The horse, or Equus caballus, is an even-toed ungulate that belongs to the same genus as the donkey, Grevy’s and mountain zebras, and Przewalski horse (Waring 3). It evolved from the three- and four-toed eohippus, and still retains internal bones that belonged to the other toes (4-7).

Horses have a number of gaits, both innate and learned, but their four main gaits are the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Within minutes of being born, they can stand and walk, and, within hours, can trot and gallop (50). The ways in which they move has long been studied, but how they move – specifically, switching between gaits – is still very controversial.

This website was created as a part of a class project in the Animal Physiology Class at Davidson College.

E-mail me at emmccracken@davidson.edu

Image of Tarpan horse at upper left from Equus 2005.