The Guinness Book of World Records is always fun to page through. It’s always interesting to read about the tallest, biggest, fastest anything. But when those records are about horses, it gets even more interesting.
Record for the Most Runners in a Horse Race
A maximum of twenty horses are allowed to compete in the Kentucky Derby. As many as forty horses compete in the Grand National jump race, the most valuable jump race in Europe. But the record for the most runners in a horse race anywhere, ever, is 4,249!
This record event was organized by the Federation of Mongolian Horse Racing Sport and Trainers and took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on 2013 08 10.
1. How many more horses competed in the world record breaking horse race than compete in the Grand National? Write your answer in word form.
2. In what month did the record setting race take place?
Only those horses that finished the race counted for the record. Out of all the horses that started the race, thirty did not finish.
3. How many horses started the race? Write your answer in expanded form.
The youngest rider was 7 years old and oldest rider was 79 years old.
4. What was the range in ages?
The race covered a distance of 18 km (11.18 mi). The first 5 horses arrived at the following times:
- 1st place- 24 min 30.42 sec;
- 2nd place-24 min 30.46 sec;
- 3rd place- 24 min 30.54 sec;
- 4th place-24 min 31.23 sec;
- 5th place 25 min 02.36 sec.
5. Time was kept to what fraction of a second?
6. How much faster was the winning horse than the second place horse? Write your answer in word form.
7. How much slower was the 5th place horse than the 4th place horse?
Record for the World’s Oldest Horse Stables
The world’s oldest horse stables were built by an Egyptian pharaoh named Ramses II. Have you heard of him before? He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire.
He lived from 1304 to 1237 BC, and breed horses for war, hunting and recreation. The stables were discovered in early 1999 in the ancient city of Piramesse, in the Nile Delta, Egypt.
8. What does ‘BC’ stand for?
9. What do you notice about the year of Ramses II’s birth and the year of his death?
The stables are also believed to be the largest, covering approximately 17,000 m² (182,986 ft²) and housing 460 horses at one time. The stables were built on a slant so the horse urine could drain away and be used for fertilizer. A courtyard and horse-bathing pool were also discovered.
10. What is 17,000 m² (182,986 ft²) a measurement of?
1. How many more horses competed in the record for the most runners in a horse race than compete in the Grand National? Write your answer in word form.
Answer: 4,249 (number of horses in world record race) − 40 (number of horses in Grand National) = 4,209. There were four thousand two hundred nine more horses in the record for the most runners in a horse race.
2. In what month did the record setting race take place?
Answer: August. The second number, 08, refers to the month.
3. How many horses started the race?
Answer: 4,249 (number of horses that finished the race) + 30 (number of horses that did not finish the race) = 4,279 horses. 4000 + 200 + 70 + 9 horses started the race.
4. What was the range in ages?
Answer: Range is the difference between the lowest and highest values. 79 (age of oldest rider) − 7 (age of youngest rider) = 72. The range is 72 years.
5. Time was kept to what fraction of a second?
Answer: Time was kept to the hundredths of a second.
6. How much faster was the winning horse than the second place horse? Write your answer in word form.
Answer: 24 min 30.46 sec − 24 min 30.42 sec = .04 seconds. The winning horse was four hundredths of a second faster than the second place horse.
7. How much slower was the 5th place horse than the 4th place horse?
Answer: Elapsed time can sometimes be tricky to figure out. The answer to question six could be calculated using simple subtraction. I used a strategy called ‘counting on’ to answer this question. Starting at 24 min 31.23 sec, and counting on until I reached 25 min 02.36 sec.
First I counted up to the first whole number: 24 min 31.23 sec + .77 seconds = 24 min 32 seconds.
Next I counted up to 25 minutes: 24 min 32 seconds + 28 seconds = 25 min.
To get from 25 minutes to 25 min 02.36 sec you simply add on an additional 02.36 sec.
So, how much did I count on all together? 28 sec + .77 sec + 02.36 sec = 31.13 seconds. The 5th place horse crossed the finish line 31.13 seconds after the 4th place horse.
8. What does ‘BC’ stand for?
Answer: ‘BC’ stands for before Christ.
9. What do you notice about the year of Ramses II’s birth and the year of his death?
Answer: The year Ramses II was born is a bigger number than the year he died. Our calendar is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years after Christ was born, and BC counting years before he was born. So Ramses II was born 1304 years before Christ (BC).
10. What is 17,000 m² (182,986 ft²) a measurement of?
Answer: 17,000 m² (182,986 ft²) is a measurement of the area of the stables.
Common Core:
4.OA.A.2 – Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division word problems
4.MD.A.2 – Elapsed time: word problems
4.MD.A.3 – Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical problems.
4.NF.C.7 – Compare two decimals to hundredths by reasoning about their size.
5.NF.B.4b – Area and perimeter: word problems
6.SP.B.5c – Calculate mean, median, mode, and range
Photos:
Mongolia_Naadam_16.JPG by Taylor Weidman; CC BY-SA 3.0
Mongolian riders by Terry Fuller
Horse racing by A. Omer Karamollaoglu; CC BY 2.0
Stables in Mampsis by Ian Scott; CC BY-SA 2.0
