I read a memoir a few years back written by a sailor from the 1800’s who said that when a ship capsized, you always followed where the horses were swimming, because they could smell land. And sometimes, you’d be in port and a horse would come swimming in and you’d know that a boat capsized and the men all died, just the horses made it.
But apparently, at least according to the internet, horses aren’t that great of swimmers. Like, couldn’t swim for more than maybe an hour. Unless it was very cold, the people would outlast the horses.
Another one, is that I was told growing up horses could hold their breath for 5 minutes. Well, apparently horses can’t really hold their breath that well either, and if they go underwater they immediately drown.
I’m pretty sure there’s no one scientifically testing these things. I just thought it was strange how little we knew (and still, how little we know) about an animal that we have been around for thousands of years.