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[-] atocci@lemmy.world 148 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Wait what's the deal with the horses? I want to feel good about myself today.

Edit: Wow, those bastards have it rough.

[-] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 194 points 1 month ago

Their genetics have sacrificed nearly every aspect of basic resiliency for maximum speed on the plains. Most of the work caring for horses is keeping them from accidentally killing themselves. Full disclosure: I worked as a stable hand as a child in exchange for riding lessons. Will never ever own a horse.

[-] gibmiser@lemmy.world 70 points 1 month ago

What preditor was so fast horses had to evolve to that extent??

[-] PyroVK@lemmy.zip 79 points 1 month ago

Big cat. You're aware of the cheetah? Just picture that but not in Africa

[-] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 38 points 1 month ago

You know what really caught me up: where are horses native to?

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 66 points 1 month ago

There are wild horses on the Mongolian steppes.

All other horses are domesticated. Even the free horses in USA and Australia are descendants of domesticated horses.

[-] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 55 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You're right! But also, horses were native to North America but they went extinct 10,000 years ago and weren't introduced until much more recently.

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[-] PyroVK@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 month ago

PBS Eons has a couple good videos on both horse evolution and domestication.

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[-] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 28 points 1 month ago

Us. They basically tried to beat pursuit predation by outrunning the distance humans will be willing to track over.

It did not work, they went extinct in North America because of how much it did not work.

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[-] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 63 points 1 month ago

Same for rabbits. The are basically as much lean muscle that can fit on the lighest possible skeleton.

If you pick up a rabbit wrong, they can snap their own back with the momentum from kicking their back legs.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 50 points 1 month ago

I did this too and will also never own a horse lmao. This is why horse people are weird.

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Basically a 900LB Cocker Spaniel that's afraid of it's own farts and will eventually kill every single tree within reach. I also will never own horses.

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[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 94 points 1 month ago

Sometimes they will die because they can’t puke. Also broken legs are usually fatal even with vet care.

[-] LennethAegis@fedia.io 114 points 1 month ago

To add on why broken legs are fatal: its because horses are so big, that even with a sling, they cannot support themselves well on 3 legs. And lying down is also not an option as their own weight will crush their internal organs if they stay down for too long.

[-] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 60 points 1 month ago

Oh, wow, I had always thought that shooting a horse with a broken leg was an act of brutal expedience, not mercy.

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[-] frosty99c@midwest.social 27 points 1 month ago

Also, don't they need to run to move food through their digestive tract? Or to force themselves to cough if they have something stuck in their lungs? I think there is some sort of dependency of basic functions that relies on the movement of their lungs/stomach going back and forth while running that they can't easily do if they just stand in one place all day

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[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca 77 points 1 month ago

The term healthy as a horse is mostly survivorship bias

[-] elxeno@lemm.ee 39 points 1 month ago

From what i read here there's no unhealthy horse, it's either healthy or dead.

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[-] klemptor@startrek.website 30 points 1 month ago

They only have 4 toes total.

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 41 points 1 month ago

And they run around at 60mph on the tips of their toenails.

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[-] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 80 points 1 month ago

Tbf, our teeth aren't bad. They just didn't evolve to consume so much sugar.

[-] DarkGamer@fedia.io 75 points 1 month ago

From an evolutionary standpoint we just have to survive long enough to reproduce, if we can't eat past age of reproduction there's no evolutionary pressure to change that.

Thank goodness for modern dentistry.

[-] Hawke@lemmy.world 55 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That’s completely untrue.

Evolution applies to the entire lifespan — if we could “reproduce” but died in childbirth every time, our species would have gone extinct long ago.

Parents and grandparents also contribute greatly to the success of a child long long after they’re born, helping to ensure it also survives to reproductive age.

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[-] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 25 points 1 month ago

They just didn’t evolve to consume so much sugar.

Bro, eating oranges puts our tooth enamel in a weakened state. If we were designed, it was by an idiot.

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[-] Mango@lemmy.world 54 points 1 month ago

The breathing and eating tubes gotta cross so you can blow with your mouth and choke on cock. Non-negotiable.

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[-] aquinteros@lemmy.world 44 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

tbf horses have big dicks, it could have been worse for them

[-] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 month ago

You stand on your toenails

[-] RamSwamson 29 points 1 month ago

Both valid points. I will still need some time to take this all into consideration.

[-] killingspark@feddit.org 25 points 1 month ago

Consider this: horses can't puke and just die if they eat something bad

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[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 44 points 1 month ago

Its only a valve. Topologically speaking, the passage from the mouth to the anus only constitutes one hole.

The passage of air into the lungs is not a hole however, that is a cavity. Same difference with the vagina, that's not a hole, that's a cavity.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 35 points 1 month ago
[-] accideath@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago

No, since you have a nose. Topologically, people have 3 holes.

[-] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

7, if the cut-off is 60 microns (tear ducts). Smaller than that, we're essentially Swiss cheese.

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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 37 points 1 month ago

Dolphins probably lament not being able to make milk come out of their buddy's nose by making them laugh while drinking.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 33 points 1 month ago

A horse is just an intense desire to die on four legs.

[-] psud@aussie.zone 31 points 1 month ago

The teeth thing is just because of our high sugar, high grain diet

The first* people with bad dental health were Egyptians as they lived on bread (which packs your teeth and feeds the bacteria that ferment it and make acid) before that, and until the invention spread, people died of old age with all their teeth intact

I eat very low carb - almost entirely meat due to allergies, and haven't had a cavity since I started doing that, despite me nearly never brushing or flossing my teeth

*There were also people who lived in the tropics and ate a lot of fruit, and those with sugar cane.

[-] Lux18@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

You never brush your teeth? It's not only good for health dude

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[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

THE APPENDIX HAS ENTERED THE CHAT.

Being able to make our own Vitamin C aside, the fact that a vestigial organ can randomly decide to fucking kill you is asinine from a design perspective. Its the equivalent to building a pool in the sims and removing the ladder for the first person who wanders inside.

[-] Liz@midwest.social 42 points 1 month ago

It's not totally vestigial, it helps regulate colon bacteria. People without their appendix take longer to recover from diarrhea, which is important when bad water and spoiled food are a more regular part of your life.

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[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 22 points 1 month ago

I am 99% sure humans are supposed to have tails

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[-] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 month ago

Could be worse:

We don't have cloacas.

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[-] foggianism@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago

Look up the recurrent laryngeal nerve.

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this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
1245 points (99.4% liked)

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