Wild horse

Distribution

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Wild horse distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Temperate grassland
Temperate grasslands include the prairies of North America, the steppes of Russia and the pampas of Argentina. Summers here are mild to hot and the winters can sometimes be very cold – for instance, blizzards can blanket the great plains of the United States.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

• Acoustic communication
• Herbivorous
• Maternal care
• Social
• Adapted to running
• Chemical communication
• Visual communication
• Viviparous

About

The wild horse (Equus ferus) is a species of the genus Equus, which includes as subspecies the domesticated horse as well as the undomesticated Tarpan and Przewalski's horse. The Tarpan became extinct in the 19th century, and Przewalski's Horse was saved from the brink of extinction and reintroduced successfully to the wild. The possible ancestor of the domestic horse was the Tarpan, which roamed the steppes of Eurasia at the time of domestication. However, other subspecies of Equus ferus may have existed and could have been the stock from which domesticated horses are descended. Since the extinction of the Tarpan, attempts have been made to reconstruct the phenotype of the Tarpan, resulting in horse breeds such as the Konik and Heck horse. However, the genetic makeup and foundation bloodstock of those breeds is substantially derived from domesticated horses, and therefore these breeds possess domesticated traits.

The term "wild horse" is also used colloquially to refer to free roaming herds of feral horses such as the Mustang in the United States, the Brumby in Australia, and many others. These feral horses are untamed members of the domestic horse subspecies (Equus ferus caballus), and should not be confused with the two truly "wild" horse subspecies.

Read more at Wikipedia