Thirty White Horses Upon a Red Hill Lyrics
A two-line riddle. Thirty white horses stand on a red hill: sometimes they tramp, sometimes they champ, and sometimes they stand still. What are they?
Thirty White Horses Upon a Red Hill
Thirty white horses upon a red hill,
Now they tramp, now they champ, now they stand still.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/thirty-white-horses/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken riddle
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Thirty White Horses Upon a Red Hill Mean?
The answer is your teeth and gums. The white horses are the teeth and the red hill is the gums. When you eat they tramp and champ (chew noisily), and when you stop they stand still. Grown-ups usually have 32 teeth, and children have 20 baby teeth, so thirty is close enough for a riddle.
History and Origin
The rhyme is printed as "Teeth and Gums" in The Real Mother Goose (1916). Riddles that describe the body as animals or buildings are very old, and this one is still a favorite in schools.
Learning Activities
- Riddle time: say the rhyme and let children guess before you tell them.
- Brush the horses: say it while brushing teeth, one line for top teeth and one for bottom.
- Count: look in a mirror and count your own white horses.