The tallest horse in the world is a Belgian named Big Jake. He's 'big' alright - 20.3 hands high (6 foot 10 at the withers) and 2,600 pounds. He was always big, too - at birth, he weighed 240 pounds, 50 more than a normal Belgian Draft. His owners say he is a gentle giant. He travels the country appearing at fairs, stadiums, and other events, raising money for the Ronald McDonald house. Every day, Big jake consumes 1 1/2 bales of hay and 4 quarts of grain a day.
In contrast, the smallest horse in the world is Einstein. When he was born, he was less than 6 pounds and around 14 inches tall. The previous record holder's name was Thumbelina. She weighed 9 pounds, but only held the record only since her genes were genetically modified through dwarfism. Einstein isn't a dwarf horse at all - he's just really, really tiny.
The oldest horse in the world is Old Billy. (Are the owners of these horses like Big Jake and Old Billy able to tell the future when they name their horses?) He lived to be 62 years old. Most horses live to around 35. Old Billy was born in England in 1760 and spent his long life pulling barges, or ships, up and down canals. No one is sure of his breed, but scientists are able to guess that he was a draft horse, most likely a Shire or Cob.
The highest jump a horse ever jumped over was an 8 foot and 1 1/4 inch tall fence completed by Huaso in Chile on February 5th, 1949. Huaso started out as a racehorse originally named Faithful, but when he failed at that his owner tried to use him for dressage. He eventually proved to be terrible at dressage as well since he was so unruly. His owner, Chilean army Captain Gaspar Lueje, didn't know what to do with him until he saw Huaso jump the two-meter fence in his field and escape, having never jumped in his life. If Huaso could jump that high on his own, how high could he go with training? Gaspar tried one last fit for his horse - showjumping - and ended up getting his name in the record books. If at first you don't succeed...
The horse with the longest tail was named Chinook. He was a palomino whose tail was 22 feet long. The horse with the longest mane was named Maude. Her name was 18 feet long. The horse pictured had the longest mane and tail recorded on the same horse. His name is Linus II. His tail was 19 feet long, his mane was 13 feet on each side, and his forelock was five foot six inches.
Other Records
The longest horse-drawn carriage was made up of 68 horses harnessed nose-to-tail in front of a carriage. It was organized by the Spies Traveling Company of Denmark on May 7th, 1986. The 68 horses carried 810 people to announce the coming of spring.
The longest distance walked by a horse on hind legs was 30 meters (95 feet 5 inches) in April 2009. The horse that performed this stunt was named Doc.
Mr. Light holds the record for the fastest mile ever run by a horse. He ran it in 141.32 seconds. Just to give you some perspective... my mile time is around 6 minutes. -Emma
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