YEAR OF THE HORSE!!

Happy Year of the Horse!

I am so excited for the Chinese New Year this year! We celebrated dragons two years ago and last year was the year of the snake, but this year is the YEAR OF THE HORSE!! I’m going to be putting on my tap shoes and dancing all over to celebrate! Ellie and I will be going to meet some of my wild relatives this week, but first up I want to tell you a bit about horses in general!

• My earliest relatives were around 45-55 million years ago.

• We were domesticated around 4,000 years ago.
• We horses have a single toe on each foot. The outside of our hooves is like a human’s fingernail and must be trimmed.
• We horses walk on our tip toes and so does my best friend Ellie!

• I am an ungulate- meaning I have hooves. Ellie is also an ungulate.
• There is one species of domestic horse and 4,000 breeds.
• Horses have the largest eye of any land mammal on earth. We have a 350 degree range of vision.
• The only wild species of horse is the Przewalski’s horse! We’re going to visit them later in the week.
• I can sleep standing up or sitting down.
• My relatives include the tapir and the rhino! Those rhinos are really unicorns!

We horses have co-existed with humans for thousands of years. We have been friends, workers and therapy for people. Being a horse is a great honor and I am so excited to be celebrating this new year! Ellie and I are packing the travel trunk to go meet some of my relatives, including the zebra and the Przewalski’s wild horse. I have a special horse craft to share with you too. High hooves for everyone!!