Horses have to stay on their toes!

Although all horses are perissodactyls, they have differed through time as to the actual number of toes each genus had. Most early horses had 3 full-sized toes touching the ground (although Hyracotherium had 4 front toes). Later horses had 3 toes on the ground, but the middle toe did most of the work. The side toes dangled off the ground except during jumping and fast running. Modern horses have only one toe.