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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. The size of horses varies by breed, but can also be influenced by nutrition. The general rule for cutoff in height between what is considered a horse and a pony at maturity is 14.2 hands as measured at the withers. An animal 14.2h or over is usually considered a horse and one less than 14.2h is a pony. However, there are exceptions to the general rule. Some smaller horse breeds who typically produce individual horses both under and over 14.2h are considered "horses" regardless of height. Likewise, some pony breeds, such as the Welsh pony, share some features of horses and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2h, but are still considered ponies. The size of horses varies by breed, but can also be influenced by nutrition. The general rule for cutoff in height between what is considered a horse and a pony at maturity is 14.2 hands as measured at the withers. An animal 14.2h or over is usually considered a horse and one less than 14.2h is a pony. However, there are exceptions to the general rule. Some smaller horse breeds who typically produce individual horses both under and over 14.2h are considered "horses" regardless of height. Likewise, some pony breeds, such as the Welsh pony, share some features of horses and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2h, but are still considered ponies. 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.
The horse (Equus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten living species of the family Equidae. epending on breed, management and environment, the domestic horse today has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. It is uncommon, but a few horses live into their 40s, and, occasionally, beyond. The oldest verifiable record was "Old Billy," a horse that lived in the 19th century to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest then-living pony, died at age 56. Filly: a female horse under the age of four. Horses also provide psychological benefits to people whether they actually ride or not. "Equine-assisted" or "equine-facilitated" psychotherapy is a form of experiential psychotherapy that uses horses as companion animals to assist people with psychological problems, including anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, behavioral difficulties, mental illness and those who are going through major life changes. Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) (also known as equine guided education or equine assisted professional development) is field of experiential learning for corporate, professional and personal development. There are also experimental programs using horses in prison settings. Exposure to horses appears to improve the behavior of inmates in a prison setting and help reduce recidivism when they leave. The size of horses varies by breed, but can also be influenced by nutrition. The general rule for cutoff in height between what is considered a horse and a pony at maturity is 14.2 hands as measured at the withers. An animal 14.2h or over is usually considered a horse and one less than 14.2h is a pony. However, there are exceptions to the general rule. Some smaller horse breeds who typically produce individual horses both under and over 14.2h are considered "horses" regardless of height. Likewise, some pony breeds, such as the Welsh pony, share some features of horses and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2h, but are still considered ponies. Light riding horses such as Arabians, Morgans, or Quarter Horses usually range in height from 14.0 to 16.0 hands and can weigh from to . Larger riding horses such as Thoroughbreds, American Saddlebreds or Warmbloods usually start at about 15.2 hands and often are as tall as 17 hands weighing from to . Heavy or draft horses such as the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire are usually at least 16.0 to 18.0 hands high and can weigh from about to . While ponies cannot be taller than 14.2h (147 cm), they may be much smaller, down to the Shetland pony at around 10 hands and the Falabella which can be no taller than , the size of a medium-sized dog. However, while many miniature horse breeds are small as or smaller than a Shetland pony, because they are bred to have a horse phenotype (appearance), their breeders and registries classify them as very small horses rather than ponies.
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. Yearling: a horse of either sex that is between one and two years old.