Question

馬 うま、うま-、ま horse 3 639 10 187 うま・うまへん 象形 Pictographic Turkey with the drops at the top removed and tail feathers added (this matches stroke order and there are the tail feathers already, why not have the whole bird). If you take the two drops of 隹 as wings, then horses are like turkeys, but have no wings and have more prominent tail "feathers". Both are actually supposed to be pictographs, though.

Accepted Answer

バ た, ばん, め, も 馬(うま): (1) horse (2) promoted bishop (shogi)競馬(けいば): horse racing馬鹿(ばか): (1) fool; idiot (2) trivial matter; folly; absurdity (3) foolish; stupid; dull; absurd; ridiculous (4) surf clam馬鹿らしい(ばからしい): absurd馬鹿馬鹿しい(ばかばかしい): absurd; ridiculous; silly; ludicrous; nonsensical; asinine; foolish 2 火: fire 馬 10 (none) horse The top part is half a comb (see frame 1920) with an extra vertical stroke to account for a sturdier version used to comb a horse mane. As a primitive I used the theme of the Trojan Horse. Not the modern computer viruses, but the large wooden horse which led to the demise of Troy and of the Trojans. Either its size (much greater than a live horse), or the fact that it conceals things into its belly, will set it appart from the horse primitive that came in frame 568 ("noon").

Kanji	馬
Onyomi	バ
Kunyomi	うま、うま-、ま
Nanori	た, ばん, め, も
English	horse
Examples	馬(うま): (1) horse (2) promoted bishop (shogi) 競馬(けいば): horse racing 馬鹿(ばか): (1) fool; idiot (2) trivial matter; folly; absurdity (3) foolish; stupid; dull; absurd; ridiculous (4) surf clam 馬鹿らしい(ばからしい): absurd 馬鹿馬鹿しい(ばかばかしい): absurd; ridiculous; silly; ludicrous; nonsensical; asinine; foolish
JLPT Level	3
Jouyou Grade	2
Frequency	639
Components	火: fire
Number of Strokes	10
Kanji Radical	馬
Radical Number	187
Radical Strokes	10
Radical Reading	うま・うまへん
Traditional Form	(none)
Classification	象形 Pictographic
Keyword	horse
Koohii Story 1	Turkey with the drops at the top removed and tail feathers added (this matches stroke order and there are the tail feathers already, why not have the whole bird). If you take the two drops of 隹 as wings, then horses are like turkeys, but have no wings and have more prominent tail "feathers". Both are actually supposed to be pictographs, though.
Koohii Story 2	The top part is half a comb (see frame 1920) with an extra vertical stroke to account for a sturdier version used to comb a horse mane. As a primitive I used the theme of the Trojan Horse. Not the modern computer viruses, but the large wooden horse which led to the demise of Troy and of the Trojans. Either its size (much greater than a live horse), or the fact that it conceals things into its belly, will set it appart from the horse primitive that came in frame 568 ("noon").

Horse Tail 馬 Absurd Drops Top Feathers Stroke