Deer vs. Horse — What's the Difference?

Deer are known for their graceful movement

Horses are large, domesticated mammals with hooves

Deer species vary widely in size

Horses are known for their strength and speed

Deer are adapted to a variety of habitats

Horse breeds are diverse, serving many purposes

Deer often have reddish-brown coats

Horses develop strong bonds with humans

Deer are ruminant mammals with distinct antlers

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a domesticated one-toed hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus.

Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, the fallow deer, and the chital; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), the roe deer, the mule deer, and the moose.

A large plant-eating domesticated mammal with solid hoofs and a flowing mane and tail, used for riding, racing, and to carry and pull loads.

Any of various hoofed ruminant mammals of the family Cervidae, characteristically having deciduous antlers borne chiefly by the males. The deer family includes the white-tailed deer, elk, moose, and caribou.

A frame or structure on which something is mounted or supported, especially a sawhorse.

A ruminant mammal with antlers and hooves of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla.

A unit of horsepower

(in particular) One of the smaller animals of this family, distinguished from a moose or elk

Heroin.

The meat of such an animal; venison.

An obstruction in a vein.

Any animal, especially a quadrupedal mammal as opposed to a bird, fish, etc.

Provide (a person or vehicle) with a horse or horses

Any animal; especially, a wild animal.

A large hoofed mammal (Equus caballus) having a short coat, a long mane, and a long tail, domesticated since ancient times and used for riding and for drawing or carrying loads.

A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.

An adult male horse; a stallion.

Distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers

Any of various equine mammals, such as the wild Asian species Przewalski's horse or certain extinct forms related ancestrally to the modern horse.

A frame or device, usually with four legs, used for supporting or holding.

(Sports) A vaulting horse.

(Slang) Heroin.

Often horses Horsepower

Mounted soldiers; cavalry

A block of rock interrupting a vein and containing no minerals.

A large block of displaced rock that is caught along a fault.

To provide with a horse.

To haul or hoist energetically

To be in heat. Used of a mare.

Of or relating to a horse

Mounted on horses

Drawn or operated by a horse.

Larger or cruder than others in the same category

A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.

Any member of the species Equus ferus, including the Przewalski's horse and the extinct Equus ferus ferus.

(zoology) Any current or extinct animal of the family Equidae, including zebras and asses.

Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category).

A component of certain games.

(slang) A large and sturdy person.

(historical) A timber frame shaped like a horse, which soldiers were made to ride for punishment.

Equipment with legs.

In gymnastics, a piece of equipment with a body on two or four legs, approximately four feet high, sometimes (pommel horse) with two handles on top.

A frame with legs, used to support something.

(nautical) Type of equipment.

A rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling the sails; footrope.

A breastband for a leadsman.

An iron bar for a sheet traveller to slide upon.

A jackstay.

(mining) A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse (said of a vein) is to divide into branches for a distance.

(US) An informal variant of basketball in which players match shots made by their opponent(s), each miss adding a letter to the word "horse", with 5 misses spelling the whole word and eliminating a player, until only the winner is left. Also HORSE, H-O-R-S-E or H.O.R.S.E. (see H-O-R-S-E).

(uncountable) The flesh of a horse as an item of cuisine.

(prison slang) A prison guard who smuggles contraband in or out for prisoners.

A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination.

Horseplay; tomfoolery.

(slang) Heroin drug.

(intransitive) To frolic, to act mischievously. (Usually followed by "around".)

(transitive) To play mischievous pranks on.

(transitive) To provide with a horse; supply horses for.

(obsolete) To get on horseback.

To sit astride of; to bestride.

(of a male horse) To copulate with (a mare).

To take or carry on the back.

To place (someone) on the back of another person, or on a wooden horse, chair, etc., to be flogged or punished.

(by extension) To flog.

(transitive) To pull, haul, or move (something) with great effort, like a horse would.

(informal) To cram (food) quickly, indiscriminately or in great volume.

To urge at work tyrannically.

To charge for work before it is finished.

A hoofed quadruped of the genus Equus; especially, the domestic horse (Equus caballus), which was domesticated in Egypt and Asia at a very early period. It has six broad molars, on each side of each jaw, with six incisors, and two canine teeth, both above and below. The mares usually have the canine teeth rudimentary or wanting. The horse differs from the true asses, in having a long, flowing mane, and the tail bushy to the base. Unlike the asses it has callosities, or chestnuts, on all its legs. The horse excels in strength, speed, docility, courage, and nobleness of character, and is used for drawing, carrying, bearing a rider, and like purposes.

The male of the genus Equus, in distinction from the female or male; usually, a castrated male.

Mounted soldiery; cavalry; - used without the plural termination; as, a regiment of horse; - distinguished from foot.

A frame with legs, used to support something; as, a clotheshorse, a sawhorse, etc.

A frame of timber, shaped like a horse, on which soldiers were made to ride for punishment.

Anything, actual or figurative, on which one rides as on a horse; a hobby.

A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse - said of a vein - is to divide into branches for a distance.

A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination; - called also trot, pony, Dobbin.

Heroin.

Horsepower.

To provide with a horse, or with horses; to mount on, or as on, a horse.

To sit astride of; to bestride.

To mate with (a mare); - said of the male.

To take or carry on the back; as, the keeper, horsing a deer.

To place on the back of another, or on a wooden horse, etc., to be flogged; to subject to such punishment.

To get on horseback.

Solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times

A padded gymnastic apparatus on legs

Troops trained to fight on horseback;

A framework for holding wood that is being sawed

A chessman in the shape of a horse's head; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa)

Provide with a horse or horses

Horses have been vital for human transport

Deer are not typically domesticated, unlike horses which are.

Horses are used for riding, work, and companionship.

Horses can often run faster and longer distances than deer.

Deer are browsers that eat leaves, twigs, and other plant matter.

Most male deer grow antlers, but not the females.

Deer have excellent night vision, which is not as strong in horses.

A group of horses is known as a herd.

Horses generally live longer than deer, often 25-30 years or more.

Horses neigh, whinny, and nicker.

Horses were reintroduced to America by Europeans; they are not originally native.

Yes, horses are herbivores that primarily eat grass.

Deer sometimes venture into urban areas, but they primarily live in the wild.

Deer can be social but do not have as complex social structures as horses.

Deer typically flee from predators, using their agility to escape.

The moose is the largest deer species and can be as large as a horse.