youd think horses were one of those animals that has horrible health due to humans breeding unhealthy animals to achieve a certain look but no they really are just naturally that fucked up
horses’ lungs bleed when they run at a certain speed
if their diet is too rich / low in selenium their hooves fall off
excuse me
The reason they have such poor health outcomes after breaking or otherwise injuring their legs is because their legs are actually hyper-specialized fingers; and as in human fingers, there is very little muscle supporting the bone, just a lot of cartilage and tendons and whatnot. You’d think an animal that literally evolved to run away to avoid being eaten would have ALSO evolved sturdier running appendages, but…
I fucking hate this post, it’s 1 AM I don’t want to know that horse legs are giant fucking fingers
holy shit
the homologues of the (human) knee and elbow on a horse are at the level of the ribcage. the “knees” in the middle of the legs are homologous to wrists on the front and heels on the back. anything below that is hand/foot.
I understood most of that but the diagram for me is what makes me never want to look at a horse again
arabian horses have been bred so badly that they have breathing problems because of the shape of their face
This is how horses are built compared to a human
I wish Tumblr would stop telling me things about horses
Oh yay, something I can expand on as a lifetime equestrian.
A horse’s digestive system is absolutely awful. They’re forage animals and so they need to eat constantly to keep their digestive organs happy and functioning properly. If there are gaps in their intake, like say, when they are stabled and not receiving constant forage, their stomachs fill with acid and start to corrode their stomach lining, giving them ulcers. Not to mention their intestines don’t have food to constantly push through the system, so it can cause blockages and backups. Horses also don’t have the ability to throw up, so if something enters their stomach that isn’t digestible, it will likely block their system.
More horses die from stomach aches (colic) than anything - if they feel stomach pain, they often start to roll on the ground to try to ease the discomfort, but in doing so can actually twist their own organs and cut off bloodflow to them…
This is a really high overview, but it just goes to show you how messed up they are, and how humans domesticating them has really put a kink in their way of life…
We all make fun of the platypus as being the one created when evolution was drunk but the more I learn about horses the more I think we’re making fun of the wrong animal.
Horses are one of the best examples that evolution is true -- they're a complete and total mess like you'd expect if evolution were true.
No one in their right mind would intentionally design horses to be the way they are.
And this isn't even going into the ridiculous amount of blood types they have and how horse blood transfusion is basically alchemy.