General guides

Know your horse: anatomy, behaviour, lifecycle and history, grouped by topic.

Anatomy 6

Anatomy overview →

Heart and lungs: the horse's power train

A heart that beats from around 30 to 240 times a minute, and in a resting Thoroughbred pumps seven times as much blood as ours: how the horse's heart and lungs make it such a remarkable athlete, and how to keep them healthy.5 min read

How horses sense the world

Eyes that see almost all the way round, ears that pick up sounds we can't hear, and whiskers that feel what the eyes miss: a prey animal's senses, and what they mean for handling horses.6 min read

Inside the hoof

A horse stands on the tip of a single toe, wrapped in a keratin wall that takes most of a year to grow from top to bottom. Here's what each part of the hoof does, and how it evolved.6 min read

Skeleton and movement: a body built to travel

How the horse's frame carries power from the hindquarters to the head, what you can feel of the skeleton under your hands, and how millions of years of evolution turned a small many-toed animal into an endurance athlete.7 min read

Teeth: how horses' teeth work

A horse's teeth keep emerging from the jaw for most of its life, wearing down a few millimetres a year as it grinds tough forage. Here's how they work, and why they need regular checks.6 min read

The digestive system: from lips to hindgut

Follow a mouthful of grass on its journey through a horse, from the whiskers that find it to the 35-litre fermentation vat that turns fibre into energy.7 min read

Behaviour & temperament 4

Behaviour & temperament overview →

How horses learn: training and temperament

Horses learn all the time, not just in training sessions. How learning works, why fear stops it, which training methods help, and how to build a calm, confident horse.7 min read

How horses live: herd life and natural behaviour

Horses are sociable prey animals built to graze and roam with friends for most of the day. Understanding how they evolved to live explains much of what they do, and what they need from us.7 min read

Reading your horse: body language and communication

Ears, eyes, muzzle, tail and stance tell you how a horse feels, often long before it does anything dramatic. Here's how to read a relaxed, alert, annoyed or uncomfortable horse, and the subtle signs that can mean pain.7 min read

Stress and stereotypic behaviour

What stress does to a horse, the common causes, why some horses weave, crib-bite or box-walk, and why the answer is to change the horse's life rather than block the behaviour.8 min read

Lifecycle 4

Lifecycle overview →

Breeding and foaling

A mare carries her foal for about 11 months, and the birth itself can be over in minutes. What to think about before breeding, how to care for a pregnant mare, the signs that foaling is near, and what should happen in a foal's first hours.8 min read

Caring for an older horse

Horses live longer than ever, many into their 30s. How to spot the signs of ageing, and how to adapt feeding, teeth, feet, exercise and retirement so an older horse stays comfortable and content.8 min read

End of life: planning and saying goodbye

Few horses die peacefully of old age, so most owners will one day face a decision about euthanasia. How to judge quality of life, why planning ahead helps, what happens on the day and afterwards, and where to find support.8 min read

Foals and young horses

Everything a young horse experiences shapes the adult it becomes. Handling from day one, low-stress weaning, the paperwork a foal needs, and growing up with friends, forage and freedom.7 min read

History of the horse 2

History of the horse overview →

Horses in British history

For centuries horses ploughed Britain's fields, pulled its cabs and carried its armies. How they shaped the country, and how caring for them gave rise to the farrier's craft, the veterinary profession and the world's oldest horse charity.7 min read

Where horses came from: evolution and domestication

Horses began as small, many-toed animals in North America, lost their side toes on the way to becoming long-distance trotters, and became the domestic horse that spread out from the grasslands of western Eurasia about 4,000 years ago.6 min read