Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson LXVII · Topic 8: Domestic animals
67. The horse
Goal: Your child can explain how a horse's long legs, one-toed hoof, eyes and ears suit an animal that escaped its enemies by speed, and describe its gaits.
You'll need
- A visit to horses: a stable, riding center, farm, or a fair
- A measuring tape
- A nature notebook and a pencil (colored pencils if you have them)
What's in the book
Comstock's story of the horse, which opens with a poem about little Eohippus and tells of the horse's ancestors, wild horses, and how the horse is built for speed. Then Lesson LXVII: leading thought, a method that begins with wild-horse stories, and fifteen groups of questions, including the care of horses.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Any season. Comstock suggests observations "to be made incidentally in the street or in the stable." Today, try a riding stable, a farm, a fair or a parade, with the owner's permission.
Safety first
Never walk behind a horse: it may kick if startled. Approach from the side where it can see you, speak quietly, and let the owner tell you where to stand and whether you may touch or feed it. Offer any treat on a flat palm, fingers together.
Keep the big idea in mind
Comstock's "leading thought" is the one idea the lesson is meant to lead to. Read it to yourself now, and save it to share at the end, after your child has looked and answered:
The horse as a wild animal depended largely upon its strength and fleetness to escape its enemies, and these two qualities have made it of greatest use to man.
Fleetness means speed.
Legs and one toe
Look at a horse's leg from the side.
The horse walks on one toe. Which toe do you think it is? What do we call the toe-nail of the horse?
Make a sketch of the horse's front and hind leg and label those places which correspond to our wrist, elbow, shoulder, hand, heel, knee and hip.
Hint: the joint people call a horse's "knee" on the front leg is really its wrist.
Ears and eyes
What do the following different positions of the horse's ears indicate: When lifted and pointing forward? When thrown back?
What advantage does the position of the eyes on the head give to the wild horse? Why do we put blinders on a horse?
When taking sugar from the hand, does the horse use teeth or lips?
Gaits and size
Watch a horse being ridden or led.
How many gaits has the horse? Describe as well as you can all of these gaits.
When we say a horse is fourteen hands high what do we mean?
If the owner allows, measure a horse at the top of the shoulders and work out how many hands high it is.
Put it into words
Ask your child to tell you how speed helped wild horses survive, and how it helps people. Then read the leading thought aloud.
Nature notebook
Draw the horse's leg sketch from step 4 neatly, with labels, and a picture of a hoof seen from below. Write the horse's name and height if you learned them.
Afterwards
Comstock's long question 14 is about caring for horses: feed, water, blankets in cold weather. If you visit a stable, ask the owner to show your child one part of a horse's daily care.
Answers to the book's problems
A hand is 4 inches, measured from the ground to the top of the shoulders (the withers). Fourteen hands high means 14 x 4 = 56 inches. The horse walks on its middle toe; the hoof is its toe-nail.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.