A horse is a large plant-eating mammal that has a short coat and long hair on the mane and tail and has slim legs with a solid hoof on each foot which helps them to run fast. For their odd toe, they are called “odd-toed animals”.
Most horses are strong, intelligent, and social animals that live in herds in the wild. Male horses(stallions) protect their mares(female horses) and territory by lashing out their front feet.
Wild horses live in open countries and eat grasses and plants and domesticated horses are used for riding, racing, carrying, and pulling loads.
Human beings started domesticating horses around 4000 BC and have been widespread by 3000 BC. They have the largest eyes among all land mammals.
So How Much Do Horses Weigh?
Depending on age, size, breed and other several factors on average an adult horse can weigh around 900 pounds to 2600 pounds or 408 kg to 1179 kg. Bigger horse breeds will weigh more than smaller horse breeds.
Large horse breeds like Belgians or Belgians or Percherons will weigh likely 1700 pounds to 2000 pounds or 771 kg to 907 kg and lightweight small horse breeds like Arabians will weigh around 900 pounds to 1500 pounds or 408 kg to 680 kg. Although ponies weight will be less.
Average Weight Example Of Various Horses:
+Percheron – 2250 pounds (1,020 kg)
+Belgian Draft – 2000 pounds (907 kg)
+Clydesdale – 1,950 pounds (884 kg)
+Shire – 1800 pounds (816 kg)
+Tennessee Walking Horse – 1200 pounds (544 kg)
+American Paint – 1150 pounds (521 kg)
+Appaloosa – 1100 pounds (498 kg)
+American Quarter Horse – 1075 pounds (487 kg)
+Thoroughbred – 1000 pounds (453 kg)
+Arabian – 950 pounds (430 kg)
+Mustang – 750 pounds (340 kg)
How Much Do Race Horses Weigh?
The weight of racing horses depends on their size, bone, muscle, structure and other factors. On average a racing-fit Thoroughbred horse weigh will be around 900 pounds to 1100 pounds or 408 kg to 498 kg.
What Was The Heaviest And Lightest Horses Ever?
Sampson a shire gelding horse(later renamed Mammoth) was the heaviest and tallest horse that lived in the 1850s owned by Thomas Cleaver.
It was weighed 3360 pounds or 1524 kg and measured 21.2½ hands and when stood it was 2.19 meters (7 feet 2 inches) high at the age of four.
The tallest horse that is alive as of 2021 is the Big Jake measuring 22 hands tall and weighing around 2260 pounds or 1025 kg.
Thumbelina was the world’s lightweight and smallest horse weighing only 57 pounds or 25.85 kg. The lightest born foal(a baby horse one-year-old or younger) was a dwarf miniature Einstein weighing only 7 pounds or 3.17 kg at birth time.
Horse Weight Range Based On Age:
You can easily calculate expected horse weight based on their life stage from newborns to adults.
| Age | Weight |
|---|---|
| Newborn | Just born foal weighs approximately 10% of mothers weight |
| Weanling | Foal gains 2 to 2.5 pounds (0.9 – 1.1 kg) per day |
| Yearling | Foal reaches 50% of the full-grown weight |
| 2-year-old | Foal reaches 90% of the full-grown weight |
| 4-year-old | Horse reaches the total adult weight |
How Much Does A Baby Horse Weigh?
At birth time all foals weigh around 10% of their mother’s weight. So if a mare weighs around 2000 pounds or 907 kg then it will have a foal that weighs around 200 pounds or 90 kg at birth time.
And small horses or ponies that weigh 900 pounds or 408 kg will have a foal that weighs around 90 pounds or 40 kg.
How Do Horse Reproduce?
Horses reproduce by males impregnating the females. The female or mare carries the foal(horse baby)on their uterus for around 11 months. Most foals are born in spring. They can easily focus stand, walk and run within an hour of their birth.
They are born without teeth and get their milk teeth within the first 6 months and adult teeth when they reach 6 years. Their legs at birth are almost the same as when they are fully grown.
How Are Horses Weighed?
Horses are usually weighed based on their girth length. You can easily calculate a fully grown horse bodyweight by following these simple formulas:
Horse Weight Based On Girth Length
Adult Weight:
(heart girth x heart girth x body length) / 330 = body weight in pounds
Yearling Weight:
(heart girth x heart girth x body length) / 301 = body weight in pounds
Weanling Weight:
(heart girth x heart girth x body length) / 280 = body weight in pounds
Pony Weight:
(heart girth x heart girth x body length) / 299 = body weight in pounds
If you want to measure a horse bodyweight in kg then follow the below calculations
(heart girth x heart girth x body length) / 11,990 = body weight in kilograms
How Much Does A Horse Head Weigh?
A horse’s head weight will be 10% of its total body weight.
How Much Does A Horse Trailer Weigh?
Horse trailers are designed to transport one or two horses and weigh around 2300 pounds to 3900 pounds or 1043 kg to 1769 kg each. This number can be increased if more horses and cargo are loaded. Although the average weight of an empty horse trailer is around 2900 pounds or 1315 kg.
What Do Horses Eat?
Horses love eating grass and haylage or hay. Also depending on their work type and foods availability they eat salt, fruits, vegetables and concentrates(grain etc) to enhance their diet.
How Much Do Horses Eat?
Every day a horse should eat grass or hay that is 2 to 2.5% of their body weight. This means an average 900 pounds or 408 kg weigh adult horse will eat 18 pounds to 22.5 pounds or 8.16 kg to 10.2 kg of foods daily.
How Much Do Horses Drink?
How much a horse drink depends on many factors like how much thirsty it is, workload, feeding style, etc. On average a horse drinks 5 to 10 gallons of fresh water each day. This amount can be higher in hot weather and if it works very hard.
How Much Do Horses Sleep?
Horses can sleep standing up or lying down both. They sleep lightly through the stay apparatus(a special type of system of tendons and ligaments that helps a horse to lock its major joints in its legs and stop falling down).
However, when they need deep sleep which is known as REM(rapid eye movement)they lie down for a series of short intervals which could be two to three hours a day. Why do horses sleep while standing is a tricky question.
It is believed that sleeping lying down can be dangerous for them and makes them vulnerable to attack by different predators as it takes a bit of hard work for them to get up.
How Much Do Horses Sleep?
Horses’ sleep time depends on their workload, temperature, diet, gender etc. And older horses need more sleep than younger ones. On average a domestic horse sleeps around 2.9 hours each day.
On the other side, wild horses take rest around four to fifteen hours a day in standing and sleep few minutes to several hours lying down throughout the day and night as they have to be ready to protect themselves from different predators.
How Much Do Horses Cost?
Depending on horse breed, using type, location, etc you can get a standard horse within $100 to $10000. However, the average cost of a hobby horse is around $3000 or more. If you want to buy expensive horse breeds then you have to cost up to $250000 or more.
What Is The Maximum Weight A Horse Can Carry?
A horse can carry a maximum of 400 pounds or 181 kg based on the 20% carry rule. As most horses can easily carry 20% of their overall body weight, a large 2000 pounds or 907 kg weigh horse can theoretically carry a 400 pounds or 181 kg person safely.
How Much Do Race Horses Cost?
Depending on their pedigree, confirmation and other important factors, you can get championship quality thoroughbreds within $100000 to $300000 with around $45000 yearly expenses. Although buying is thoroughbred is very competitive and the price can exceed $300000.
How Fast Can A Horse Run?
With a rider on its back, a rigidly trained horse can run up to 20 to 30 mph or 32 to 48.5 km/h. And the record of fastest galloping speed is 55 mph or 88.5 km/h.
How Long Do Horses Live?
A horse’s lifespan depends on many factors like nutrition, reproduction time, dental health, diseases, physical activity level etc. On average a horse can live up to 25 to 30 years. Although in some rare cases domestic horses can live up to 50 or 60 years with proper care.
Fun Facts:
>>Horses can breathe through their noses only and they can not breathe through their mouth as humans do.
>>When in need a horse can reflex standing still to delivering a heavy kick within 0.3 seconds!
>>A horse has 10 different muscles in its ears which helps them to rotate around 180 degrees and move independently.
>>The two blind spots of horses are behind and in front and below of their nose!
>>You can easily identify how old a horse is by inspecting their teeth as they don’t have middle teeth!
>>Horses can’t vomit as they have a strong band of muscles around their esophagus and this band is very strong and the horse’s stomach would burst before it would try to vomit.
>>Each day a horse produces around 10 gallons of saliva.
>>Research suggests there are around 60 million horses across the world.
>>Untill 1788 Australia did not have any horses.
>>Horse’s brains weigh approximately 623g.
>>A horse’s heart weighs around 4 to 4.5 kg which is the size of a basketball.
