust and generally healthy. They need to keep an active lifestyle and have high exercise requirements, though not hyperactive. As puppies, they should be given high-quality dry food until about 12 months when they can be transferred over to adult dry food. They can also take either active or working dog formulas, respectively with their lifestyle. When they are adults it can be necessary to keep them engaged with mental stimulation. Without such exercises or obedience training, they may lose passion in their work or other nuisance behaviors may appear. Also, with the harsh double coat that the Tyrolean Hound bares, they may need to be brushed once or two times a week along with other various health duties such as; teeth brushing, coat grooming, and a weekly ear cleaning.
There are eight major recognized blood groups in horses. Seven of them, A, C, D, K, P, Q, and U, are internationally recognized, with an eighth, T, which is primarily used in research. Each blood group has at least two allelic factors (for example, the A blood group has a, b, c, d, e, f, and g), which can be combined in all combinations (Aa, Afg, Abedg, etc.), to make many different alleles. This means that horses can have around 400,000 allelic combinations, allowing blood testing to be used as an accurate method of identifying a horse or determining parentage. Unlike humans, horses do not naturally produce antibodies against red blood cell antigens that they do not possess; this only occurs if they are somehow exposed to a different blood type, such as through blood transfusion of transplacental hemorrhage during parturition.
Equus is a genus of mammals in the family Equidae, which includes horses, donkeys, and zebras. Within Equidae, "Equus" is the only recognized extant genus, comprising seven living species. The term equine refers to any member of this genus, including horses. Like Equidae more broadly, "Equus" has numerous extinct species known only from fossils. The genus most likely originated in North America and spread quickly to the Old World. Equines are odd-toed ungulates with slender legs, long heads, relatively long necks, manes (erect in most subspecies), and long tails. All species are herbivorous, and mostly grazers, with simpler digestive systems than ruminants, but able to subsist on lower-quality vegetation.
Currently, the world's tallest horse is a Belgian Draft horse named Big Jake, a gelding born in 2000. He stands tall.
Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus "Equus". Equidae belongs to the order Perissodactyla, which includes the extant tapirs and rhinoceros, and several extinct families.
The Racking Horse World Celebration is the largest show for the Racking Horse breed. It is held annually in late September at the Celebration Arena in Priceville, Alabama, a few miles outside Decatur. The Celebration encompasses over a week of nightly shows, and includes approximately 170 classes. Over 1,000 horses compete there each year, and spectator attendance is roughly 70,000.
The World Celebration's counterpart is the Spring Celebration, held in April at the same location.
The Devon Horse Show, also known as The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is an annual horse show which has been held late May through early June in Devon, Pennsylvania since 1896. It is the oldest and largest outdoor multi-breed horse show in the U.S. The event serves as a fundraiser for Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Heart of Darkness (11 February 1988 – 25 May 2011) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed by far his best form a juvenile in 1990 when he won two of his three races including the Washington Singer Stakes and the National Stakes before his career was interrupted by a serious leg injury. He failed to win again for two years before taking two minor races in the autumn of 1992. He later stood as a breeding stallion in Australia with limited success.
Though bloody, this method would take the shortest amount of time to kill the animal out of all the hypotheses. Because of the differences of anatomy between species possibly hunted by machairodonts, the geometry needed to kill a horse, for instance, might not work for a bison. This would require the genus, or even the specific species, to be highly specialized for one type of prey animal. This might offer an explanation for their extinction, for the movement or extinction of that prey species would lead to the death of its specialist predator.
The Haflinger, also known as the Avelignese, is a breed of horse developed in Austria and northern Italy (namely Hafling in South Tyrol region) during the late nineteenth century. Haflinger horses are relatively small, are always chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, have distinctive gaits described as energetic but smooth, and are well-muscled yet elegant. The breed traces its ancestry to the Middle Ages; there are several theories for its origin. Haflingers, developed for use in mountainous terrain, are known for their hardiness. Their current conformation and appearance are the result of infusions of bloodlines from Arabian and various European breeds into the original native Tyrolean ponies. The foundation sire, 249 Folie, was born in 1874; by 1904 the first breeders' cooperative was formed. All Haflingers can trace their lineage back to Folie through one of seven bloodlines. World Wars I and II, as well as the Great Depression, had a detrimental effect on the breed, and lower-quality animals were used at times to save the breed from extinction. During World War II, breeders focused on horses that were shorter and more draft-like, favored by the military for use as packhorses. The emphasis after the war shifted toward animals of increased refinement and height.
Depending on maturity, breed, and work expected, horses are usually put under saddle and trained to be ridden between the ages of two and four. Although Thoroughbred race horses are put on the track as young as the age of two in some countries, horses specifically bred for sports such as dressage are generally not put under saddle until they are three or four years old, because their bones and muscles are not solidly developed. For endurance riding competition, horses are not deemed mature enough to compete until they are a full 60 calendar months (five years) old.
Life expectancy usually varies within a range. For example, a Beagle (average life expectancy 13.3 years) usually lives to around 12–15 years, and a Scottish Terrier (average life expectancy 12 years) usually lives to around 10–16 years.
The number of horses killed in the war was at the time unprecedented in modern warfare. For example, in the Relief of Kimberley, French's cavalry rode 500 horses to their deaths in a single day. The wastage was particularly heavy among British forces for several reasons: overloading of horses with unnecessary equipment and saddlery, failure to rest and acclimatise horses after long sea voyages and, later in the war, poor management by inexperienced mounted troops and distant control by unsympathetic staffs. The average life expectancy of a British horse, from the time of its arrival in Port Elizabeth, was around six weeks.
Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote that "Singer/songwriter Jeffrey Foucault likes to play in a familiar, slow-moving country-folk style; this is a guy who has been to the desert on "A Horse with No Name," searching for a "Heart of Gold." The lyrical reflections he expresses so introspectively also tend to be spare and allusive... For the most part, however, Foucault is a miniaturist as interested in evoking mood as meaning in his atmospheric music, expecting his listeners to fill in the blanks." David Kleiner of Minor 7th wrote "Writers should check out Foucault's similes, here ("singing / darker than the sea") and throughout ("smoking like a river / in the dark before the dawn"), as the comparison is always unexpected and richer for it... What you remember is, "When I had one good coat, I was warm." You disappear. Only Foucault's songs remain, as haunting as they are haunted."