horse

Introduction
General features
- Form and function
  - Anatomical adaptations
  - Senses
  - Colour and pattern
  - Nutrition
  - Behaviour
  - Reproduction and development
  - Diseases and parasites
- Breeds of horses
  - Light horses
    - Arabian
    - Thoroughbred
    - Turkoman, Akhal-Teke, and others
    - Anglo-Arab
    - American breeds
    - Other light breeds
  - Heavy breeds
  - Ponies
Evolution of the horse
Origin of horse domestication
Heavy breeds
Light breeds
Ponies

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Cave painting depicting a bull and a horse in brown and black pigments on a textured stone wall in Lascaux Grotto, France.

Ancient mosaic detail showing Alexander the Great in armor riding his horse Bucephalus at the Battle of Issus, with another soldier visible behind him.

The top half of the diagram shows a labeled illustration of a horse skeleton, identifying bones such as the skull, vertebrae, pelvis, ribs, and limbs. The bottom half displays the external anatomy of a horse (Equus caballus), with labels for key body points including muzzle, withers, shoulder, back, flank, hock, and hoof.

Illustration of a horse's hoof with a side view showing internal skeletal bones aligned inside the hoof and a bottom view displaying the horseshoe and the V-shaped frog structure.

Diagram showing the teeth of a horse (Equus caballus), with labeled molars, premolars, incisors, and tushes in a side view of the skull. Below are side and top views comparing the dental structure of young and old horses.

A grid of nine illustrations shows horses with different coat colors and patterns, including dappled gray, dun, brown, strawberry roan, chestnut, skewbald, palomino, bay, and black.

Illustration showing four horse heads with different white facial markings labeled as star, stripe, blaze, and snip, each marking varying in shape and position on the horse's face.

At a Glance

horse summary

Quizzes

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.

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Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

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Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Related Questions

How are horse breeds classified by origin and purpose?
How are horses classified within the genus Equus?
How are horses related to zebras and asses?
How are mustangs related to domestic horses?
How did horse feet change during evolution?
How did horse teeth adapt to a diet of grass?
How did horses influence the English words chivalry and cavalier?
How did the selective breeding of stallions affect horse Y chromosomes?
How did the spread of grasslands affect horse evolution?
How do Arabian horses differ from Belgian horses and Thoroughbreds?
How do draft horses differ from ponies and light horses?
How do horses use smell and hearing to sense danger?
How is a pony distinguished from a horse by height?
How soon after birth can foals stand and follow their mothers?
How tall were the earliest ancestral horses?
When did Equus evolve in North America?
When did horses become common on the Great Plains?
When did nailed iron horseshoes first appear in Europe?
Which famous historical figures are associated with Bucephalus and Copenhagen?
Which materials and products have people made from horses?
Why are oats commonly used as feed for horses?
Why did horse legs become longer and more specialized for running?
Why did horses disappear from North and South America near the end of the Pleistocene?
Why do domestic horses show more maternal genetic diversity than paternal genetic diversity?
Why do horses have teeth adapted for grinding vegetation?
Why do horses often flee rather than attack when frightened?
Why must horses eat large amounts of vegetation despite having relatively small stomachs?
Why should moldy or dusty feed be avoided for horses?
Why were dogs used to pull travois before Plains peoples had horses?
What is the sport of polo?
How is a game of polo played?
What equipment do players use in polo?
Why are polo horses called ponies?
How do players score points in polo?
What skills are important for success in polo?
Did the Mughals play polo?

Science Mammals Hoofed Mammals

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External Websites

Animal Diversity Web - Horse
Animal Corner - Horses
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Genome sequence, comparative analysis and population genetics of the domestic horse (Equus caballus)
The Spruce Pets - 15 Fascinating facts about Horses
Live Science - Horses: Domestic, feral and wild
University of Florida - IFAS Extesion - The importance of understanding horse behavior

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

horse - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
horse - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

horse

mammal

Also known as: Equus caballus

Written by

Alois Wilhelm Podhajsky

Director, Spanish Riding School of Vienna, 1939–64. Winner, Olympic Bronze Medal for Dressage (equestrian event), 1936. Author of The Complete Training of Horse and Rider and others.

Alois Wilhelm PodhajskyAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 30, 2026 •History

horse, (Equus caballus), a hoofed herbivorous mammal of the family Equidae. It comprises a single species, Equus caballus, whose numerous varieties are called breeds. Before the advent of mechanized vehicles, the horse was widely used as a draft animal, and riding on horseback was one of the chief means of transportation. In prehistoric times the wild horse was probably first hunted for food. Research suggests that domestication had taken place by approximately 6,000 years ago....

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