The Horse Horses belong to the equus family. Equus comes from the ancient Greek word meaning quickness. Horses are mammals in the same family as zebras, mules and donkeys. Mares produce milk for their young and will feed them for several months. Within 1-2 hours of birth a foal is able to stand up and walk.
Foals can focus their eyes almost as soon as they are born and cut their first teeth within a week.
They are fully grown by 3 - 4 years of age. Horses love to eat short, juicy grass. Extra high energy food such as barley, oats, maize, chaff, bran or processed pony nuts are good for working horses. Horses have small stomachs for their size and need to eat little and often - if in a field, horses will graze for most of the day. An average life span for a horse is around 20 -25 years, though they can live for up to 30 years.