Sceptre (1899–1926) was a British-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred racemare whose career ran from 1901 to 1904. In 1902, she became the only racehorse to win four British Classic Races outright.
Sceptre was bred by Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster at his Eaton Stud in Cheshire and was foaled on 9 April 1899. Her sire, Persimmon, had won the Epsom Derby and St. Leger in 1896 and the Eclipse Stakes and Ascot Gold Cup in 1897. Sceptre's dam, Ornament, was sired by the Duke of Westminster's Bend Or and was herself a full sister to Triple Crown winner Ormonde.
The 1st Duke of Westminster died in 1899, and his bloodstock was auctioned. The Duke's trainer, John Porter, wanted the 2nd Duke to buy Sceptre, but was outbid by Robert Sievier, who bought her for 10,000 guineas. Sceptre proved to be a hardy filly. Sievier, who trained her himself for most of her three-year-old season, was in almost constant need for funds, and betting on the filly was one way to keep himself afloat. He ran Sceptre in a number of major races, particularly as a three-year-old, before selling her at the age of four.
The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Hyracotherium, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have never been domesticated, such as the endangered Przewalski's horse, a separate subspecies, and the only remaining true wild horse. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.
Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.
A horse is a hoofed mammal of the species Equus ferus caballus.
Horse or Horses may also refer to:
Uma (馬, also known as Horse) is a 1941 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kajiro Yamamoto and starring Hideko Takamine, whom Yamamoto had directed in his film Composition Class (Tsuzurikata Kyōshitsu) three years before. Uma was actually completed by assistant director Akira Kurosawa. It follows the story of Ine Onoda, the eldest daughter of a poor family of farmers, who raises a colt from birth and comes to love the horse dearly. When the horse is grown, the government orders it auctioned and sold to the army. Ine struggles to prevent the sale.
The film is a tale about a young girl and the colt she raises from its birth. But it is also about the struggle of farmers existing on the edge of poverty. Akira Kurosawa is credited as the film's production coordinator, which is equivalent to first assistant director. But Kurosawa's signature is all over this work and is the last film he was to work on as an assistant before starting his own directing career. The film took three years to plan and a year to film. Kajiro Yamamoto had to commute to the far mountainous location but had to turn his attention to his money making comedies in Tokyo and so he left production in the hands of his assistant, Kurosawa.
Sceptre (K-17) was the unsuccessful challenger of the 1958 America's Cup for the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Designed by David Boyd and built by Alexander Robertson and Sons, Sceptre was built especially for the 1958 America's Cup challenge.
Sceptre was owned by a syndicate headed by Hugh Goodson, plus Richard Dickson, William H. Northam, William G. Walkley, and Noel Foley. Sceptre lost 4-0 to defender Columbia of the New York Yacht Club. She is now owned and sailed in British waters by the Sceptre Preservation Society.