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Equine Kingdom Riding Academy
is no longer in operation. These more than 2,000 unique pages are provided for historical and educational reference. |
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Pinto Horses - An Essay |
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Pinto horses are very unique in that they are a color breed, not an actual horse breed, such as Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and Quarter horses. The color breed Pinto originated from the name Pintado, or paint, in Spanish. The pinto is found in all of the horse breeds just listed. The tobiano pattern is a white coat with large spots of another color, ranging from chestnut to black. The color pattern overo is a dark coat color with patches of white. When horses are well kept, they are very pretty to look at. Pintos, especially, are pretty because of their coat pattern. Horses are able to adapt to many different lifestyles, such as in mountains, on farms, in woods, prairies, plains, and beside the sea. Horses eat a variety of different foods, depending on how hard they work. A horse that has a lot of work to do must eat up to 50% nutrients, while a horse with no work to do must eat all roughage (hay and grass). They also eat different fruits and vegetables, grain, alfalfa, corn, pellets and bran. One definite necessity for horses is salt. Normally, horses that are used for racing have good, sound legs. Many horses are used in jumping contests, and a lot of people use their horses to ride for pleasure. Many different things are used to pass a horse's time. Older, retired horses are turned out in the pasture and younger, working horses in the fields pull plows, pull wagons, and bind hay bales - at least, they used to in the old days. However, some people may still use the horse for work in the fields. Many countries nowadays still use horses for ceremonial duties, and they are used for herding cattle. After mating, it takes just about a year before the colt is born. At two months, the foal's gender is already established. At four months, the hooves form and hair grows around the lips. When the foal has been growing for six months, hair is covering most of the body. At eight months, mane and tail start to form. Between ten and eleven months, the foal dramatically increases in weight and positions itself to be born headfirst. When the foal comes out of its mother's womb, the mother licks it clean. The new foal can stand up within a half an hour of its birth. A few hours after it is born it can keep up with its mother when she runs, and in two weeks time, the foal is proficient at walking. When the foal is five weeks old, it can stand without being splay-legged. For the first two months, the foal lives on milk from its mother. Then, it starts to eat grass. At four months, the foal is just about as big as an adult horse. Horses can live to be over thirty years old. Horses play an important part in the world today. They give blood for uses in anti-venin, pull logs for lumberjacks, and mounted police use them to perform their duties. This is just a sample of the many things that horses can do. The pinto horse is one of the prettiest horses there is. There is so much to a pinto horse, that wonderful creature God gave us for uses such as working, riding, show, and pleasure. |
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