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Characteristics Horses are not ruminants like cattle, which have multiple stomachs. A horse has one stomach and a long digestive tract. They are herbivores with specialized dietary requirements.  Horse’s teeth grow throughout their lives. Their milk teeth fall out about the age of two or three making way for adult teeth whose flat surfaces are adapted to grinding fibrous grasses and leaves.  Horse’s life span is approximately 25 years. Ponies live beyond 30 years and mules can live to their 40s.  Horses are prey animals. Their physiology and behavior is of animal that depends on reflexes and speed to escape predators. Their skeletons are like a human’s, but their shoulders are not anchored in a socket. This allows further reach while running.  The horse’s eyes provide almost 360 degree vision. They see well in dim light due to the tapetum lucidum which reflects available light into the eye. (This membrane is the cause of the white reflection seen in flash photos. Humans do not have this membrane.)  They can see further than humans, although they see less color. The position of the eye provides both binocular and monocular vision.  They can see forward using binocular vision. Vision to the sides and rear wards is monocular. They also have a nictitating membrane or ‘third eyelid’, which helps protect the eye from dust and debris while grazing.

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