--- title: Hooves, riding and caring for a horse, plus donkeys and mules — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Hooves, riding and caring for a horse, plus donkeys and mules», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: When a farrier, a person who cares for horses' feet, nails a metal shoe onto it, the horse does not mind, ju --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Hooves, riding and caring for a horse,… # Hooves, riding and caring for a horse, plus donkeys and mules Lesson 208 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/1/) — When a farrier, a person who cares for horses' feet, nails a metal shoe onto it, the horse does not mind, just as you do not feel it when your nails are cut, because the outer hoof wall has no feeling. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/2/) — Underneath the hoof is a soft V-shaped part called the frog, which soaks up the bumps and helps pump blood back up the leg, so riders pick out stones from around it before and after every ride. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/3/) — Caring for a horse means brushing it, checking its feet, keeping it warm enough and remembering that it is a flight animal that can jump sideways at a flapping bag, which is why riders always wear a helmet. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/4/) — A horse's hoof wall is like a thick fingernail with no feeling, so a farrier can nail on a shoe without hurting it; hooves keep growing and need trimming every few weeks. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/5/) — The soft V-shaped part under the hoof is called the frog; it absorbs shock and helps push blood back up the leg, and a stone stuck beside it can make a horse lame, so that it limps. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/6/) — Riders wear helmets on every horse, even a quiet pony, because any horse may spook (suddenly take fright) at a bag or a bird and throw its rider, and helmets prevent many serious head injuries. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/7/) — The four main paces, called gaits, are walk, trot, canter and gallop, from slowest to fastest, each with its own pattern of legs. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/8/) — In 1878 the photographer Eadweard Muybridge used a row of cameras to prove that a galloping horse has a moment with all four feet off the ground. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/9/) — Grooming cleans the coat and lets the rider check for cuts; dirt left under the saddle can rub sores, and horses groom each other by nibbling at the withers, the bony top of the shoulders. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/10/) — Some horses need rugs in winter, especially clipped or thin-coated ones, while hardy ponies grow thick coats and may need no rug at all. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/11/) — Horses cannot be sick, because a strong muscle at the entrance of the stomach lets food go only one way, so a tummy ache called colic can be very dangerous for a horse. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/12/) — Horses are measured in hands, about ten centimetres each, from the ground to the top of the shoulders; people once measured with the width of a hand. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/13/) — Horses are flight animals that react first and think later, so they may snort and jump at a plastic bag, and calm, patient riders help them get used to scary things. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/14/) — Donkeys are relatives of horses from dry desert lands, where a loud bray carries far; when worried, a donkey tends to freeze and think rather than run, which people call stubborn. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/208-hooves-riding-and-caring-for-a-horse-plus-donkeys-and-mules/15/) — A mule is the baby of a male donkey and a female horse; mules are strong and sure-footed, but they almost never have babies of their own. - ← previous: [Horses and ponies: how they eat, see, sleep and live in herds](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/207-horses-and-ponies-how-they-eat-see-sleep-and-live-in-herds/) - next →: [Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)