A black and white photo of a massive horse dwarfing two full-grown men.

This picture is said to show Mammoth, the Guinness Record holder for largest horse. While the photo is not confirmed and may be too new to be the authentic record-holder, it certainly depicts an outrageously large horse as a reference point for Mammoth’s impressive size!

Did you know the world’s biggest horse lived in the 19th century? Originally named Samson, Mammoth was a Shire horse gelding born in 1846 at Bedfordshire, England. Towering at 21 hands and 2 ½ inches (about 86 1/4inches), the horse was aptly renamed Mammoth, and he weighed a hefty 3,360lbs! By comparison, many cars don’t even weigh that much: For instance, a 2022 Honda Civic weighs between 2,877 and 3,077 pounds, depending on the model.

Fun fact… the average 1000 lb horse drops about 31 lbs of manure and 2.4 gallons of urine per day. I would not have wanted to be in charge of mucking Mammoth’s stall!