Expert: Jonathan Wright - 2/16/2006

Question
Dear Jonathan

Your answer concerning who can run faster a Zebra or a horse needs some clarification. The 43mph quoted as the fastest horse is an average speed over 2 furlongs. The Zebra may have a top speed of 40mph. The Racehorse can reach speeds of 45mph during a sprint race, and you have to consider that this is done carrying the weight of a jockey. The 43mph record that you quote is by an ordinary horse averaged over 2 furlongs, there are no graded stakes races for top class horses over such short distances, if there were i'm sure that the 43mph record would soon be broken, with top speeds around 46mph.

Kind regards

John

Answer
Dear John

Thanks for your information. It is always good to update information, especially as I gave my original answer 2 years ago and based it with the information I had available at the time.

This stated that the fastest speed recorded for a racehorse is 43 m.p.h. (69 km.p.h) and the fastest speed recorded for a plains zebra is 40 m.p.h. (64 km.p.h.) I noted that far more work done on checking the speed of horses (especially racehorses) than there has on zebras and that I wouldn't be surprised if a zebra could run as fast as a racehorse. I also noted that, despite the breeding of racehorses, they weren't much faster than zebras.

Following your statements, I have looked into this a bit further. I still feel that far more work has been done on racehorses than on zebras and you could be right that racehorses could be much faster than zebras if there were no jockeys. I have seen a few races, where a jockey has been thrown by, or has fallen off, a horse, which has overtaken the other horses. Alternatively, some jockeys whip their horses to make them move faster. Several years ago, I went pony trekking in the Peak District in England. My pony had a tendency to feed from any grass it found, while my girlfriend at the time managed to get her pony to run much faster. I suspect that some horses win races because jockeys are goading them, rather than because they7 enjoy running. Similarly, I think that if a lion chased a zebra, that the zebra would run as quickly as possible. As people do not record most of these encounters, the maximum speeds of the zebra and lion could be higher than that mentioned in websites and books.

http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/speed.htm says that the fastest racehorse can reach 72 km (45 miles) per hour, but http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-cheetah.html  says that the fastest racehorse reaches 69 km (43 miles) per hour and http://www.cookingforengineers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=101 fast racehorses can peak at about 65 km (40 miles) jper hour.
http://www.vetstream.com/fun_section/did_you_know.htm says that the American Quarter Horse is probably the fastest horse in the world? It may race at nearly 81 km per hour (50 miles per hour).


http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-zebra.html says that zebras can run at speeds of up to 56 km per hour (35 miles per hour), while http://www.allaboutspace.com/subjects/mammals/zebra/Zebracoloring.shtml and http://www.crockerfarm.org/ac/rm02/animals/NeilZebra.htm say they can run at up to 65 km per hour (40 miles per hour) or more in short bursts. http://sun.menloschool.org/~dspence/biology/evolution/evolution_project/zebra_pr... says that the plains zebra (Equus burchelli) can run at speeds of up to 56 km per hour (35 miles per hour), while http://www.sfzoo.org/cgi-bin/animals.py?ID=34 and http://www.kidszoo.com/animals/zebra.htm say it can reach says they can run at up to 65 km per hour (40 miles per hour).   
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:4Vzj-xJaFr8J:www.saczoo.com/1_about/_animal... says that the Grevy's zebra can reach 56 km per hour (35 miles per hour), while http://www.sfzoo.org/cgi-bin/animals.py?ID=34 http://www.kidszoo.com/animals/zebra.htm and http://www.centralpets.com/animals/mammals/other_exotics/oex4701.html say that it can run at up to 65 km per hour (40 miles per hour).   

These figures are somewhat confusing, but confirm that the fastest recorded racehorses are faster than the fastest recorded zebras. Apart from the statements about the American quarter horse (81 km per hour) and the lower figures for zebras (56 km per hour), there isn't a lot of difference, although you do seem to be right that racehorses can reach 45 mph, while zebras reach 40 miles per hour. Some zebras have been tamed, but racing zebras haven't caught on, despite the film ‘Stripes' a few years ago. Until that happens, it seems that the recorded speeds for racehorses will continue  to exceed those for zebras for some time to come.

All the best

Jonathan