World's Records of Horses

In 1921 a horse called Humorist won the Derby, England’s jewel in the racing crown, and was dead three weeks later. An autopsy allegedly revealed the horse had only one lung! In America, a palomino horse grew the longest tail in the world measuring some 22 feet long while a Californian horse possessed the longest mane at an interesting 18 feet. There are very credible feats in the equine industry that span the centuries of recorded time, some completely ridiculous and others a biological wonder. The world’s tallest horse, smallest horse, oldest horse, greatest jockey - the merits roll onwards and upwards. So here is compiled a list of records that have been set in the world of horses, some still standing (literally) and others that still bewilder decades after their inauguration…

Largest Horse
The tallest documented horse was a shire gelding named Samson. He was 21.2 1/2 hands tall, and weighed 3,360 pounds. He was bred by Thomas Cleaver of Toddington Mills, England, and was foaled in 1846.

The world's tallest living horse, Luscombe Nodram, or 'Noddy', stands with his owner Jane Greenman. The Shire horse is seven-years-old, stands at 20.2 hands high (2.05 meters) and at 1.5 tons weighs three times more than the average thoroughbred racehorse. He is broken to saddle and harness. The Shire horse is now endangered with approximately 2,000 left in the world with very few of them being gray.

Smallest Horse
Little Pumpkin is the smallest known horse. He stood only 14 inches tall and weighted only 20 pounds on Nov. 30, 1975. He was foaled in April 15, 1973 and was owned by J.C. Williams Jr. of Della Terra Mini Horse Farm, Inman, SC.

The Smallest Horse
The smallest horse alive today is Thumbelina, believed to be a genetic midget of an already tiny breed of horse, the Miniature. Thumbelina stands at 4 hands high to the horse world, or a mere 17.5 inches! While still a horse, the miniature of a Miniature would struggle to jump clear over a bucket. Owned by Kay and Paul Goessling who live on the Goose Creek Farm Inc, St Louis, Missouri . Recently a horse from New Hampshire, has been receiving an incredible amount of media attention regarding his size. The horse is called Einstein and is said to be 14in (35.6cm) tall, and weigh 6lb (2.7kg). This has led to speculation that Einstein is the world’s smallest living horse. Guinness World Records will only consider a claim for this record category when the animal is at least 4 calendar years old. As has been widely reported Einstein is only a few months old; and therefore the title of ‘smallest living horse’ is retained by Thumbelina.

Oldest Horse
The oldest horse reliably recorded was Old Billy. He lived to be 62 years old. He was foaled in 1760 and died in 1822. He was bred by Edward Robinson of Woolston, England.

Oldest Pony
The oldest pony reliably recorded was named Teddy E. Bear, and lived to be 55. He was owned by Kathy Pennington of Virginia Beach, VA.

Oldest Thoroughbred
The greatest age recorded for a Thoroughbred racehorse is 42 years, in the case of the chestnut geldinhg Tango Duke (foaled 1935), owned by Carmen J. Koper of Barongarook, Victoria, Australia. The horse died on January 25, 1978.

Oldest winner (horse)
The oldest winning horses are 18-year-old Revenge at Shrewsbury, England 1790; Marksman at Ashford, Kent, England, 1826; and Jorrocks at Bathurst, Australia, 1851. At the same age, Wild Aster won three hurdle races in 1919, and Sonny Somers won two steeplechases in February 1980.

Highest jump
The record for the highest jump is 8 ft. 1 1/4 in., by Huaso, ridden by Capt. Alberto Larraguibel (Chile) at Vina del Mar, Santiago, Chile on Feb. 5, 1949. After setting the record, (he was 16 years old when he jumped) Huaso was retired and never ridden again. He died of natural causes at the ripe age of 29.


The Unofficial Highest Jump
A horse called King’s Own was ridden into unofficial history in the 1940s by Fred Wettach Jr. by clearing a fence standing at 8ft 3½in (over 2.5 metres)! Motion picture cameras captured the awesome effort but the record remains unofficial because it was not achieved before a public gathering of witnesses.

Longest Jump
The record for the longest jump over water is 27 ft., 6 3/4 in., by Something, ridden by Andre Ferreira (South Africa) in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 25, 1975.

Michael Whittaker holds the record for the highest BAREBACK jump, after clearing 7 foot aboard “Red Flight” in 1982

The Oldest Horse
The oldest horse verifiably recorded was Old Billy, a Cleveland Bay heavy draught foaled in Woolston, England in 1760. The average lifespan of a horse is 24, though some do progress towards 30. Old Billy however died in 1822, and that made him an astonishing 62!

The Oldest Winning Horse
The oldest winning horse in recorded racing history was a Bathurst thoroughbred called Jorrocks who raced to victory at the age of 18, an impressive effort in light of most racehorses retiring before they reach 8.

The highest price ever paid for a horse at auction was 16 million dollars for a 2 year old named "The Green Monkey" in 2006 at Calder Race Course in Florida. John Ferguson, the bloodstock manager for Darley Stud and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum gave up at $16 million, and Demi O’Byrne, a bloodstock agent representing Irish-based powerhouse Coolmore and John Magnier bought the 2 year old. The son of the great Forestry, whose grandfather was Storm Cat never won a race and retired with lifetime earning of just of $10,000. As in all of life and all of sport -- there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32373784/The_16_Millon_Horse_Could_Still_Pan_Out

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