To wonder how the hell horses stand up

[mayaknew]

Just stuck the dressage on.

How the hell are horses able to hold all that weight on those skinny wee ankles.

They look like they defy the laws of physics. 🐎

Can we see a photo please? I love seeing horses all fancy ☺️

Giraffes are the real mystery to me! Look at their skinny long legs!

What side is it on please?

You'll be blown away when I tell you that their hooves are actually their fingernails!

I've often thought this, though not just about horses.

They do seem extremely top heavy to me. Yet they seem to stand, gallop and jump without much difficulty.

As a caveat, I ought to admit that I am absolutely no expert at at all about all things equine.

All animals of this build are similarly made (moose, elk) because insane muscle mass on top of thinner legs = faster. They've been selectively bred for this.

Plus their bones are far far denser and stronger than ours.

Yes, all that weight on those spindly legs, and mouths on the end of their noses! Terrifying.

I was horrified seeing a new born foal's hooves, bleurgh....
But they protect mamas birth canal and soon drop off

@TheNeverEndingOver omfg - I had genuinely never thought of the nose mouth thing may never sleep again.

@SquashMinusIsShit

Can we see a photo please? I love seeing horses all fancy ☺️

That just made me

It’s crackers isn’t it? They have a couple of huge tendons that run down their legs which provide the spring. Like they are huge and SO tight (I have a photo but I don’t think leg dissections are really mumsnets thing- google horse DDFT/SDFT). Plus all manner of fat pads, cartilage etc to take that concussion and turn it into bounce. But it still baffles me on a daily basis how they do what they do!

@Wilkolampshade it’s a sign of the pure evil they contain

There is a weird YouTube video where they crush things in an industrial press, the moose leg bones were so strong it was amazing.

The dancing horse on the dressage earlier on was wearing a little black hat with glittery sparkles on. He looked smashing.

@SquashMinusIsShit

Can we see a photo please? I love seeing horses all fancy ☺️

Some horses have moustaches! When I was in London a couple of years ago I saw some fancy guard horses outside a government building and they had robes, feathery headdresses and curly moustaches!

[quote Wilkolampshade]@TheNeverEndingOver omfg - I had genuinely never thought of the nose mouth thing may never sleep again.[/quote]

Have you never seen animals before

Nice boingy joints

Horses - 500kg butterflies So insanely delicate for such a large animal. They can't vomit, so that's a bit of an issue.

They actually walk essentially on their finger tips. If you compare the bone structure to our own, it's your fingers and toes that you would be walking around on to compare to a horse. But they do have a lot of strength in their legs, those horses in particular do.

Have you ever seen a bull moose? 😱

Finally, someone who understands. Horse ankles totally freak me out as they’re so tiny and fragile for a huge heavy creature to walk on!

I watched the dressage with my 8 year old the other day and his only comment was why would you spend your life teaching a horse to dance . I felt it would be amazing to have those horse skills!

I find it amazing that foals are up and tottering about very soon after being born. Humans are not really mobile for months after birth.

A friend said it was because we carry a foetus vertically that it would become too heavy before it was born fully fledged whereas most mammals carry their pregnancies horizontally and can longer to allow more development in the womb.

@NoParticularPattern

It’s crackers isn’t it? They have a couple of huge tendons that run down their legs which provide the spring. Like they are huge and SO tight (I have a photo but I don’t think leg dissections are really mumsnets thing- google horse DDFT/SDFT). Plus all manner of fat pads, cartilage etc to take that concussion and turn it into bounce. But it still baffles me on a daily basis how they do what they do!

Think I could live the rest of my life quite happily having never seen these pictures 😷🤣🤣

And they need the horse dentist - this is my horse having his teeth rasped down. He isn't tied up - the rope is just slung over his shoulder...