White horse facts for kids
A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant white (W) genes, are rare. Most horses that are commonly referred to as "white" are actually "gray" horses whose hair coats are completely white. Gray horses may be born of any color and their hairs gradually turn white as time goes by and take on a white appearance. Nearly all gray horses have dark skin, except under any white markings present at birth. Skin color is the most common method for an observer to distinguish between mature white and gray horses.
Contents
White equines
Mythology and symbolism
- White horse (mythology)
- White Horse of Hanover, a military cap badge, first granted by King George in 1715 to the 101st Grenadiers
- White horse of Kent, a heraldic symbol
Equine coat colors
- White (horse), about the range of horses mostly lacking in pigmentation
- Dominant white, the genetic mechanism that produces horses born with both white or mostly white hair and skin color
- Gray (horse), most common white horse hair coat color; foals are born dark and hair lightens until it becomes white at maturity
- Lethal white syndrome, a fatal genetic condition where foals homozygous for the gene are born with a white coat and skin, but also an underdeveloped colon and for that reason cannot survive, heterozygous foals live and exhibit the frame overo color pattern
- Sabino horse (SB-1), a genetic mechanism different from dominant white that also sometimes produces a horse that is white from birth
People
- White Horse (chief), died 1892, a chief of the Kiowa nation
- Logan Fontenelle, 1825–1855, a.k.a. Chief White Horse, a chief of the Omaha nation
- Chief White Horse (a.k.a. Whitehorse), Native American actor; portrayed Geronimo in Stagecoach (1939 film)
Places
Cities, villages, towns
- Manderson-White Horse Creek, South Dakota, Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States
- White Horse, California, United States
- White Horse, New Jersey, United States
- White Horse, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
- Whitehorse, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
- White Horse, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States
- White Horse, South Dakota, United States
- Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England
- Whitehorse, South Dakota, Dewey County, South Dakota, United States
- City of Whitehorse, Victoria, Australia
- Whitehorse, Yukon, capital city of Yukon, Canada
- Whitehorse (electoral district), former electoral district
Geography, landscape and architecture
- White Horse Bluff (Whitehorse Bluffs), volcano in British Columbia, Canada
- White Horse Bridge, Wembley, England
- White Horse Mountains, Harney County, Oregon, USA
- White Horse Stone, two megaliths near Aylesford, Kent, England
- White Horse Tavern (disambiguation)
- White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China
Hill figures
A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology.
- Alton Barnes White Horse, near Devizes, Wiltshire, England
- Cherhill White Horse, near Calne, Wiltshire, England
- Devizes White Horse, Wiltshire, England
- Folkestone White Horse, Folkestone, Kent, England
- Kilburn White Horse, near Kilburn, North Yorkshire, England
- Osmington White Horse, near Osmington, Dorset, England
- Pewsey White Horse, near Pewswey, Wiltshire, England
- Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, England
- Waimate White Horse, Waimate, New Zealand
- Westbury White Horse, Wiltshire, England
Arts and entertainment
Literature
- The Ballad of the White Horse, a poem by G.K. Chesterton
- White Horse Dialogue, a philosophical dialogue by Gongsun Longzi
- The White Horse in the Apocalypse (1758), a book by Emanuel Swedenborg
Music
- White Horse (album), a 1974 album by Michael Omartian
- Whitehorse (band), a Canadian folk rock band
- Whitehorse (album), a 2011 album by Whitehorse
- "Ride a White Horse", a 2005 song by Goldfrapp
- "White Horse" (Laid Back song), a 1983 song by Laid Back
- "White Horse" (Taylor Swift song), a 2008 song by Taylor Swift
- "White Horse" (Jessica 6 song), a 2011 song by Jessica 6
- "White Horse", a 1993 song by Kilo Ali
- "White Horse", a 2008 song by Sarah McLeod
Statues
- The White Horse at Ebbsfleet, Kent, England, a proposed gigantic sculpture
Theatre and screen
- White Horse (film), a 2008 documentary film by Maryann DeLeo
- The White Horse (series), a 1993 Russian television series
- The White Horses, a 1960s television series, which had a theme tune of the same name sung by Jacky
Transportation
- HMCS Whitehorse, a ship of the Canadian Forces
- White Horse, one of the GWR 3031 Class locomotives that were built for and run on the Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1915
- U.S. Route 30 in New Jersey, locally known as the White Horse Pike
Other
- White Horse Prophecy, a Mormon prophecy
- White Horse (military), nickname for the South Korean army's 9th Infantry Division
- White Horse (whisky), blended in Scotland, UK
- 1923 FA Cup Final, known as the White Horse Final, a football match
- Knight (chess), sometimes called white horse, a piece in the game of chess
See also
In Spanish: Caballo blanco para niños
- The White Horse Inn (disambiguation)
- White knight (disambiguation)
- When a white horse is not a horse, a paradox in Chinese philosophy
Famous white horses
Many famous horses, past and present, were alleged to be "white" by observers, but were actually grays with hair coats turned fully white. Likewise, most white horses used in movies are actually grays, in part because they are easier to find.
However, there are a few truly white horses who were used in film. One of the best-known examples was "Silver," ridden by the Lone Ranger, a role actually played by two different white horses. At least one horse who played "Topper," ridden by Hopalong Cassidy, was also white. Another famous white horse is Yukichan, a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Kanto Oaks at Kawasaki Racecourse.
Images for kids
-
This "Ivory Champagne" foal has both cream dilution and champagne dilution genes, shown by DNA testing as well as visibly semi-pigmented, rosy skin and a cream-colored coat that can be mistaken for white. This same hair coat shade would be considered cremello if the horse had double cream dilution, but still would not be white.