A Horse for Every Category Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harrods

The Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, West London, used a team of eight stunning black Friesian horses - four geldings and four stallions. When Mohamed al-Fayed bought the store in 1985 he fast envisaged reinstating a horse-drawn delivery service, which had been stopped in 1940, and they have been a popular sight in the city ever since.

They can be seen on most days delivering goods or chauffeuring rich customers in their green liveried carriages through the streets of London.

Answer: Barb

The Barb is thought to be one of the oldest and purest breeds of horse, and is closely related to the Arab - though arguably is less pretty. It originates from northern Africa.

Answer: Madonna

Madonna is just one of a huge number of celebrities who have professed a love for horses. Julia Roberts is a keen rider, whilst Johnny Depp adopted the horse he rode in 'Sleepy Hollow'. Katie Price, AKA Jordan, has recently tried to turn her hand to dressage, whilst Shane Filan of Westlife fame loves show jumping.

Answer: Mister Ed

"Mister Ed" was the name of the show in which a palomino horse of the same name would 'talk' to his owner Wilbur. Many of the running humour in the show stemmed from the fact that Mr Ed would only talk to Wilbur, and was known to be somewhat mischievous at times.

The horse that played Mister Ed was named Bamboo Harvester, and starred in every episode between 1961 and 1966, except the pilot. His voice was given by Allan Lane, who remained uncredited throughout the show's run. Rumors were started by Lane himself that peanut butter on the inside of the horse's lips caused him to move his lips as though talking as he tried to get it off. However, he dispelled the myth himself when he confessed to using nylon string to move the horse's lips - but that after the first series, the horse did in fact learn to move his lips himself on cue.

Answer: Michael Morpurgo

'War Horse' has rocketed to huge success, and is enjoyed by theatre- and movie-goers young and old. It was originally, however, a children's book written by Michael Morpurgo. Enid Bagnold and Walter Farleigh have both also written horse stories though - 'National Velvet', and 'The Black Stallion' respectively.

Answer: False

Generally, yes, 'white' horses are in fact correctly called 'grey'. Except one: the Lipizzaner horse is correctly referred to as being white. These horses, famous for their Haute Ecole dressage with the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, are born bark brown or black, but turn white as they mature.

Answer: Oxfordshire

The White Horse at Uffington has been dated at around 3000 years old to the Bronze Age, and is by far the oldest white horse in Britain. Interestingly, historically the parish of Uffington was classed as Berkshire, but today it stands in Oxfordshire, nearby to Wantage and Faringdon.

Answer: Przewalski's horse

The Przewalski's horse has had a difficult history. At the end of the 1950s, only 12 individual animals were left in the world. Przewalski's horse was at one time extinct in the wild, but was reintroduced to its native Mongolia; by 2011, there were estimated to be around 300 free-ranging horses in the wild. Dozens of zoos worldwide kept these horses in small numbers, whilst the largest breeding programme was in the Ukraine. Dozens of horses were released in to the area after the Chernobyl evacuations, which is now a nature reserve.

The onager belongs to the same genus as the horse, Equus, but is a different species. It is also known as the Asiatic Wild Ass. They are a little larger than donkeys and notoriously untameable.

Both the Exmoor pony and Mongolian horse are extremely old breeds indeed: however, they are true equids and not of the same type as the ancient horse, as Przewalski's horse is.

Answer: True

Amazing but true, the word hobby does in fact relate to my horse theme all by itself. From this came the Old English tradition of the 'hobby horse', a costumed character that often features in seasonal customs and observances which spread around the world.

They are typically associated with Mummers Plays, Morris dancing, and May Day celebrations. Curiously, they often have rather terrifying-looking snapping jaws!

Answer: False

Although a commonly held belief, there is little evidence to support that this was actually the sculptor's intention - as Alan Davies discovered when he stated the above as fact during an episode of 'QI'!

Answer: Soldier's horse

Black Beauty passes through the hands of many owners in his lifetime, with many ruthless and uncaring owners almost costing the horse his life. He was never a soldier's horse, however.

I highly recommend this book to any reader, and there are also several good film adaptations too.

Answer: The Horse Whisperer

When young Grace loses part of her leg in a tragic riding accident in which her friend dies, she shuts herself off from the world. Her horse, Pilgrim, was also terribly injured, and emotionally wrecked. Her mother, Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas), takes her daughter and Pilgrim to a 'horse whisperer' (Robert Redford) in a desperate bid to save them both.

The book has a twist at the end that the film omitted, however, and is well worth a read!

Answer: The Osmonds

Crazy Horses was released by The Osmonds in 1972, reaching number 14 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It is proclaimed that the song is in fact a protest about car pollution.

Answer: Marengo

Despite being injured in battle eight times in his life and escaping capture, Marengo died at the old age of 38. His skeleton is on display at the National Army Museum in London, minus a hoof: a hoof was given to the Brigade of Guards by a former owner of Marengo as a snuff box after his capture at Waterloo.

Burmese was a former favourite mount of Queen Elizabeth II, and Black Bess was the famous steed ridden by Dick Turpin.

Answer: Greed

The Four Horsemen are most often known as War, Famine, Death, and Pestilence. However, the original Biblical text refers to Conquest instead of Pestilence, which has become the name more often used in popular culture.

Answer: Arab

Arabs do indeed have different skeletal anatomy to other horse breeds, allowing for exceptional agility and impulsion.

Answer: Aintree

Aintree Racecourse is in Liverpool, England, and is the course over which the Grand National is run each year.

The Grand National is a gruelling annual National Hunt horse race held over a distance of four miles four furlongs with 30 jumping efforts. It has been held each year since 1839, except during the period of 1941-1945 when war forced it to be cancelled.

Some of the most famous fences on the course include the enormous Becher's Brook, The Chair, and the Water Jump. Red Rum famously was the horse who won the National three times (1973, 1974, 1977), and came second in 1975 and 1976. In honour of his achievements, Red Rum is buried at the Aintree winning post.

Answer: Princess

In the episode, Homer struggles to pay for the upkeep of the pony, and ends up working two jobs to try and keep it. Lisa sees that her father is struggling and agrees to give up the pony. The episode was originally aired in 1991.

Answer: Mary King

A few equestrian simulation games were released following the initial success of the Riding Star game, including the somewhat more technologically advanced PC game 'Equestriad'.

However, apart from these and a few Barbie horse games, horses have not enjoyed huge success as the focal point of a video game. Perhaps the most famous horse in an adult video game would be Red Hare, who features as Lu Bu's horse in 'Dynasty Warriors'.

Answer: Icelandic

'Hestur' is 'horse' in Icelandic. In Finnish it is 'hevonen', 'kin' in Ukrainian, and in Denmark they say 'hest'. Some random knowledge, purely for your delight and delectation.