The 10 duck-sized horses win, no doubt, through the magic of physics.  Questioning the existence of duck-sized horses? Just because they may or may not exist, does not mean that they won’t totally destroy some big duck.

Take a moment to identify a few key facts before I definitively prove the victory of the horses.  First, realize that a) horses have extremely strong kicks, the average is around 2000 psi, b) the average horse hoof diameter is about 4 inches across, and c) I’m assuming that a horse hoof is a circle to make the math easier.

By multiplying the pressure of 2000 psi by the area of the hoof, we get a force of 50265.5 pounds of force.  That on its own is crazy. Now then, assuming a duck’s foot is about 3 inches along the diagonal, and is roughly shaped like a diamond, we can easily find a ration between the sizes of a horse and a duck and, assuming that the horse’s strength will scale with its size, we find the strength of a duck-sized horse’s kick is 18000 lbf.  In pressure, that’s 4000 psi.

For reference, 4000 psi is like taking a fully grown great white shark and taking all of its weight and putting it on one inch of surface.  Generally speaking, a femur fracture, breaking the strongest bone in the human body, requires about 1000 lbf, far under the force of the small horse kick.

However, there is one more important fact that will ruin any chance of the duck’s victory: while human bones are almost solid all the way through, duck bones, like those of any bird, are actually hollow with small cross bars running through the center, and, with the increased size of the duck, comes increased spacing between the bars, making them extra fragile.

While the large, clumsy duck may have a shot at crushing one or two of the small, but mighty horses, with their speed and agility, and their ridiculously powerful kicks, just a single tap from any of the ten horses may be enough to completely shatter the bones of the duck.

Honestly, I’d be very scared for my life if these horses existed and became aggressive.  Just imagine it: 10 little 2-foot tall horses, each with the ability to put you in a cast with a single kick, rushing at you from all sides whilst screaming in the way that only horses can.  How can the horse-sized duck hope to stand against such odds?