The horses
Introducing the horse The museum horses The ponies Not forgetting.
The horse, the donkey and the zebra belong to the same Equidae family. They are herbivores who, in the wild, roam in herds in search of pastures. Horses live on average 20 to 30 years, but some ponies can live to 35-40 years of age.
It is thought that horses first appeared on Earth approximately 50 million years ago. Over time, changes in vegetation and climate influenced their development and size.
Originally standing at a height of 40cm with each of the four limbs possessing three digits, the horse gradually evolved to having only one digit, five million years ago (the period at which humans appeared on Earth).
250,000 years ago, they had reached a height of 1.40 m, which is the Equus, the ancestor of the horse with which we are all familiar. There are around 3,000 breeds of horse throughout the world, including wild horse breeds such as the Mustang and Préwalski horses.
• Temperament
Horses are prey, which means they are conditioned to run away from danger. Their sense of smell is much more highly developed that that of humans; they can smell water, fire, or a mare on heat at a distance of almost a kilometre. The flehmen response is a pose that is common to the whole horse family and which makes it possible to sense and analyze odours in depth; it consists in curling back the upper lip and stretching the neck. Their ears are used for hearing, but they are also a means of communication. The tail is also an indicator of horse behaviour.
Neighing is used to call other members of their species, to warn of danger or to intimidate other horses.
Horses have 180° vision. They recognize shapes and movement to the front. To the sides and behind, they only see movements. The tactile hairs on their chin (chin groove) enable them to recognize that which they cannot see.
If they are afraid, they may react suddenly. This is why we request calm and respect for the horses' environment (please do not shout or run in the stables, nor touch or feed the museum horses).
• Reproduction
Mares undergo an 11 month gestation period before giving birth to their foals, usually between February and June. They usually only have one foal at a time. Horses become physically adult at around five years.
Male, castrated horses are called geldings. The French term, 'hongre', is derived from the French word for 'Hungarian', due to the fact that the Hungarians were the first to castrate their horses. Castrated stallions lose some of their reproductive instincts and become easier to handle for humans. However, the unbowed, spirited character of the full stallion is sometimes desired.
The horses belonging to the Living Museum of the Horse
Thirty horses of different breeds welcome visitors to the typical, warm stable odours. Friesian, Appaloosa, Spanish, Portuguese, Boulonnais, Thoroughbred, Barb, Shetland. All day long they can be seen in motion, being led around or mounted inside the Dome or in the Cour des Chenils (Kennels' Courtyard), which has been transformed into an outdoor training area.
The Andalusian and Portuguese horses are selected to resemble those that were ridden by the princes of the 18th century, the period during which these stables were constructed.
You can also see:
Dilraj (10 years old) - the first (and only) Marwari horse in Europe.
He was born in Dunlod, in the north of Rajasthan (India), and offered by his breeder, Francesca Kelly, to Sophie Bienaimé for her show, 'On the Silk Road'.
The Marwari are the horses of the Rajputs, the warriors who founded the royal lineage of Rajasthan. They are descended from the purebred Indian breed, the Kathiawari, and were selected for their courage in battle and their beauty. They are easily recognized from their curved ears which sometimes join up, the bearing of their noble head which has something aquiline about it, and their extremely expressive eyes.
Ramsès le Grand, Moustique, Champion, Louki, Kalin and Kefir
Séraphin, the Living Museum of the Horse's donkey.
