There’s just something majestic about black horses. Maybe it’s the fame of The Black Stallion or the beauty and elegance of these dark-colored equines that delights us. In celebration of our love for them, here are 12 facts that you might not know:

◆ There are only two base colors in equines: black and red (chestnut). Every other color is a modified version of one of these two colors.

◆ Black is dominant over chestnut. If a black horse carries two copies of the black gene, the horse is said to be homozygous black; if a black horse carries one copy of the black gene and one copy of the red gene, the horse is heterozygous black.

◆ Two black horses can produce a black foal. Or a chestnut. That’s because if each of the them carries a copy of the recessive chestnut gene, the foal could conceivably receive a copy from each parent and—voila!—a chestnut foal arrives.

◆ Two black horses cannot produce a bay foal, but two bays can (theoretically) produce a black foal. It’s complicated but true.

◆ Black horses are born. . . gray? While this isn’t always the case, many are a unique shade of mouse-gray at birth. The true black coat is revealed after the mousey-colored baby coat sheds out.

◆ The classic children’s novel, Black Beauty, is said to have sold over 50 million copies since its publication in 1877.

◆ A black mare named Burmese was gifted to Queen Elizabeth II in 1969 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Queen rode Burmese during the Trooping the Color ceremonies for nearly twenty years.

◆ Friesians are well-known for their black coloring and minimal white markings.

◆ Some black horses “fade” in the summer sun, and these are known as (you guessed it) “fading blacks.” Those that retain their ink-black coloring are known as (here comes another shocker) “non-fading blacks.”

◆ The “most famous fictional horse of the century” (according to The New York Times) is Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion. At the time of Mr. Farley’s death in 1989, his books were said to have sold more than 12 million copies.

◆ A black Thoroughbred named Black Gold was the winner of the 1924 Kentucky Derby and a Hall of Fame entrant. Black Gold was also the focus of Marguerite Henry’s 1957 book of the same name.

◆ Aside from Black Gold, only three other black horses have won the Kentucky Derby: Halma in 1895, George Smith in 1916, and Flying Ebony in 1925.

Has a beautiful ebony horse been an important part of your life? Share your stories in the comments!

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With all these zombie films and shows in pop culture, maybe you have thoughts of zombie horse hoards crossing your pastures during a full moon. No? Perhaps you have nightmares that all the carrots you’ve ever sacrificed to your horse’s chompers are now back for revenge. Not really? Well, even if the scariest thing about your barn is all the stalls you have to clean, here’s a spooky-themed anatomy lesson: your horse’s skeleton is way cooler than you might think. Here’s why.

1. Most horses have 205 bones in their skeleton but this can vary across some breeds. Arabians, for example, can have fewer bones in their spinal column. And while most horses have 18 ribs, because some Arabians’ thoracic spinal column is shorter, this breed may only have 17 ribs. Eight of these ribs—for all breeds—are considered “true ribs”, meaning they completely connect between the spinal column and the sternum. The remaining ribs are called “floating” because they do not reach all the way to the sternum.

2. The withers of your horse are actually the spiny vertical tops of the thoracic vertebrae. On a skeleton, they appear long and narrow and a horse’s heavily muscled back shapes them into the more comfortable saddle-sitting area we know on a live horse.

3. Most horse lovers are aware of the amazing structure of a horse’s hooves: the coffin bone, also called P3 which is short for the third phalanx, sits inside the hoof capsule, suspended by delicate, Velcro-like soft tissue called the laminae. This coffin bone is synonymous with the tip of a human’s middle finger, meaning your horse literally stands on the tip of one toe. The remaining “fingers” have long since faded away with the evolution of the horse, but the split bones along the cannon bone are vestigial remnants of the second and fourth fingers.

4. Horses don’t have a collarbone, also known as the clavicle.

5. A horse’s knee in his front legs is called the carpus and is analogous to our wrist. Understandably complex, this joint in the horse is made of two rows consisting of three primary bones each. Sometimes, a very small “extra” bone is present in the carpus. This has no purpose and causes no problems but can sometimes be confused for a chip fracture on an x-ray.

6. Talk of navicular bones sometimes breeds fear in the heart of horse owners. This pesky miniature bone buried deep in the hoof behind the coffin bone is the source of a frustrating and sometimes career-ending condition in horses called navicular syndrome. Navicular means “boat-shaped” but this term comes from the human navicular bone’s concave surface as it is wedged in the foot right in front of the ankle. In horses, the navicular bone is in a different location and is actually a sesamoid bone, analogous to the tiny bones that sit underneath our toes at the balls of our feet.

7. Lastly, it’s no joking matter. While sometimes hotly debated in barns across the country, the science just doesn’t support it: horses lack a funny bone.

This article about the horse skeleton is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine, originally published October 2016. Click here to subscribe!

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We’ve talked about the allure of palomino horses and explored facts about chestnuts, but today let’s turn our attention to horses of yet another delightful color: gray. With their stunning beauty and fascinating genetics, gray horses have delighted equine enthusiasts for centuries. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Gray horses have one or two copies of the gray gene. A horse with one copy of the gray gene is said to be heterozygous for gray and can potentially produce gray OR non-gray offspring, depending on whether or not the gene is passed on. An equine with two copies of the gray gene is said to be homozygous for gray and all of the horse’s offspring will turn gray, without exception. This is because the horse does not possess a non-gray gene and therefore can only pass gray.

2. Gray can be spelled g-r-e-y- or g-r-a-y. Some breed associations prefer grey, others prefer gray. The University of California-Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory uses gray.

3. They can be born any color. There’s a common misconception that all grays are born black. Not so! They could conceivably be born ANY color. (It’s interesting to note, however, that when a black foal is going to go gray, it is usually born a deep, jet-black. Black foals that do not carry the gray gene are often born a mousy-gray color, which is why people sometimes joke that “black horses are born gray, gray horses are born black.”)

4. Gray is a modifier. Gray modifies the base coat color, transforming it to gray. Genetically, the horse is the color it appeared at birth, but the presence of the gray gene modifies the coat color to gray.

5. They must have at least one gray parent. The gray gene is a dominant gene and cannot “show up” later on, as recessive genes are wont to do. So if your horse is gray, you know without question that one or both of its parents were gray.

6. They keep life interesting thanks to the myriad shades of this color from “rose gray” and “dappled” to “flea-bitten” and “pure white.” It’s a transformative process that can take many years.

7. Grays are found in many breeds. The color is commonly associated with the Lipizzan breed, but it is also very common in Andalusians, Arabians, Welsh Ponies, and is accepted as a color by most breed registries.

8. Gray horses have won the Kentucky Derby on eight occasions. These famous gray Thoroughbreds include: Determine, Decidedly, Spectacular Bi, Gato Del Sol, Winning Colors (a filly), Silver Charm, Monarchos, and—most recently—Giacamo in 2005.

9. The only Kentucky Derby winner to be disqualified was a gray. Dancer’s Image, initial winner of the 1968 Kentucky Derby, was later disqualified after a drug test showed the presence of phenylbutazone. The disqualification remains a topic of controversy even today.

10. The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, the 1968 Disney comedy starring Dean Jones and Kurt Russell, features a gray horse named Aspercel.

Has your life been influenced by the companionship of a gray horse? Share your stories in the comments!

This article is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine, originally published September 2016. Click here to subscribe!

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Let’s start with answers to some frequently asked questions about measuring a horse’s height:

What is the average horse height?

The average horse height is between 13.3 and 17.3 hands tall (or 1.4–1.8 meters), but it should be noted that this figure includes all breeds.

Why are horses measured in hands?

A hand, which is the equivalent to four inches, is the traditional measure used to determine the height of a horse. It is still used extensively in a variety of English-speaking nations. In the world of equestrians, it has been retained as the most preferred measure, although the metric system is used in FEI-regulated international competitions. It is usually abbreviated to “h” or “hh” (the latter meaning “hands high”).

How do you measure a horse?

To measure a horse’s height, be sure they’re standing on a level surface. Using a measuring stick or tape measure, take measurements directly from the ground all the way to the top of the withers. Do not measure to any other point on the horse’s body; the withers are the universal point of measurement for horse height.

Watch a video demonstrating how to measure a horse’s height >>
Pony Club Skills: Measuring a Horse>>

Explore the infographic below and take a fun look at the different average heights of some common horse breeds and how they compare to each other—there’s a wide range of sizes in the equine world!

Click image to view larger

Note: The two Miniature Horse registries, the American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) and the American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR), have different criteria for measuring Miniature Horses. The AMHA will not register a horse of a height over 34” tall, while the AMHR has two separate categories of sizes; horses under 34”, and horses between 34” and 38”. All registered Miniature Horses will be under 38” tall.

This article about horse heights is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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1. Horses have large hearts.

A horse’s heart weighs about 10 pounds (in comparison to the human heart, which weighs less than a pound). But in an amazing coincidence, two Thoroughbred racehorses who competed in 1973’s Triple Crown series possessed extra-large hearts: 22 pounds for the amazing Secretariat and 18 pounds for his rival, Sham!

2. Horses are incredibly intelligent.

If you’ve spent much time around horses, this probably comes as no surprise, but horses are incredibly intelligent. In fact, studies have shown that horses understand variances in human facial expressions, are capable of indicating preferences, and can exhibit at least some degree of empathy.

3. Horses have exceptionally large eyes.

Horses have exceptionally large eyes (some of the largest eyes of any mammal), and the prominent placement of the eyes on the sides of a horse’s face results in vision that is known as monocular. Humans have binocular vision, meaning that the eyes work together to view the same scene. With monocular vision, horses see two different scenes independently.

4. The average gestation period of equines is approximately 340 days.

This is similar to the gestation periods of llamas, alpacas, and seals. Variations can and do occur, but most mares typically carry their foals in the range of 320 to 370 days. Situations beyond either extreme aren’t unheard of, but they aren’t common, either. Mares carrying colts (male foals) tend to have slightly longer gestation periods than mares carrying fillies (female foals), and foals born in January tend to have shorter gestations than foals born later in the season.

5. Horses come in a variety of different colors.

Bay, black, buckskin, cremello, chestnut, champagne—the genetics behind equine coat colors can be complicated! Thankfully, some of the rules are easy, so here are a couple to keep in mind:

◆ A gray horse must have at least one gray parent.
◆ Two chestnut horses will always produce a chestnut foal.

6. Horses have 205 bones.

Envision the skeletal system of the human body, and then mentally compare it to the skeletal system of a horse. Which one do you think has the higher number of bones? The answer: they’re virtually identical! Adult humans have 206 bones, while most adult horses have 205 bones.

7. Arabian horses specifically have a unique skeleton.

And speaking of bones, here’s a quick shout-out to the amazing Arabian’s special skeleton. With only five lumbar vertebrae in their backs (most horses have six) and one less rib, Arabians tend to have shorter backs than other horse breeds.

8. Some horse breeds have amazing speed.

As anyone who has ever watched a horse race can attest, horses are capable of achieving impressive rates of speed. Although the Thoroughbred is the breed that comes to mind when talking about speedy horses, Thoroughbreds generally excel at carrying their speed over long distances of ¾ of a mile to 1½ miles or more. For short distances, the American Quarter Horse is actually the fastest breed, capable of sustaining 45 mph for ¼ mile.

9. You can tell a horse’s age by its teeth.

Don’t look that gift horse in the mouth, because you may just discover that he’s a bit older than you expected! Quaint proverbs aside, it’s possible to determine a horse’s age with a fair degree of accuracy simply by examining his teeth. The presence or absence of certain deciduous teeth, the particular markings on the teeth, and the angle of the upper and lower incisors can all be used to help estimate the age of a horse.

10. Horses played a role in ancient Egypt.

Horses were an important part of ancient Egyptian history, but only after their introduction to the country in about 1600 BC. The famous pharaoh Ramses the Great (Ramses III) even recorded the names of his two chariot horses; they were “Victory in Thebes” and “Mut is Contented.”

11. Horses also have an important role in American history.

Think of all the iconic scenes from history: hardworking horses on cattle drives, farm horses plowing fields, carriage horses in cities, Pony Express riders galloping across the West. But all of this is fairly recent history, as horses have only been present in North America for about 500 years. Columbus—and shortly after, Spanish explorers—brought the first horses across the Atlantic.

12. The most popular breed in the U.S. is the American Quarter Horse.

And for our final of 12 facts about horses: While the world is populated with hundreds of different horse and pony breeds, the most popular breed in the United States is the American Quarter Horse. The American Quarter Horse Association has registered nearly 6 million horses worldwide since 1940.

After these 12 fun facts about horses, what do you find fascinating about our equine companions? Share your stories in the comments!

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We’ve gathered up 15 fun facts about these lovely, long-eared equines—read on to test your knowledge and learn something new!

• A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, and typically possesses
  a mix of horse and donkey characteristics (long ears , for example).
• A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Mules and hinnies are
  nearly always sterile and cannot reproduce; therefore every mule or hinny is a hybrid horse/donkey cross.
• Mules come in all sizes from miniature to draft. Because of this, mules are versatile and excel in many areas.
• Draft mules are the product of horse mares crossed with mammoth jack donkeys.
• Mules have long been popular as pack animals and they were of historical importance during the era of Western Expansion.
• Although the phrase “stubborn as a mule” suggests otherwise, research has proven
  that mules are actually quite intelligent. The “stubborn” stereotype is likely inaccurate in many cases.
• Mules are found in a variety of colors and patterns (including Appaloosa patterns),
  and sometimes exhibit characteristics of donkey coloring, such as lighter-colored
  muzzles (this trait is known as pangaré).
• George Washington appreciated the qualities of mules and is said to have been the
  first American breeder of mules.
• The first successfully cloned equine was a mule named Idaho Gem, born in May 2003. The cloning project was a collaborative effort between the University of Idaho and Utah State University.
• The American Mule Racing Association exists “to promote the racing of mules at recognized distances in the sport of racing.” Mules are noted for their strength and stamina, characteristics that help them excel in the sport of racing, especially at short distances.
• Black Ruby, a champion racing mule, won over 50 races before her retirement in 2008.
• Francis the Talking Mule was the star of a 1950s comedy film series. Francis was voiced by actor and singer Chill Wills.
• The American Mule Museum is an organization dedicated to telling “the story of the contributions of the unsung hero, the mule.” Fundraising is currently underway to build a museum in Bishop, Calif.
• Mule Days, an annual event to promote “the legacy, heritage and talents of the mule” is held each Memorial Day weekend in Bishop, Calif. A full slate of classes include western pleasure, cowboy dressage, hunter hack, costume class, and everything in between.
• Mules hold a special place in our hearts.

Is there a mule in your barn? Share your stories in the comments!

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In honor of this day, we decided to spend a little time remembering one of the all-time greatest Western movie stars—and King of the Cowboys—Roy Rogers. There are so many reasons to like Roy. His movies were filled with excitement, mystery, and plenty of cowboy-style crooning. They were also mostly family-friendly and thousands of children spent their Saturday afternoons watching the incredible adventures of Roy Rogers and Trigger.

Here are four facts about the King of the Cowboys, plus one about his golden palomino.

1. His real name was not Roy Rogers

When he got his first contract with Republic Pictures, the studio was not satisfied with his birth name. They felt it wasn’t rugged enough for the cowboy character they had in mind, so the first thing they did for their new star was dream up a new name for him. That name was Roy Rogers; “Rogers” after famous comedian Will Rogers, and “Roy” just for lyrical, alliterative purposes.

So, what was his rejected given name?

Leonard Franklin Slye.

2. He’s an inspiration to introverts everywhere

You may think that to be successful in movies, you need to be outgoing and extroverted. But Roy Rogers proved otherwise. In his Leonard Slye days, he was a very shy and sensitive young man who dropped out of night school in his teens because his classmates made fun of him, and he almost missed his first chance to perform on the radio when he was seized by stage fright. But he didn’t let his shyness stand in the way of what he wanted to do, and he became one of the most popular movie stars of all time.

3. He graced the silver screen for over 50 years

Roy Rogers was a remarkably prolific actor. He acted in at least two (sometimes as many as eight) movies every year from 1935 to 1951, and starred in the vast majority of them. From 1951 to 1957, he and Dale Evans starred together in The Roy Rogers Show. His involvement in movies waned after 1951, but he still appeared occasionally in films and on television through 1984. For ten years (1942 to 1952) he was one of the most popular Western stars in the country.

4. He was married three times

While his name will be forever linked with that of his third wife, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers actually was married twice before. His first marriage was in 1933 to Lucile Ascolese, but it ended quickly in divorce. His second marriage was in 1936 to Arline Wilkins, and the couple had two children, Linda Lou and Roy, Jr., (known as Dusty). They also adopted a daughter, Cheryl. Arline died in 1946 after the birth of Dusty.

After Roy and Dale married in 1947, they had one daughter, Robin, and adopted four children, Marion, Dodie, Sammy, and Debbie. Dale also had one son, Tommy, from a previous marriage.

Of course, we have to include a bonus fact about Roy’s inseparable sidekick, Trigger:

1. Trigger’s movie career began without Roy

The talented palomino colt who would eventually become Roy Rogers’ Trigger began life as “Golden Cloud,” and began his incredible career in the 1938 film, The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was ridden by Olivia de Havilland, who played Maid Marian. “Golden Cloud” (soon renamed Trigger) was offered as Roy’s movie mount shortly thereafter, along with four other equine actors, and according to anecdotes; Roy knew immediately that Trigger was a very special horse. Over 31 years of life, Trigger starred alongside Roy in almost ninety films, 100 episodes of The Roy Rogers Show, and innumerable personal appearances. Now that’s what we call a dedicated actor.

Samantha Johnson is a freelance writer and the author of several books, including The Field Guide to Horses, (Voyageur Press, 2009). She raises Welsh Mountain Ponies in northern Wisconsin and is a certified horse show judge. Follow her on Twitter: @miraclewelsh.

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Everybody loves the beauty of a gorgeous chestnut horse, but how much do you really know about chestnut horses? Expand your chestnut-horse knowledge with these 16 fun facts, then quiz your friends. Enjoy!

1. There are only two base colors in horses: black and red (chestnut). Every other color is a modified version of one of these two colors.

2. A chestnut horse carries two copies of the recessive gene for red coat color pigment

3. A chestnut mare bred to a chestnut stallion will always produce a chestnut foal. No exceptions, 100% of the time, we promise.

4. Two black horses can potentially produce a chestnut foal. (It doesn’t seem possible, but it is.)

5. Chestnuts can vary in shade from very light to very dark. Some liver chestnut horses can appear almost black or bay.

6. Chestnuts are very wise.

7. The top two horses on The Blood-Horse magazine’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century (Man o’ War and Secretariat) were chestnut.

8. Chestnut is sometimes known as “sorrel,” although some people differentiate between the two terms based on the color of the mane and tail (whether or not the hair is flaxen or red). The term “sorrel” is primarily used in stock horse breeds.

9. Palomino coat coloring is produced when a chestnut also carries one copy of the cream (dilution) gene.

10. Over time, chestnut mares have sometimes been saddled with a stereotypical reputation. (We’ve previously debunked the chestnut mare myth with examples of wondrously talented chestnut mares, including Genuine Risk.)

11. Chestnut is the only color recognized in the Suffolk Punch breed. (Their registry spells it as “chesnut.”)

12. Haflingers are also exclusively chestnut. Their color may range from “pale chestnut to dark liver chestnut with pale mane and tail,” according to the American Haflinger Registry breed standard.

13. Over half of the horses inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame (as of 2011) have been chestnut or sorrel.

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