Galop 2Knowledge
Contents
- 01WelcomeOverview
- 02The five sensesKnowledge
- 03Life in the herdKnowledge
- 04The mouth and mealsKnowledge
- 05Feed, water, mealsCaring for the horse
- 06Housing, catching, turning outKnowledge
- 07More coats and patchesKnowledge
- 08The legsKnowledge
- 09Three breedsKnowledge
- 10GroomingCaring for the horse
- 11Quick-release knot and bridleCaring for the horse
- 12Saddling, saddle careCaring for the horse
- 13Work on footOn foot
- 14Mounting, girth, reinsIn the saddle
- 15Going forward, changing gaitIn the saddle
- 16Sitting or light seatIn the saddle
- 17Figures and arena rulesKnowledge
- 18The first fenceIn the saddle
- 19Equestrian activitiesKnowledge
- 20RevisionRevision
How the horse eats
The horse is a grazing animal built to eat a little at a time, but almost all the time. Its mouth is a precision tool: lips for sorting, teeth for cutting and grinding.
In the exam programme
- Describe how they feed.Common module B
- Describe the horse’s mouth and how it eats.Common module B
A grazer that nibbles
In the wild, the horse grazes as it slowly moves along, head down, day and night. It spends 15 to 16 hours a day eating, on average, in a great many small meals. Its stomach is small: it is made to receive food continuously, not two big meals a day. Digestion comes up in Galop 5.
- It chooses: with its lips and its sense of smell, it sorts the plants, grazes its favourites down to the ground and leaves others alone.
- It avoids its droppings: in the field, it keeps the areas where it eats apart from the areas where it leaves its droppings, which it does not graze.
- It eats in company: when one horse starts to graze, the others often follow.
- It does not chew the cud: unlike a cow, it does not bring its food back up to chew again. It has to chew it properly the first time.
- In the stable, it waits for its meals: it knows the times and gets restless, paws or bangs the door as they approach. That is why horses are fed at regular times.
The mouth
- Lips
- Incisors
- Tush (canine)
- Bars: the toothless gap where the bit lies
- Molars
- Tongue
- The lips
- Very mobile, especially the upper lip. Fringed with whiskers, they pick up and sort grass, hay or grain.
- The incisors
- At the front: 6 at the top, 6 at the bottom. They crop the grass close to the ground, like pincers.
- The tushes
- Four small pointed teeth, one in each half-jaw, set in the gap of the bars, near the incisors. Males have them; mares usually do not.
- The bars
- The toothless gap on each side of the jaw, between the incisors (or the tushes) and the molars. This is where the bit rests. They are very sensitive.
- The molars
- At the back of the mouth: 24 broad, flat teeth — counting the premolars with them — 6 in each half-jaw. They grind the food.
- The tongue
- It moves the food under the molars, then sends it on towards the throat. The bit rests on it too.
So an adult horse has 40 teeth if it is male and 36 if it is a mare without tushes. Its teeth keep growing for much of its life and wear down as it chews.
How it feeds
- Smell and sortThe nostrils, lips and whiskers explore and choose.
- Pick up or cropThe lips pick up hay or grain; the incisors crop the grass.
- ChewThe tongue moves the mouthful under the molars, which grind it for a long time. Saliva, produced in quantity while the horse chews, moistens the food.
- SwallowWell chewed and soaked in saliva, the mouthful goes down to the stomach.
Hay takes a lot of chewing: a horse needs about 40 minutes to get through a kilo of hay, against ten minutes or so for a kilo of pellets. In the stable, hay keeps it busy for much longer.
Did you know?
To put the bridle on, you slide your thumb into the corner of the lips to make the horse open its mouth. In the right place, your thumb lands on the bars, where there are no teeth: it is perfectly safe.