ESL Blogs

The year 2014 is the year of a Horse according to the Chinese calendar. I am not going to tell you anything about the Chinese zodiac, let ⊱ Mickey ⊰ tells you about that, but I want to share with you some facts and maybe folly facts about horse. We have to admit that a horse is really one of the most elegant and magnificent animals. 

Did You Know?

1. Idioms/Phrases/Proverbs related to horse

A horse plays an important role through out the history of human kind. They had been domesticated for over 5000 years, thus there was no wonder that they were many idioms and phrases related to the horse.

a. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

This means to be ungrateful to someone who gives you something. The origin of this idiom can be traced back to St. Jerome who first uttered the phrase. This phrase is related to the value of a horse which is determined through its teeth. A horse value usually is based by its age. And, a horse's age is determined by checking through the prominence of their teeth. Therefore, when you're looking at a horse's teeth, it can be deemed that you're judging a gift of a horse by the horse's age. Ultimately, the phrase in a sense saying, the thoughts that count. So even if the gift is not so valuable, we should appreciate it.

b. Wild horses couldn't drag someone away

This mean that nothing can persuade someone from something, or someone is determined to remain with something. This proverb maybe originated from medieval torture of using horses to stretch prisoners to force them to confess.  

c. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

This proverb is really meaningful. It meant that you can give someone with an opportunity, but unfortunately, you can't force him/her to take advantage of the opportunity. It's one of the oldest English proverbs that is still being in used today. It's recorded as early as in 1175 in Old English Homilies.

2. A Horse Is Measured In Hands

The measurement of hands to determine the height of a horse can be traced back to ancient Egyptian. A hand is approximately about four inches, which is an average width of an adult male's hand. Thus, if a horse is said to be 14.2 HH (hand high) it meant that the horse is 14 hands and 2 inches, which is equivalent to 58 inches (14 x 4 inches + 2 inches). Please click on this link on how to measure a horse. 

3. A Horse Age in Comparison to Human

According to Equine Resources International, a horse aged about 6.5 years for each human year, until it reaches puberty. However, once a horse reaches the age of four, the rate slows to 2.5 years for each human years. This is the chart of horse age in comparison to human age.

I know it's too early to wish all of you a "Happy Horse Year", but who cares, right?  LOL. Enjoy ushering your 2014, and don't forget to put on your horseshoe on and gallop merrily.

My other Did You Know? series:-

1. Did You Know?;  2. Continuation;  3. Another Continuation;  4. Not Another Continuation!; 5. Gosh! Will It Never Ends?;  6. Oh No! Not Another One!;  7. Here Comes Another One;  8. Another One?;  9. One, Two, Eighty Six?; 10. Punishment? OMG!; 11. Is This A Swan Song?;  12 John Has It All?; 13. It's All In The Myth;  14. This Is Random;  15. It's A Dog's World;  16.  It's Also A Cat's World;  17. Is It A Mouse World Too?;  18. Dutch Flavour;  19. It's The Greek Flavour;  20. It's All Greek;  21. All That Gold