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Regardless of a horse's actual birthdate, for most competition purposes, horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere and August 1 in the southern hemisphere. The exception is endurance riding, where the minimum age to compete is based on the horse's actual calendar age. A very rough estimate of a horse's age can be made from looking at its teeth. Filly: a female horse under the age of four. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages: The difference between a horse and pony is not simply a height difference, but also a difference in phenotype or appearance. There are noticeable differences in conformation and temperament. Ponies often exhibit thicker manes, tails and overall coat. They also have proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, shorter and thicker necks, and short heads with broad foreheads. They often have calmer temperaments than horses and also a high level of equine intelligence that may or may not be used to cooperate with human handlers. Filly: a female horse under the age of four. People of all ages with physical and mental disabilities obtain beneficial results from association with horses. Therapeutic riding is used to mentally and physically stimulate disabled persons and help them improve their lives through improved balance and coordination, increased self-confidence and a greater feeling of freedome and independence. The benefits of equestrian activity for people with disabilities has also been recognized with the addition of equestrian events to the Paralympic Games and recognition of para-equestrian events by the FEI. Hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding are names for different physical, occupational, and speech therapy treatment strategies that utilize equine movement. In hippotherapy, a therapist uses the horse's movement to provide improve their patient's cognitive, coordination, balance and fine motor skills, whereas therapeutic horseback riding uses specific riding skills. Horses and humans have lived and worked together for thousands of years and an extensive specialized vocabulary has arisen to describe virtually every horse behavioral and anatomical characteristic with a high degree of precision.
Yearling: a horse of either sex that is between one and two years old.
Sports such as polo and horseball do not judge the horse itself, but rather use the horse as a partner for human competitors as a necessary part of the game. Although the horse assists this process and requires specialized training to do so, the details of its performance are not judged, only the result of the rider's actions -- be it getting a ball through a goal or some other achievement. Examples of these sports of partnership between human and animal also include jousting (reenacting the skills used by medieval knights), where the main goal is for one rider to dismount the other, and buzkashi, a team game played throughout Central Asia, the aim being to capture a goat carcass while on horseback. The difference between a horse and pony is not simply a height difference, but also a difference in phenotype or appearance. There are noticeable differences in conformation and temperament. Ponies often exhibit thicker manes, tails and overall coat. They also have proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, shorter and thicker necks, and short heads with broad foreheads. They often have calmer temperaments than horses and also a high level of equine intelligence that may or may not be used to cooperate with human handlers. It is thought that the largest horse in (recorded) history was a Shire horse named Sampson, who lived during the late 1800s. He stood 21.2½ hands high and his peak weight was estimated at . The current record holder for the world's smallest horse is Thumbelina, a fully mature miniature horse affected by dwarfism. She is tall and weighs . Most horses perform work such as carrying humans or are harnessed to pull objects such as carts or plows. Hundreds of distinct horse breeds have been developed, allowing horses to be specialized for certain tasks; lighter horses for racing or riding, heavier horses for farming and other tasks requiring pulling power. Some horses, such as the miniature horse, can be kept as pets. In some societies, horses are a source of food, both meat and milk; in others it is taboo to consume these products. In industrialized countries, horses are predominantly kept for leisure and sporting pursuits, while in other parts of the world they are still used as working animals. Horses are trained to be ridden or driven in many different sporting events and competitions. Examples include horse shows, gymkhana and O-Mok-See, rodeos, endurance riding, fox hunting, and Olympic-level events such as three-day eventing, combined driving, dressage, and show jumping. Although scoring varies by event, most emphasize the horse's speed, maneuverability, obedience and/or precision. Sometimes the equitation, the style and ability of the rider, is also considered. Filly: a female horse under the age of four.
Modern horses are often used to re-enact their historical work purpose. One famous example is the Budweiser Clydesdales. This team of draft horses pulls a beer wagon in a manner similar to that used prior to the invention of the modern motorized truck. Horses are used, complete with equipment that is authentic or a meticulously recreated replica, in various historical reenactments of specific periods of history, and especially famous battles. Horses also are used to preserve cultural traditions and for ceremonial purposes. Countries such as the United Kingdom still use horse-drawn carriages to convey royalty and VIPs to and from certain culturally significant events. Horses are frequently used in television and motion pictures to add authenticity to historical dramas as well as adding charm to films set in modern-day, or even futuristic science fiction settings. The horse frequently appears in coats of arms in heraldry. The horse can be represented as standing, trotting, courant (running) or salient (rearing). The horse may be saddled and bridled, harnessed, or without any harness whatsoever. The horse features in the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. According to Chinese folklore, each animal is associated with certain personality traits, and those born in the year of the horse are intelligent, independent and free-spirited. The horse (Equus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten living species of the family Equidae.