Q 01/05

How long is one hand, the unit used to give a horse's height?

A) Two inches

B) Four inches

C) Eight inches

D) Sixteen inches

Answer · why

B) Four inches

Four inches is the standardised width of a human hand, which is how the unit began; the tape stops at the withers, where the neck meets the back, not ...

Q 02/05

Under most competition rules, what is an equine measuring no more than 14.2 hands at the withers called?

A) Cob

B) Hack

C) Pony

D) Hunter

Answer · why

C) Pony

Pony means 14.2 hands or under, whatever the animal's age. Polo 'ponies' break the rule: most are full-sized horses, named from the days when the game...

Q 03/05

Roughly how long does a mare carry a foal before giving birth?

A) Two months

B) Five months

C) Eleven months

D) Twenty-two months

Answer · why

C) Eleven months

Eleven months, about 340 days, is long enough for a foal to arrive well developed: it is up on its feet and following its mother shortly after birth.

Q 04/05

What is the term for a young female horse, normally one under four years of age?

A) Colt

B) Filly

C) Mare

D) Gelding

Answer · why

B) Filly

Filly is the word for a young female, colt for a young male; when the two meet on the track, as in the Kentucky Derby, the fillies are set to carry a ...

Q 05/05

Which of a horse's four natural gaits is a three-beat gait?

A) Canter

B) Trot

C) Gallop

D) Walk

Answer · why

A) Canter

Canter is short for 'Canterbury gallop', the easy pace at which pilgrims rode to Canterbury; its three beats sit between the two-beat trot and the fou...