Just the Stats

Get to know horses by the numbers.

¼ to ⅜ inch

Length a horse’s hoof grows in a month.

1 hour

On average, the amount of time it takes for a foal to stand up and walk after it’s born.

2

Blind spots for a horse: directly behind, and directly in front.

4 inches

One hand.

9 pounds

Weight of a horse’s heart.

10 gallons

Amount of saliva a horse produces every day. One horse can also drink about 10 gallons of water and eat 15 to 18 pounds of hay each day.

18 feet

Longest horse mane, grown by a mare named Maude.

20 to 30 years

A horse’s average life span.

36

Number of teeth adult female horses have. Adult male horses have between 40 and 44.

100°F to 101°F

A horse’s normal body temperature.

335 to 340 days

Length of the horse’s gestation period. On average, colts spend a week longer in the womb than fillies.

350 degrees

A horse’s field of vision. Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal. Their vision is monocular—each eye acts independently. (A human’s field of vision is only about 140 degrees.) Horses have sharper vision than dogs or cats.

58 million

Number of horses living in the world today. At 8 million, China has the largest population. The United States is fourth with about 7 million horses.