• LillyPip@lemmy.caOP
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      2 years ago

      Thank you for subscribing to horse facts! 𐂃

      Horses produce roughly 10 gallons of saliva per day!

        • Hoomod@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          There’s a fungus that grows on clover, that if eaten makes horses salivate more.

          “Slobbers” normally isn’t anything but annoying, but it actually can cause dehydration if the horse doesn’t have access to water

    • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Horses have bones in their legs called splint bones. They are vestigial metacarpals from back when they had 3 toes. As of yet we can’t find any role they perform. If damaged or removed it can lead to chronic lameness a condition in horses that will often lead to death.

      • LillyPip@lemmy.caOP
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        2 years ago

        As of yet we can’t find any role they perform. If damaged or removed it can lead to chronic lameness

        That seems to imply they perform a structural role, unless I’m oversimplifying it?

        I’m a bit of an anthropology geek, and am super interested in vestigial traits. I have one: the ‘elf ear’, or Darwin’s Tubercal. Mine turns down, not out, so I’m not genetically lucky enough to cosplay as an elf. I kinda feel ripped off.

        e: ha, I’m a better example than the wiki picture. Anyone can feel free to use my picture, it’s a pretty good example.

        • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          As far as we can tell they perform no role at all. They are only about the size of a finger, have no major tendon or ligament attachments and do not connect to another bone. There may have been new research in the last few years that I am unaware of that sheads some new light. They are considered a bit of a mystery.

          What about half elf. You know left and right half

          • LillyPip@lemmy.caOP
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            2 years ago

            I could go half elf. :)

            I’m very interested in learning how damage to vestigial anatomy can cause lameness. That’s fascinating and makes a lot of sense.

            You’ve sent me down a rabbit hole of horse anatomy, and I appreciate that.

            • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Trust me you are not the only one who is interested in why this happens. There have been a few papers written on it. But I think the reality is the funding doesn’t exist to explore it. There are a lot more important and money making things to research about horses.

          • LillyPip@lemmy.caOP
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            2 years ago

            Role playing vestigial traits is my new band name.

            e: In all seriousness, it does sound like a role, even if we can’t figure it out. Turns out the appendix and tonsils have a role, though we didn’t know what until recently.

            It doesn’t seem lameness should result from damage to a purely vestigial trait, but I’m no expert.

    • radix@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      The one horse fact I know is that violin bows (and presumably all viol* and string bass bows) use tail hair from male horses, never female, to avoid using pee-drenched hairs.

  • flicker@kbin.social
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    2 years ago

    Today we both learned something.

    Is anybody making horsestache wax? Could be an untapped market!

    • dansity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 years ago

      Some Syrian well groomed horses could open a horse barber shop with leather aprons and straight egde blades

  • Candelestine@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    … damn. Well done op, I’m not sure how I got this old without knowing this. Hella random, sure, but it’s … a horse with a moustache. I mean, c’mon.

  • gatelike@feddit.de
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    2 years ago

    I stared at that image and could not tell wtf it was. Looks like a dogs belly but there is weird hair where the legs should be.

    • Wolf Link 🐺@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      It’s a horse’s nose, with a moustache (the “weird hair”). The other pictures in the link OP provided make it easier to understand for people who aren’t familliar with what horse noses look like. Example:

      • LillyPip@lemmy.caOP
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        2 years ago

        This one looks like he’s giving me one more chance to pay him back before his Shetlands come round to rearrange my knees.