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Words You Never Heard!


Aug 16, 2018

 

On a recent trip to Colorado, I looked out the window of our cabin one morning and saw four beautiful horses. Three of them were standing perfectly still like statues, not even swatting flies with their tails, while the fourth was eating grass. I realized the three were sleeping standing up. The method by which horses stand while sleeping is called the “stay apparatus" and it’s a system of ligaments and tendons that keep them upright with relative ease.

Horses use the buddy system for sleeping, where one horse watches over the others while they’re snoozling. The role of watch-horse will rotate as each member of the herd gets the sleep they need. Horses are also known to snore. Other words for snoring are stomatolalia, sternutation, and snuffling!

Where did the saying ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ come from?  Equestrians can often determine a horses health and age by looking in its mouth.  Therefore, if someone gives you a horse and you look in its mouth it’s almost the same as looking for the price tag!