Jane: This is But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids from Vermont
Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, we take questions
from kids all over who are curious about the world around
them, like you are, and it's our job to find interesting people
who can offer answers. You've been sending us questions about
horses for years, so we thought it was high time to do an
episode all about them. When we were in Iceland a few months
ago, we visited a school for kids and sometimes adults, who
want to learn how to care for and ride horses. Sometimes they
even do horseback riding competitions. The woman who owns
the school and cares for all of the horses there is named Sonja
Noack. She invited us to meet a few of her horses and learn
more. And I love the name of her school, Hestasnilld. It's a
combination of two Icelandic words, hesta, horse, and nild,
genius. So her school's name, Hestasnilld, is basically horse
genius!
Sonja Noack: We have here, Twister, my horse, my pace
horse. He is looking at us and Skiði and Kulu, three of of my
horses.
Jane: So Kulu is a beautiful gray horse. Describe that
beautiful color.
Sonja Noack: He's blue dun, actually, and he has a little
star. The dun horses, they have this black...
Jane: Like a black line almost on his spine.
Sonja Noack: Down the spine, exactly.
Jane: And his mane is two different colors too. It's kind
of almost a dark brown or black and then an almost white color.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, it's under it's dark, and upper is light,
and they are actually just like, it's not from the sun. It's just
happened to be like this in that kind of color when they are blue
dun.
Jane: He seems kind of quiet and shy, but your white horse over
here seems to want some attention, and he's got a
beautiful set of bangs that he keeps throwing his head back to
show us. Do they have different personalities?
Sonja Noack: Oh yes, they are very different. And also, like,
Kulu has been working this morning, and he's chilling a
little bit. We have been riding two hours this morning with the
kids and Skiði, he hasn't been working today, and he's just
waiting for his time today to do something fun.
Jane: And what's Twister thinking?
Sonja Noack: Twister probably just wants to say hello and get
some cuddles from you. He loves attention.
Jane: Twister, do you want to say hello to the microphone?
It's not food. Twister would like to eat my sweater and the
microphone.
Sonja Noack: He loves food.
Jane: We have a lot of horse questions, and since we're here
in Iceland, let's start with Poppy's question.
Poppy: My name is Poppy, and I'm from London, Vermont, and I'm 11
years old, I would like to know more about the history of the
Icelandic horses.
Jane: Are Icelandic horses special?
Sonja Noack: Oh yes, they are. They're very special. They are,
actually, very, very, very long time ago, they came here with
boats, with the Vikings, mostly from Norway, but not only, but
mostly. And what makes it very special now it's that the
Icelandic horse has been bred pure over 1000 years, and that
means too, which is sometimes a little bit sad, but all
Icelandic horses that leave Iceland, they may never come
back. So it's very pure breed, and probably the purest breed in
the world,
Jane: Because it hasn't been cross bred with other horse
breeds, because other horses aren't allowed in Iceland, and
so these horses are all descended from those horses that
came across with the Vikings.
Sonja Noack: Exactly, exactly.
Jane: Since it's an island in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, Iceland can keep some pretty strict controls about
what comes in and what goes out of its country. And Iceland has
decided that the Icelandic horse is a breed they want to protect
and control. The country allows horses to leave Iceland, so you
can find them in lots of other countries, but you won't find
any other kinds of horses in Iceland, which means these
horses are pretty similar to the ones brought to Iceland by
Viking explorers and settlers over 1000 years ago. Icelandic
horses are known for being on the small side, but most
Icelandic people would be annoyed if you called them
ponies.
Sonja Noack: They are having a lot of fur and a long mane, and
most of them thick mane and tail, which makes them extremely
beautiful, of course. And they are very... so many different
colors, which is also special for the Icelandic horse.
Jane: So horses in Iceland need to be able to withstand some
pretty harsh weather. How do these horses make it through
really cold winters and oftentimes a lot of wind and
snow and rain?
Sonja Noack: They have very, very good and long fur, and they
are built like... they are not like very long leg most of them.
They are like, a little bit, you know, strongly built. And they
just eat a lot. Especially the ones that are just outside, they
have to eat a lot, specially in the fall, to get fat and
everything, and which helps the skin to take care when rain is
coming and snow and wind, because then it will peel away
the cold and the wind and the snow, and then we, of course,
give them... We are feeding them outside. They are not they're
maybe very, very big fields, but we are giving them hay as snow,
as soon as the snow is there and they can't get the grass
anymore.
Jane: you'd probably want a long mane and thick fur if you were
going to spend the winter outside in the wind and snow of
Iceland, too. Icelandic horses are also known for having a
special way of running. You may have heard of a walk, a trot, a
canter and a gallop, but Icelandic horses can do two
other styles. We'll have Sonja saddle up and ride one of her
horses a little later on, so you can hear what we mean. But
first, let's get to some of your other questions.
Parker: I'm Parker. I'm seven years old. I live in
Pennsylvania. Why are horses so big?
Jane: Why are horses so big?
Sonja Noack: Yeah, they were not so big for a million years ago
or something. They were like small as a dog, and then they
have been getting bigger because it's easier to run away from the
predators. And it's also about, you know, then they are a little
bit higher up, so they see better when there's coming
something, something dangerous. But of course, it's very
different. We have, like, really, really small ponies,
Falabella pony in the world. They are, like, so small as a
dog still. So it's very different. They can be from dog
size up to very big.
Jane: As Sonja said, when the ancestors of horses first
started appearing, actually more like 56 million years ago, they
were quite small. But over time, they've gotten much bigger and
taller. Modern horses have so much variety because humans got
involved in breeding them and selecting horses for different
characteristics, like being really fast or being able to
pull a heavy load or being tall. So that's why there are so many
different types and sizes of horse bodies today.
Henry: My name is Henry. I'm five years old. I live in
Kokomo, Indiana. Why do horses have a tail?
Riggs: My name's Riggs, I'm five years old, and I live in
Lincoln, California. Why do horses have tails?
Jane: Henry wants to know why do horses have tails? And so does
Riggs.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, the tail is actually, it's very important
for the horse to to push away the flies, mostly. It's, and
also, of course, it's a protective for their butt and
the main it's also from for the rain. And also, when horses bite
each other, it is giving kind of protection with the neck.
Omer: My name is Omer, and I live in Princeton, New Jersey,
and I'm six years old. Why do horses have hairs on their back?
Jane: Why do they have hairs on their back? What's the deal with
the mane?
Sonja Noack: Yeah, the mane is like protective and also on the
back, the hair, the hair everywhere. Of course, they are
mammals, and they need, they have the hair to protect their
skin, and especially the Icelandic horse, which is a lot
outside, and when it's cold, it's just protective against the
weather. It's very, very long in the winter, and thick and and
then when they change their fur, you know, then it's a lot of
hair everywhere.
Jane: They shed like a dog.
Sonja Noack: Yes, more.You could probably to pillow out of it.
Jane: That would be quite a pillow.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, it would be quite a pillow.
June: My name is June. I'mthree years old. How does horses' legs
move?
Jane: Horses have really interesting legs. The part you
might think looks like their knee bends in different
directions, depending on whether you're looking at the front legs
or the back legs. The front legs bend out towards the front and
the back legs bend back behind the horse. But here's something
you might not know. Those aren't their knees. Their knees are
actually much higher up in their body, so you can't really see
them unless you have X-ray vision, and can look at the
horse's skeleton. The part you see bending when they run is
more like an ankle joint, and horses actually walk on their
toes.
Olivia: My name is Olivia, and I'm four years old. I'm fron
Clayton, Indiana. Why does horses have hooves?
Bonnie: My name is Bonnie. I am 6 years old. I live in Eugene,
Oregon. Why do horses have hooves?
Chloe: My name is Chloe. I live in Thailand. I am six and a half
years old. I do horses have hooves and we don't?
Sasha: My name is Sasha. I live in Tahoma, California. I'm four
years old. Why are horse hooves flat, not round?
Audrey: My name is Audrey. I'm five years old. Are horses
hooves bones or not?
Jojo: My name is Jojo. I live in Webster, New York. Why do horses
wear shoes?
Jane: Let's talk about hooves, that very bottom part of a
horse's leg. The hoof has several parts, including some
internal bones, tendons and ligaments, some cushiony bits
that act like a shock absorber, and a hard part around the
outside made of keratin. That's the same stuff your fingernails
and toenails are made out of. Keratin is also what horns are.
When it's thick, like a horse's hoof, keratin is very tough
stuff. That outer wall, that part that's kind of like a big,
thick toenail on the horse is constantly growing. If a horse
is running around on rough ground, all that rubbing and
scuffing can keep the hoof filed down. But a lot of horses need
to have their hooves filed down by people, and many horses wear
horse shoes. They look pretty different than our sneakers,
though. Their shoes are metal and just go right around that
hard outer wall of the hoof. They help protect the horse's
foot, especially on pavement or other surfaces that would wear
those hooves down pretty quickly.
Audrey: Hi, my name is Audrey. I live in California. What do
horses eat?
Jane: Audrey wants to know just generally, what do horses eat?
Other than my microphone.
Sonja Noack: They eat mostly grass and hay, which is, of
course, dried grass. That's what they eat mostly, and we always
try to, at least, I give my horses always also vitamins, and
some of them get, like, also kind of extra food out of corn
or something. Depends a lot on the horse. What they need, if
they need extra food, but what they eat mostly is grass.
Henry: Hi. I'm Henry. I live in Alberta, Canada. I'm six years
old. Why can horses eat grass when it can't hurt our stomachs?
Jane: Why can horses eat grass and hay when that would hurt our
stomachs?
Sonja Noack: They have just a totally different digestive
system than us, and also, they get a lot of energy, for
example, out of the grass, as we wouldn't, not at all. And, yeah,
we can't digest the grass with our stomach.
Elina: My name's Elina. I'm nine years old. I live in Barry in
Wales. Can horses taste sweet and sour?
Sonja Noack: Yes, they can. And they love sweet, actually. And
they also can taste like bitter, and salt. And bitter, for
example, is very interesting. It can be, you know, they will feel
it when there is something poisoned, like poisoned plants,
they are bitter. So they won't, won't eat it, but they love
sweet.
Ronan: Hi, I'm Ronan. I live in Charleston, South Carolina. I'm
nine years old. Why do horses sleep standing up?
Jane: Horses can sleep standing up because their bodies are
designed to allow them to do it. Unlike ours! We'd most likely
collapse if we fell asleep standing. But horses can lock
their legs to help keep their body in place. And have you ever
seen a horse standing tall on three legs while its fourth leg
is bent and not taking any weight? As a horse naps, it
rotates which leg is getting a break, so by the time it wakes
up, all of its legs have gotten some time off. But there's
another reason horses sleep standing up.
Sonja Noack: It's also very important for them that they
could run away very fast when some predator would come. And so
it's just about their nature that they could run away. But
when they really want to sleep and get REM sleep, they need to
lay down for that, and that's mostly for a short time. And
when they are in a herd outside, normally you see always one or
two standing at least, which are taking care if everything is
fine for the others to sleep.
Jane: And I think if anybody's seen a horse lying down and
watched it try to get up, you can see how that would take a
long time. If something that really wanted to eat you was
chasing you, it might put you in a very vulnerable position.
Sonja Noack: Yes, 100%.
Lucy: My name is Lucy. I live in Canada. Why do horses breathe
through their mouth?
Jane: Why do horses breathe through their mouths?
Sonja Noack: They don't, actually, they can't. They
breathe through their nose. They, they have very strong
nostrils, and they can open it quite much up. They maybe would
open the mouth and but it's not really the way for the air
through the mouth. It's just for the food.
Jane: Phew, that was a lot of questions about horses, and we
haven't even talked much about how they move. So get a drink of
water, let those wiggles out and get ready for even more horse
stuff.
This is But Why. Today we're learning all about horses from
Sonja Noack, a riding instructor and all around lover of horses.
Sonja runs a riding school in Mosfellsbær just outside of
Reykjavik in Iceland. We talked with her in one of her barns,
where three of her Icelandic horses calmly watched as she
answered all of your horsey questions.
Felix: My name is Felix. I'm five years old. I am in
Amherstburg, Ontario. Why do horses gallop?
Parker: My name is Parker, and my age is three, and I live in
Wisconsin, Madison. How do horses gallop?
Jane: How and why do horses gallop?
Sonja Noack: It's just their way of running, and it's the way of
they gallop that they can run away and run away fast, mostly
out, also to run away from the predators. But also because they
sometimes like to play and run around and have fun, like we
sometimes like to run around and have fun.
Goldie: My name is Marigold, but they call me Goldie. I'm four
years old. I live in Oakland, California. I would like to know
how horses jump so high.
Sonja Noack: They have very strong muscles and very powerful
hind leg which will help them, and then they will just give in
and jump high.
Jane: Do horses jump naturally? Or is it something they need to
be taught when you're working with a horse that's going to be
a jumping horse?
Sonja Noack: Like with Icelandic horse, we don't jump much. We
sometimes do it for fun, a little bit, but it's very
different between different horses. You know, if they are
outside in the field and there is something they have to go
over, they would also jump over it. But they would probably
often choose the way beside. But it depends so much about
different characters. Some of them just love it. They really
like to go over. I have some horses too. When it is
somewhere, some something to jump over, they like to go
there.
Jane: What about this guy? Does he like to jump?
Sonja Noack: No, he is not so much of a jumper. He's more of a
he likes pace and going fast in pace. He's not so much of a
jumper.
Sage: I'm Sage. I live in Colorado Springs. I'm 10 years
old. Can horses swim?
Sonja Noack: Yes, they can, and that also, it's very different.
Some of them really love the weather, and others not. It's
like with us, but we when it's summer and nice weather, we
often go without saddle and swim with them. That's so fun. It's
very, we were just like last weekend. We were swimming with
them and the horses, most of them really love it, too, and
it's actually very good for the joints. And some people even
send horses to swim training.
Jane: Wow, swim training.
Sonja Noack: Yes, because it's also, you know, it's so light
for the joints and ligaments.
Jane: Yeah. So it's like, they get swimming lessons, but it's
also kind of like physical therapy, or like, almost like a
massage that can help the horses feel good.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, yeah, 100%. And horses that have been
injured, it can help them to get good again.
Lucy: My name is Lucy, and I'm nine years old, and I live in
Madison, Wisconsin. Why do horse trainers whip their horses and
does it hurt them?
Sonja Noack: You know, if you whip the horse like hardly it
would probably hurt them and but normally when, for example, we
use the whip, when I have a whip, it's more thought about
being a longer hand. For me, it's a little bit getting me a
longer hand that I can help the horse to understand what I want.
And then I will just put it very slightly at the horse to help
him to move and understand what I want, because maybe my foot
isn't reaching his hindquarters. And when I want to help the
horse with that, I can use the whip a little bit so we are not
using it for slamming the horse or something. It's more like a
longer hand.
Jane: And also with your feet. Are you kicking them hard, and
does it hurt when you kick?
Sonja Noack: No, we are trying to get the horse, having the
horse as sensitive as they can be with, like using a little,
you know, pressure with the with the feet. I want my horse to
answer when I put my feet at the belly slightly, they should
answer to go forward, and the same when I take the rein to
stop and trying to have it very lightly that they answer when
they you know, when we are fast to answer them and let them be,
let them be when they answered, then they are also light. So
it's, it's so more fun to do it this way and be nice together.
Jane: So you think of it as communication, nonverbal
communication with the horse, where you're trying to tell the
horse, here's what I'd like you to do, and then the horse is
responding.
Sonja Noack: Yes, exactly. It is just helping us to communicate
exactly, and that, of course, always it's the goal for us to
have and do as little as possible. And if you look at the
rider and you don't see what the rider does, and the horse, too,
does a lot of stuff. It is very nice, and that's always the
goal.
Emma: My name is Emma. I am seven and 11 months. I live in
Madrid, Spain. Why are horses afraid of snakes?
Jane: Are horses afraid of snakes?
Sonja Noack: Yes, I would say they are because, of course,
they could be dangerous. They could bite them, and they
actually don't like anything because of that around their
feet, like when you walk with a horse with a with a reins, yeah,
and it's yeah, a leash or something, and hanging down with
the feet they, most of them, don't like it, and could get
scared. So also, when you ride and you ride over something,
they can get a little bit afraid, because their feet are
so important to them. Because, of course, when the feet are
hurt, they can't run. And if there would be a predator that
want to eat them, which is, of course, not so much of a problem
anymore, but it's so deep in them that they are just trying
to take care of their feet.
Jane: And the way horses' eyes work too. They can't necessarily
see their feet if they're looking up right? So they they
want to make sure there's nothing down by their feet that
they can't see that could trip them up, especially if they're
looking straight up or far ahead.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, exactly. We have like blind points, like
blind spots right in front of the horse, under the head and
right in front of them, and also all in the back. They don't see
at all when you are behind the horse. That's why you always
should take care when you walk behind the horse, take a big
circle and not walk too near, because when they get afraid,
they could, of course, kick just because they get scared and
think something happens so and they don't see you there. And
it's the same with like when something is on the ground, like
a snake, for example.
Scarlett: I'm Scarlett and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Why are there so many types of horses?
Jane: We've talked about the Icelandic horse, which is
special and different from some other horse breeds. Why are
there so many?
Sonja Noack: I would say it's because we have, of course, very
different landscapes and very different you know, like when
you go to the Sahara, it's, of course, very, very hot, and then
the horses are just totally different bred, especially for
that. And like here in Iceland, we we have the Icelandic horse,
which is really good in the cold. So it's a lot about the
breeding, about and also what you are going to do, or you are
going to do dressage or gaited riding or jumping, or leisure
writing or distance. So it's very, very much different.
Difference between that and, yeah, out of it's, of course,
very every horse has, or horse breed has all long story, or
most of them.
Aurora: My name is Aurora. I'm 10 years old. No, not 10, 11. I
live in Holland, Vermont. What's the most popular horse breed?
Sonja Noack: I heard it's the American Quarter Horse,
actually. But yeah, I think Icelandic horses are actually
very popular because of their gaits. And I think it's getting
more and more also in America, in the United States, but all
over the world, I heard it's the American Quarter Horse.
Jane: Sonja has about 30 or 35 horses at her riding school, and
they're all Icelandic horses, of course, because other types
aren't allowed in Iceland. I asked her if she had a favorite
one.
Sonja Noack: Oh, that's a tough one. I really love Twister, the
one we have here.
Jane: Yeah, but that's because we're standing in Twister's
stall. You can't say you like somebody else better when we're
standing right next to him.
Sonja Noack: Yes, I love him, but I also love and, you know,
Skiði and, of course, I love all of them. I, I think it's very
important like also with the riding school horses. I, I
really like them all. They are very, very different characters,
and I want them to be, and it's okay to be different characters.
That makes it so fun, so and everyone has its qualities.
Jane: Like people. Everybody has a different personality.
Sonja Noack: 100% and that's just perfect.
Jane: Before we let Sonia get back to her chores, we asked her
to show us one more thing: the special ways Icelandic horses
can move. When you think of how horses walk or run, you might
think of a walk, a trot, a canter and a gallop, but
Icelandic horses can do two more types, or gaits.
Sonja Noack: Yes, we have the tölt and tölt is the same. They
are moving their legs, same as in walk. So all, there's always
at least one feet on the ground which make it very smooth. They
are not like jumping up in the air like in trot and gallop,
where sometimes the feet are all like up in the air. So it's
getting very smooth. And it can be from very slow to very fast.
And it's, it's very fun to ride it. It's like sitting on a
light, slightly moving sofa. When you have a good tölt horse
and their pace, it's really fast. Has to be really fast to
be really good. And it's mostly ridden out of the gallop. Then
they you are going, lay the horse down to pace, as we call
it, and put it into pace, and then that goes very fast. And
it's a little bit like the camels, when they move the feet
on both on the just both left feet, and then they flying, and
then both right feet, and then they're flying, and then both
left and so on so. And they are like stretching their head and
run really fast like this. It's very fun to see.
Jane: What's the difference in the way it feels from a gallop
to pace?
Sonja Noack: Gallop is more, you know, it's three-beat. So it's
like doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo so when it you always
like having this circle moving and in pace, it's a little bit.
It's just, it's, it's going so fast. So don't you, you don't
have so much time to think it's just, it's a little bit...
Jane: You're making a hand expression like, vibration.
Sonja Noack: Yeah, vibration, and going really fast. It's
adrenaline, you need to get, you know, when you write really good
flying pace, you will get sometimes, like a little bit
like feeling at the knees and so and so, you get some adrenaline
with it. And you don't ride it for a long time. It's mostly
ridden like, you know, between 100 and 250 meters or 300 or
something, but only short at once, because it takes a lot of
energy of the horse, because they put everything in it.
Jane: Why would you use pace instead of gallop? When, what
would the situation be where you would choose one over the other?
Sonja Noack: When I ride up a hill, for example, I would
always choose the gallop. And when I ride straight, I would
take the pace, if it's a straight line and enough place,
space, you know, and a clear way, and then I would choose
pace. And it's, it's just different because it's, it's
something you ride not as often as the gallop. And gallop you of
course, can also ride very slow but not flying pace.
Jane: Seeing how these horses move in their different strides
or gaits would be great, right? But we're a podcast, so you
can't see anything. But hearing can also be helpful. We asked
Sonja if she and one of her horses would help demonstrate
these different ways of moving that she was talking about. So
she saddled up Krumi, a dark brown horse with an even darker
mane, and we went to the riding ring. We attached a microphone
to Sonja so you can hear Krummi's hooves and Sonja's
description as she rides around the ring. So close your eyes and
just listen for the next minute or two and see if you can hear
the difference in each type of stride.
Sonja Noack: So I'm gonna go to trot now.
Now I'm gonna ride tolt, then gallop and then pace.
Jane: That was Krummi, the horse, and Sonja Noack, the
rider. Thanks to Sonja for answering all of our many
questions about horses. She's the owner of Hestasnilld, a
riding school in Mosfellsbær, Iceland. We have pictures and
videos of Sonja and her horses on our Instagram and YouTube
pages, if you'd like to see what an Icelandic horse looks like
and what those different gaits look like. As always, if you
have a question about anything, send it to us. We get a lot of
questions, and we really wish we could answer them all. But even
if we can't answer your question, we love hearing it. We
want to know what's on your mind, what you're feeling
curious about, and what you think we could help you learn
about. You can have an adult help you record your question
using one of the free apps on a smartphone or tablet, and then
you can send the file to questions@butwhykids.org. If you
like our show, please leave a review or some stars on whatever
platform you use to listen. It helps other kids discover us.
Our show is produced by Sarah Baik, Melody Bodette and me Jane
Lindholm at Vermont Public and distributed by PRX. Our video
producer is Joey Palumbo. Our theme music is by Luke Reynolds.
We'll be back in two weeks with an all new episode. Until then,
stay curious.