Daily Devotional – October 26

Biology

Most animals have a heart to body size that follows a generally linear relationship, that is, the larger the animal, the larger is its heart in proportion. An exception is the horse’s heart that is smaller than expected for such a large animal. Thus, the horse’s small heart has difficulty pumping the required amount of blood throughout the horse’s large body. So, God gave the horse four more pumps to help move the blood around its body. These “pumps” are located in the horse’s hooves.

On the underside of the horse’s hoof is a “v” shaped structure called a “frog.” The frog pumps blood throughout the leg. When a horse steps down, it compresses the frog that pushes up against the blood vessels, squeezing the blood up the leg. When a horse lifts its leg, the blood moves down the leg. Horses have five pumps circulating blood, the heart and four frogs. This makes the horse extremely well designed for traveling long distances with speed, strength, and endurance. When running, the horse needs more blood circulating throughout its muscles, so the four frog pumps provide that. Why didn’t God build a larger heart? Then, it would be operating all the time. God didn’t need to put a huge heart into the horse’s design because he had a better idea. A smaller heart assisted by four, turbocharged, auxiliary pumps located in the hooves of the horse provided the answer! God is a great designer.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

~ Psalm 20:7

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.