1.
Horse
–
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, colors, depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses. Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
2.
Pony
–
Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. The word pony derives from the old French poulenet, meaning foal, a young, immature horse, but this is not the meaning, unlike a horse foal. However, on occasion, people who are unfamiliar with horses may confuse an adult pony with a foal, the ancestors of most modern ponies developed small stature because they lived on the margins of livable horse habitat. These smaller animals were domesticated and bred for various purposes all over the Northern Hemisphere, ponies were historically used for driving and freight transport, as childrens mounts, for recreational riding, and later as competitors and performers in their own right. During the Industrial Revolution, particularly in Great Britain, a significant number were used as pit ponies, ponies are generally considered intelligent and friendly, although sometimes they also are described as stubborn or cunning. Properly trained ponies are appropriate mounts for children who are learning to ride, larger ponies can be ridden by adults, as ponies are usually strong for their size. In modern use, many organizations define a pony as a horse that measures less than 14.2 hands at the withers. Different organizations that use a strict measurement model vary from 14 hands to nearly 14.3 hands, many breeds classify an animal as either horse or pony based on pedigree and phenotype, no matter its height. Some full-sized horses may be called ponies for various reasons of tradition or as a term of endearment, for many forms of competition, the official definition of a pony is a horse that measures less than 14.2 hands at the withers. However, the pony can be used in general for any small horse. Furthermore, some breeds may have individuals who mature under that height but are still called horses and are allowed to compete as horses. In Australia, horses that measure from 14 hands to 15 hands are known as a galloway, people who are unfamiliar with horses may confuse an adult pony with a young, immature horse. While foals that will grow up to be horse-sized may be no taller than some ponies in their first months of life, a pony can be ridden and put to work, while a foal is too young to be ridden or used as a working animal. Foals, whether they grow up to be horse or pony-sized, can be distinguished from adult horses by their long legs. Their heads and eyes also exhibit juvenile characteristics, furthermore, in most cases, nursing foals will be in very close proximity to a mare who is the mother of the foal. While ponies exhibit some neoteny with the wide foreheads and small size, ponies originally developed as a landrace adapted to a harsh natural environment, and were considered part of the draft subtype typical of Northern Europe. At one time, it was hypothesized that they may have descended from a wild subspecies of Equus ferus. The usefulness of the pony was noted by farmers who observed that a pony could outperform a draft horse on small farms, by the 20th century, many pony breeds had Arabian and other blood added to make a more refined pony suitable for riding
3.
Mule
–
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes, of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny, which is the offspring of a female donkey and a male horse. The size of a mule and work to which it is put depend largely on the breeding of the female parent. Mules can be lightweight, medium weight, or when produced from draft horse mares, Mules are more patient, hardy and long-lived than horses, and are less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. Mules also tend to be more independent than most domesticated equines other than the donkey, the median weight range for a mule is between about 370 and 460 kg. While a few mules can carry live weight up to 160 kg, in general, a mule can be packed with dead weight of up to 20% of its body weight, or approximately 90 kg. Although it depends on the animal, it has been reported that mules trained by the Army of Pakistan can carry up to 72 kilograms. The average equine in general can carry up to approximately 30% of its weight in live weight. A female mule that has estrus cycles and thus, in theory, could carry a fetus, is called a molly or Molly mule, pregnancy is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally as well as through embryo transfer. A male mule is called a horse mule, though often called a john mule. A young male mule is called a colt, and a young female is called a mule filly. With its short thick head, long ears, thin limbs, small narrow hooves, and short mane, in height and body, shape of neck and rump, uniformity of coat, and teeth, it appears horse-like. The mule comes in all sizes, shapes and conformations, there are mules that resemble huge draft horses, sturdy quarter horses, fine-boned racing horses, shaggy ponies and more. The mule is an example of hybrid vigor, charles Darwin wrote, The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. The mule inherits from its sire the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, from its dam it inherits speed, conformation, and agility. Mules exhibit a higher intelligence than their parent species. This is also believed to be the result of hybrid vigor, similar to how mules acquire greater height and their hooves are harder than horses, and they show a natural resistance to disease and insects. Many North American farmers with clay soil found mules superior as plow animals, a mule does not sound exactly like a donkey or a horse
4.
Donkey
–
The donkey or ass is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, the donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries, a male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet, a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are used to mate with female horses to produce mules. Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia and they continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass is an endangered species, as beasts of burden and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia. Traditionally, the name for the donkey is Equus asinus asinus based on the principle of priority used for scientific names of animals. This means that the scientific name for the donkey is Equus africanus asinus when it is considered a subspecies. At one time, the ass was the more common term for the donkey. The first recorded use of donkey was in either 1784 or 1785, while the word ass has cognates in most other Indo-European languages, donkey is an etymologically obscure word for which no credible cognate has been identified. From the 18th century, donkey gradually replaced ass, and jenny replaced she-ass, by the end of the 17th century, changes in pronunciation of both ass and arse had caused them to become homophones. Donkeys vary considerably in size, depending on breed and management, the height at the withers ranges from 7.3 to 15.3 hands, and the weight from 80 to 480 kg. Working donkeys in the poorest countries have an expectancy of 12 to 15 years, in more prosperous countries. Donkeys are adapted to desert lands. Unlike wild and feral horses, wild donkeys in dry areas are solitary, each adult donkey establishes a home range, breeding over a large area may be dominated by one jack. Donkeys have large ears, which may pick up more distant sounds, donkeys can defend themselves by biting, striking with the front hooves or kicking with the hind legs. A jenny is normally pregnant for about 12 months, though the period varies from 11 to 14 months
5.
Equidae
–
Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus, Equidae belongs to the order Perissodactyla, which includes the extant tapirs and rhinoceros, and several extinct families. The term equid refers to any member of family, including any equine. The oldest known fossils assigned to Equidae date from the early Eocene,54 million years ago and they used to be assigned to the genus Hyracotherium, but the type species of that genus now is regarded to be not a member of this family. The other species have split off into different genera. These early Equidae were fox-sized animals with three toes on the feet, and four on the front feet. They were herbivorous browsers on relatively soft plants, and already adapted for running, the complexity of their brains suggest that they already were alert and intelligent animals. Later species reduced the number of toes, and developed teeth more suited for grinding up grasses, the family became relatively diverse during the Miocene, with many new species appearing. By this time, equids were more truly horse-like, having developed the body shape of the modern animals. Many of these bore the main weight of their bodies on their central, third, toe, with the others becoming reduced. The sole surviving genus, Equus, had evolved by the early Pleistocene, order Perissodactyla † indicates extinct taxa
6.
Wagon
–
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from carts and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles primarily for carrying people, wagons are usually pulled by animals such as horses, mules or oxen. They may be pulled by one animal or by several, often in pairs or teams, however, there are examples of human-propelled wagons, such as mining corfs. A wagon was called a wain and one who builds or repairs wagons is a wainwright. More specifically, a wain is a type of horse- or oxen-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, however, a two-wheeled haywain would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. Wain is also a term for a chariot. Wain can also be a verb, to carry or deliver, a person who drives wagons is called a wagoner, a teamster, a bullocky, a muleskinner, or simply a driver. The exact name and terminology used is dependent on the design or shape of the wagon. If low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float, when traveling over long distances and periods, wagons may be covered with cloth to protect their contents from the elements, these are covered wagons. If it has a permanent top enclosing it, it may be called a van, many earlier designs required a very large turning radius, however, shrinking the width of the bed means decreasing the size of the load. As this is a problem that carts do not face, this factor, combined with their lighter weight, the general solutions to this problem involved several modifications to the front-axle assembly. The front axle assembly of a wagon consists of an axle, a pair of wheels, a round plate with a hole in its centre is located on the underside of the wagon. The plate on the wagon, in turn, sits on the plate on the axle between the wheels and this arrangement allows the axle and wheels to turn horizontally. The pin and hole arrangement could be reversed, the horse harness is attached to this assembly. This technique eventually led to further designs well-adapted to narrow areas, wagons have served numerous purposes, with numerous corresponding designs. As with motorized vehicles, some are designed to serve as functions as possible, while others are highly specialized. This section will discuss a broad overview of the classes of wagons, for details on specific types of wagons. Farm wagons are built for general usage in an agricultural or rural setting
7.
Carriage
–
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn, litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for passenger use and for comfort or elegance. It may be light, smart and fast or heavy, large, Carriages normally have suspension using leaf springs, elliptical springs or leather strapping. A public passenger vehicle would not usually be called a carriage – terms for such include stagecoach, charabanc, working vehicles such as the wagon and cart share important parts of the history of the carriage, as does too the fast chariot. The word carriage is from Old Northern French cariage, to carry in a vehicle, a carriage is sometimes called a team, as in horse and team. A carriage with its horse is a rig, an elegant horse-drawn carriage with its retinue of servants is an equipage. A carriage together with the horses, harness and attendants is a turnout or setout, a procession of carriages is a cavalcade. Some horsecarts found in Celtic graves show hints that their platforms were suspended elastically, four-wheeled wagons were used in prehistoric Europe, and their form known from excavations suggests that the basic construction techniques of wheel and undercarriage were established then. The earliest recorded sort of carriage was the chariot, reaching Mesopotamia as early as 1900 BC, used typically for warfare by Egyptians, the near Easterners and Europeans, it was essentially a two-wheeled light basin carrying one or two passengers, drawn by one to two horses. It is likely that Roman carriages employed some form of suspension on chains or leather straps, in the kingdom of the Zhou Dynasty the Warring States were also known to have used carriages as transportation. With the decline of these civilizations these techniques almost disappeared, the medieval carriage was typically a four-wheeled wagon type, with a rounded top similar in appearance to the Conestoga Wagon familiar from the USA. Sharing the traditional form of wheels and undercarriage known since the Bronze Age, suspension is recorded in visual images and written accounts from the 14th century, and was in widespread use by the 15th century. Carriages were largely used by royalty, aristocrats, and could be decorated and gilded. These carriages were on four wheels often and were pulled by two to four depending on how they were decorated. Wood and iron were the requirements needed to build a carriage. Another form of carriage was the pageant wagon of the 14th century, historians debate on the structure and size of pageant wagons, however, they are generally miniature house-like structures that rest on four to six wheels depending on the size of the wagon. Historians also debate whether or not pageant wagons were built with pivotal axle systems, whether it was a four- or six-wheel pageant wagon, most historians maintain that pivotal axle systems were implemented on pageant wagons because many roads were often winding with some sharp turns. Six wheel pageant wagons also represent another innovation in carriages, they were one of the first carriages to use multiple pivotal axles, pivotal axles were used on the front set of wheels and the middle set of wheels
8.
Cart
–
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people and it is different from a dray or wagon, which is a heavy transport vehicle with four wheels and typically two or more horses, or a carriage, which is used exclusively for transporting humans. Over time, the cart has come to mean nearly any small conveyance, from shopping carts to golf carts, without regard to number of wheels, load carried. The draught animals used for carts may be horses or ponies, mules, oxen, water buffalo or donkeys, carts have been mentioned in literature as far back as the second millennium B. C. The Indian sacred book Rigveda states that men and women are as equal as two wheels of a cart, hand-carts pushed by humans have been used around the world. In the 19th century, for instance, some Mormons travelling across the plains of the United States between 1856 and 1860 used handcarts, the history of the cart is closely tied to the history of the wheel. Larger carts may be drawn by animals, such as horses, mules and they have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel, in the 4th millennium BC. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as horsecart or oxcart, in modern times, horsecarts are used in competition while draft horse showing. A dogcart, however, is usually a cart designed to carry hunting dogs, the term cart is also used for various kinds of lightweight, two-wheeled carriages, some of them sprung carts, especially those used as open pleasure or sporting vehicles. They could be drawn by a horse, pony or dog, the name survives today as a milkfloat. The seat is adjustable fore-and-aft to keep the vehicle balanced for two or four people, carts have many different shapes, but the basic idea of transporting material remains. Carts may have a pair of shafts, one each side of the draught animal that supports the forward-balanced load in the cart. The shafts are supported by a saddle on the horse, alternatively, the cart may have a single pole between a pair of animals. The draught traces attach to the axle of the vehicle or to the shafts, the traces are attached to a collar, to a yoke or to a harness on dogs or other light animals. Traces are made from a range of materials depending on the load, heavy draught traces are made from iron or steel chain. Lighter traces are often leather and sometimes rope, but plaited horse-hair. The dray is often associated with the transport of barrels, particularly of beer, of the cart types not animal-drawn, perhaps the most common example today is the shopping cart, which has also come to have a metaphorical meaning in relation to online purchases. Shopping carts first made their appearance in Oklahoma City in 1937, in golf, both manual push or pull and electric golf trolleys are designed to carry a golfers bag, clubs and other equipment
9.
Sled
–
Most commonly sleds are used on snow or ice, however in certain cases they may be used on any surfaces, especially on ones with relatively low friction, such as sand or wet grass. They may be used to transport passengers, cargo, or both, shades of meaning differentiating the three terms often reflect regional variations depending on historical uses and prevailing climate. In Britain sledge is the term, and more common than sled. Toboggan is sometimes used synonymously with sledge but more often to refer to a type of sledge without runners. Sleigh refers to a moderate to large-sized, usually open-topped vehicle to carry passengers or goods, in Scandinavia particularly a sleigh may also be drawn by reindeer, as for Father Christmas. In American usage sled remains the term but often implies a smaller device. Sledge implies a heavier sled used for moving freight or massive objects, in Australia, where there is limited snow, sleigh and sledge are given equal preference in local parlance. The people of Ancient Egypt are thought to have used sledges extensively in the construction of their public works, sleds and sledges were found in the Oseberg Viking ship excavation. The sledge was also prized, because – unlike wheeled vehicles – it was exempt from tolls. Until the late 19th century, a closed winter sled, or vozok and it was a means of transport preferred by royals, bishops, and boyars of Muscovy. Several royal vozoks of historical importance have been preserved in the Kremlin Armoury, man-hauled sledges were the traditional means of transport on British exploring expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dog sleds were used by most others, such as Roald Amundsen, today some people use kites to tow exploration sleds in such climes. The word sled comes from Middle English sledde, which itself has the origins in Old Dutch word slee, the same word shares common ancestry with both sleigh and sledge. North Americas Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides
10.
Horse-drawn vehicle
–
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load and they were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport. A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle is a cart, four-wheeled vehicles have many names – one for heavy loads is most commonly called a wagon. Very light carts and wagons can also be pulled by donkeys, other smaller animals are occasionally used, such as large dogs, llamas and goats. Heavy wagons, carts and agricultural implements can also be pulled by other large animals such as oxen, water buffalo, yaks or even camels. Vehicles pulled by one animal have two shafts which attach either side of the rearmost animal, Vehicles which are pulled by a pair have a pole which attaches between the wheel pair. Other arrangements are possible, for example three or more abreast, a wheel pair with a single lead animal, or a wheel pair with three lead animals abreast. Very heavy loads sometimes had a team behind to slow the vehicle down steep hills. Sometimes at a hill with frequent traffic such a team would be hired to passing wagons to help them up or down the hill. Two-wheeled vehicles are balanced by the distribution of weight of the load over the axle, four-wheeled vehicles remain level on their own, and so the shafts or pole are hinged vertically, allowing them to rise and fall with the movement of the animals. A four-wheeled vehicle is steered by the shafts or pole, which are attached to the front axle. Ambulance, much the purpose as the modern sense. Details of the varied but would be a lightly built and well-sprung, enclosed vehicle with provision for seated casualties. Barouche, an elegant, high-slung, open carriage with a seat in the rear of the body and a bench at the front for the driver. Berlin Brake Britzka Brougham Buckboard Bus, see omnibus Buggy, a light, open, four-wheeled carriage, joseph Hansom based the design of his public hire vehicle on the cabriolet so the name cab stuck to vehicles for public hire. Cabriolet Calash or Calèshe, see barouche, cape cart Cariole Carriage, in the late eighteenth century, roughly equivalent to the modern word vehicle. It later came to be restricted to vehicle and even to private. This last is the adopted by the linked article
