Little Known (and Odd) Horse Racing Facts

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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The Triple Crown season is upon us, and while we’re all watching, waiting, and hoping for the 12th Triple Crown winner in history to join the ranks of Secretariat, Citation, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, there are a virtual plethora of interesting and not readily apparent facts about horse racing that are interesting and, upon further review, supply lessons in the history of the sport of horse racing itself.
1. Zebras - True, you’ve never gone down to the track to put $50 on a Zebra. However, Zebras are, in fact, a type of horse, and have more stamina than the greatest distance runner in the history of thoroughbred racing (in case you’re wondering, that honor in the United States would probably go to Princequillo, Secretariat’s broodmare sire). Many people think that if they’ve seen one Zebra, they’ve seen them all, but the truth is, like Killer Whales, the black and white stripe pattern on every Zebra is totally unique, like a fingerprint.
2. Vomit - Ever have one of those nights out that inevitably leads to the hangover from hell the next morning? We’ve all had them. Can’t even remember how ...
... we got home. Our last recollection is of starting on that sixth Jack and Coke, and then it all gets kind of hazy after that. Fast forward to the next morning: you wake up, your mouth is bone dry, and then that unmistakable feeling comes over you. You are going to puke, to vomit, to hurl. And there’s nothing on this Earth that can possibly stop it. What does any of this have to do with horses or horse racing? Nothing, except for one interesting fact that you probably are not aware of: no matter how much beer a horse drinks, a horse cannot vomit.
3. Tooth Fairies - I can vividly remember my Dad, under the guise of the Tooth Fairy (goodness, could we get any more gullible when we were kids?) would leave me a couple bucks under my pillow when my baby teeth would fall out. Then I remember my permanent teeth coming in, and not only would they not come out, but they would stop growing shortly after they came all the way in. Horses, unlike humans, can never have a tooth fairy because their teeth don’t fall out. In fact, their teeth never stop growing throughout their entire lives.
4. We’ve all been driving in the country at some point and seen horses, those champion vegetarians, grazing in the pasture. You might think that a horse can simply head into a large field after it’s been mowed and everything will be okay. Actually, you’d be making a serious mistake, a life threatening mistake for your horse; horses cannot eat mowed grass clippings. They can cause colic.
5. Rotating ears - Our human ears (the outer ears, the ones we can actually see) are not able to move all that much, if at all. Oh, I remember a kid named Stuart in the 4th grade that could make all the girls laugh by making his ears move just a little bit. Horses? They have a grand total of 16 muscles in each ear, allowing them tremendous range of motion in their outer ears. In fact, horses can rotate their ears an astonishing 180 degrees!!!
The exciting thing about horse racing is no matter in what aspect you participate - as a bettor wagering on the horses, as an owner rooting your horse home to victory or as a breeder dreaming of the day your horse might find himself in the winner’s circle of a major Thoroughbred racing event - there is now a racing game available that offers you the opportunity to participate in the exciting, fast-paced world of horse racing in a virtual racing manner. Want to be a jockey? This exciting free racing game offers you that chance.
Want to participate in betting tournaments for real prizes? Our free horse racing games allow you to do that. How about breeding and training a virtual Thoroughbred and knowing that all of your decisions in caring fo that virtual horse can affect his performance in racing events against other online players with their horses? Our free online racing game at horseracegame.com gives you that opportunity.