Fun facts for Valentine’s Day

My husband claims he is second to my horse in the love department.

Mmm…!? Give me a minute!

Horses don’t distinguish one day from the next, but when owners show up to the barn bearing gifts, some wonder if it is a special day.

My horse, Darcy, loves bananas. Apples and carrots are welcome, too, but bananas rule the treat day.

Before a trip to the grocery store to restock Darcy’s bananas, I compiled some fun horse facts for Valentine’s Day courtesy of Your Horse Magazine published in the UK!

  1.  Heart to heart
    A horse’s heart weighs approximately 9 or 10 pounds (it is about the size of a large melon). With each beat, a typical adult horse pumps approximately one liter of blood.

  2. Candyman
    Horses like sweet flavors and will usually reject anything sour or bitter. However, don’t go sharing your Valentine’s chocs with your horse – you may know about not giving it to your dog, but your horse is also sensitive to the toxic chemical found in chocolate called theobromine.

  3. Wet kisses
    Horses produce approximately 10 gallons of saliva a day – now that’s a sloppy smooch!

  4. Cute couples
    A zebroid is a cross between a zebra and any other Equidae family member (which includes donkeys, ponies, and horses). A zonky is a cross between a zebra and a donkey; a zony is a cross between a zebra and a pony, and a zorse is a cross between a zebra and a horse.

  5. Skips a beat
    The average resting heart rate in a well-conditioned horse is typically between 32-40 beats per minute, while the heart rate at full gallop can exceed 240 beats per minute. But horses have a wide range of ‘normal’ resting heart rates and a vast range of different ‘normal’ rhythms – so don’t worry if your horse doesn’t seem to fit the mold; if it’s normal for him, then that’s the main thing.