Horse
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99 free Horse trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Horse trivia questions with answers. Horse trivia lives in two places on BrainPickle. This page is the shorter set; the main quiz is Horses trivia, with our deepest question pool on the topic and a source behind every answer.
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Q 01What is the average lifespan of a domesticated horse?
25-30 years
25-30 years is typical for a domesticated horse, though breed, nutrition and care all shift the figure, and ponies often live longer than larger horses.
Q 02Roughly how many bones does a horse have?
205
205 bones make up the average horse skeleton, yet there is no muscle below the knees and hocks, only skin, bone, tendons, ligaments and hoof tissue.
Q 03What is a young female horse, typically under four years old, called?
Filly
Filly is the word for a female horse under four; once she reaches adulthood, usually around four years old, she is called a mare.
Q 04What is an uncastrated adult male horse known as?
Stallion
Stallion is the term for an adult male horse that has not been gelded; a castrated male is a gelding, and a young male is a colt.
Q 05Which stage of rest can a horse only reach by lying down?
REM
They need only an hour or two lying down every few days; a horse never allowed to lie down may eventually collapse into REM while standing.
Q 06Due to the placement of their eyes, what is the approximate field of vision for a horse?
350 degrees
350 degrees is a horse's approximate field of vision thanks to eyes set on the sides of the head; only about 65 degrees of that is binocular, with blind spots directly in front of the nose and behind the tail.
Q 07What colors are horses generally thought to see best?
Blue and Yellow
Blue and Yellow are the two peaks of a horse's dichromatic vision, so red tends to look like a shade of green to them.
Q 08What kind of digestion do horses have?
Hindgut fermenters
Horses are hindgut fermenters, digesting cellulose in the hindgut rather than in a rumen, and they graze steadily instead of eating meals, taking in about 2 to 2.5 percent of their body weight in dry feed a day.
Q 09What is the term for the high-crowned teeth that let horses cope with a lifetime of gritty grazing?
Hypsodont dentition
Hypsodont dentition means high-crowned teeth with long reserve crowns; a horse's teeth keep erupting as gritty grazing wears them down, unlike the low-crowned brachydont teeth of humans.
Q 10What is the typical range for the number of permanent teeth in a mature horse?
36-44
36-44 is the usual range: 12 incisors and 24 cheek teeth, plus up to four canines (common in males, rare in mares) and sometimes vestigial wolf teeth.
Q 11What is the average gestation period for a mare?
11 months
The average gestation period for a mare is approximately 11 months, though it can vary slightly by individual and breed.
Q 12What is the long hair growing along the top of a horse's neck called?
Mane
Mane is the long hair along the crest of a horse's neck; the forelock is the part that falls forward between the ears, and feather is the long hair on a draft horse's lower legs.
Q 13Which part of a horse's leg is equivalent to the human ankle?
Hock
The hock is the horse's tarsal joint, the equivalent of the human ankle; the fetlock, often miscalled the ankle, actually corresponds to the knuckles of a human hand.
Q 21How many toes does a modern horse have on each foot?
One
One toe per foot: the modern horse walks on a single enlarged third digit inside the hoof, whereas its ancestor Eohippus had four toes on each front foot and three on each hind foot.
Q 22What is the major source of nutrients for a horse?
Hay and pasture
Hay and pasture, collectively called forage, make up the bulk of a horse's diet; even when grain is fed, nutritionists recommend at least half the ration by weight remain forage.
Q 23Which of these famous horse races is known as 'The Run for the Roses'?
Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby winners are draped in a garland of 554 red roses, hence 'The Run for the Roses'; Dan Fogelberg's 1980 song of that name was written for the race.
Q 14Which horse breed is known for its distinctive spotted coat pattern?
Appaloosa
The Appaloosa breed is widely recognized for its unique and varied spotted coat patterns, which can range from blankets to leopard spots.
Q 15Genomic evidence places the origin of all modern domestic horses at about what date, in the Volga-Don region?
2200 BCE
2200 BCE is the date a 2021 ancient-DNA study gave for the DOM2 lineage in the Volga-Don steppes; within a few centuries these horses had replaced nearly every other lineage across Eurasia.
Q 16In which equestrian discipline do horses perform a series of predetermined movements in an arena?
Dressage
Dressage is an equestrian sport where horse and rider perform a memorized series of intricate movements, demonstrating harmony, flexibility, and obedience.
Q 17On a horse, what are the withers?
The ridge between the shoulder blades
The withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades at the base of the neck; a horse's height is measured from the ground to the top of the withers.
Q 18What is the name of the mythological winged horse, often depicted as pure white?
Pegasus
Pegasus is a famous winged horse from Greek mythology, often depicted as pure white and associated with heroes like Bellerophon.
Q 19What is a group of horses called?
Herd
Herd is the word for a group of horses; a wild herd usually consists of one stallion, several mares and their young, and keeps a clear rank order.
Q 20Which horse breed is renowned for its endurance racing ability and distinctive dished face?
Arabian
Arabians are hot-bloods, prized for endurance and quick learning but intolerant of inept training.
Q 24Which American breed descends entirely from one stallion owned by a Vermont schoolteacher?
Morgan
Morgan horses all descend from Figure, a stallion foaled around 1789 and owned by Justin Morgan, a Vermont schoolteacher and composer, making the Morgan one of the earliest American breeds.
Q 25Which strap passes under a horse's belly to hold the saddle in place?
Girth
The girth, called a cinch in Western riding, buckles under the belly to hold the saddle on; a crupper loops under the tail and a martingale limits how high the horse carries its head.
Q 26Which horse breed is generally considered the tallest and heaviest?
Shire
The Shire horse is recognized as one of the largest and tallest horse breeds, with some individuals holding records for height and weight.
Q 27What is the toothless area of a horse's mouth between the incisors and molars called?
Bar
Bar is the name for the toothless stretch of gum between a horse's incisors and cheek teeth; the mouthpiece of a bit rests on the bars, which is why a bit works.
Q 28In a pedigree, what is a horse's father called?
Sire
Sire is the term for a horse's father in a pedigree, while the mother is the dam; a foal is described as 'by' its sire and 'out of' its dam.
Q 29Which of these is a common base coat color for horses?
Bay
The two pigment genes yield chestnut and black; bay, with its black points, is treated as the third base color.
Q 30Which set of races constitutes the American Triple Crown for Thoroughbreds?
Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes
Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, run in that order since 1931, form the American Triple Crown; the Preakness is held at Pimlico in Baltimore and the Belmont traditionally at Belmont Park, New York.