Thursday, November 15, 2012

The white horse

Did you know that white horses are born black and turn white as they mature? I didn't, until today, when the 6th Grade came back from their school trip to the Riding Club in Kalamata and my daughter (one of the lucky students) told me all about it.

Here are some more interesting facts about horses taken from ScienceKids:
  • Horses have evolved over the past 50 million years from much smaller creatures.
  • Horses can sleep both lying down and standing up.
  • Horses can run shortly after birth.
  • Domestic horses have a lifespan of around 25 years.
  • A 19th century horse named ‘Old Billy’ is said to have lived 62 years.
  • Horses have around 205 bones in their skeleton.
  • Horses have been domesticated for over 5000 years.
  • Horses are herbivores (plant eaters).
  • Horses have bigger eyes than any other mammal that lives on land.
  • Because horse’s eyes are on the side of their head they are capable of seeing nearly 360 degrees at one time.
  • Horses gallop at around 44 kph (27 mph).
  • The fastest recorded sprinting speed of a horse was 88 kph (55 mph).
  • There are around 60 million horses in the world.
  • A male horse is called a stallion.
  • A female horse is called a mare.
  • A young male horse is called a colt.
  • A young female horse is called a filly.

And now that you know all that about horses, what do you say, shall we watch an old, but beautiful, film? Although it' s in French, you' ll understand most of it. 

Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage (The White Mane)

A boy comes across a white-haired wild horse in the Camargue, a marsh area in the south of France. Ranchers seek to capture the horse, but it escapes. What will happen as the boy sets out to find the horse again? 
A film about the continual fight for freedom and peace.







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