As strange as this may sound, the number of eyes a horse has is currently a hot discussion topic within the Twitter SEO community.
Why so?
Throughout much of 2022, and perhaps even further back, whenever Google was queried with “how many eyes does a horse have,” it invariably gave an incorrect answer.
It’s time for me to set the record straight so that we can stop “foaling” around and get some real work done.
How Many Eyes Does a Horse Have?
A horse has two eyes. A horse is lateral-eyed, which means that one eye is on the left side of the horse’s head, and the other eye is located on the opposite side. Both eyes are on the outside of the horse. Each eye has a single eyelid.
Equus ferus caballus is the scientific name for a horse. Under normal circumstances, a horse is born with two eyes and two eyelids.
I’m clearly not an expert on horses, but as a human, I happen to know with certainty that a healthy horse usually has two eyes.
I’ve double-checked this fact on the horse article on Wikipedia.
At the time of writing, here is what happens when you ask Google, “how many eyes does a horse have.”
Many have found this incorrect answer to be “haylarious.” (Sorry, not sorry!)
The jury is out as to which is funnier; the provided answer of “nine” or the fact that this answer has been selected by the algorithm AND has not changed for some time.
My website is broadly about the topic of making an online income, so given that I’m now talking a lot about horses, I’m crossing my fingers that my topical authority doesn’t get messed up.
Now that there’s finally a published article with the correct answer, it would be nice if I could steal the featured snippet from this other website that doesn’t seem to be authored by a human.
Why Are SEOs Interested In How Many Eyes A Horse Has?
Niche website owners and SEOs have been getting into the habit of trotting back over to Google to run this particular query after each publicly-announced search algorithm update.
As we have seen, a website that is seemingly an experiment in artificial intelligence (AI) has won the featured snippet for this query even though the answer provided is very obviously incorrect.
The site in question has managed to hold onto this featured answer for many successive Google updates.
So, Mr. Googlebot, it’s time to select a new snippet already. Feel free to take this answer snippet right here:
The answer to the query, “how many eyes does a horse have” is a horse has two eyes. A horse is a lateral-eyed animal with two eyes and two eyelids, and both eyes are located outside of its body.
Regardless of whether the horse is wild or domesticated, it still has two eyes.
If you’re looking at the horse from the side view, you might be forgiven for getting confused about the eye count.
This is because the horse is lateral-eyed. Lateral-eyed means that the horse has one eye on each side of its head.
To determine the correct number of eyes a horse has, you really need to examine the horse while facing it head-on.
Did you know that a horse has the largest eyes of any land mammal? I didn’t know this until I read it on Wikipedia.
I also wasn’t aware that a horse has a total range of vision of more than 350 degrees thanks to the positioning of its two eyes.
Frequently Asked Question
How Many Legs Does A Horse Have?
A horse has four legs. Two legs are located on the front, and another two legs are located at the rear of a horse.
Despite what you may have read online, a horse simply does NOT have nine legs.
Finally
It’s time to saddle up now as we get to the end of this how many eyes do horses have article. No, I’m definitely not going to write about how many eyelids does a horse have!
In summary, a horse has two eyes, and hopefully, this clears up any confusion!
Let me know if this article happens to steal the featured snippet. I’m not holding my breath!
