12

12 is the number of distinct hoofed races capable of speech that we have seen.

You know, I could probably write anything in these things. A lot of the things I'm counting are kind of subjective, and I don't get the sense that anybody's fact-checking me even on the ones with very unambiguous truth values.

Comments

[toafan]

Hmm... so now I'm curious.
Disclaimer: I have not seen s4 yet. I don't think "oh, there are sheep in s4 and they talk" (for example) counts as a spoiler. (Although I think sheep are something I had heard mentioned.)

- Dragons are obviously not hoofed (0)
- I don't believe gryphons are hoofed (0)
- Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies -- let's just get the obvious out of the way. (3)
- Minotaurs probably count as hoofed (4)
- Goats are hoofed, but I don't know that they can talk... gonna stick with (4)
- Donkeys (5)
- Discord has one hoof, but he feels like a stretch. Discounted. (5)
- Mules (6)
- I am not counting changelings as hoofed (6)
- Alicorns are obviously hoofed, but arguably there could be debate whether they count as a distinct species. Gimme a moment here.
- Crystal Ponies -- Hoofed? Distinct? Hoofed, yes; distinct, rejected, on grounds there apparently exist "crystal pegasi". No increment. (6)
- Bat-ponies, however (as in Luna's-chariot-staff batponies), seem to be their own species. ...However, we never see them talking, to my knowledge... crud. (6)
- Presumably Flutterponies talk. Do they count as hoofed? I'm gonna roll with it. (7)
- Sombra: corrupted unicorn, or Something Else? I'm'a go with unicorn, so (7)
- I hear Tirek and whatshisname make an appearance in s4, but I cannot in good faith count them.
- Zebras (that took me too long to think of.) (8)

That's everything that's coming to mind, so I'm back to:

- Alicorns. I headcanon them as a separate species, so that brings me to (9)

That's all I've got. Am I missing any you had? Are you counting any I'm not?

[Borg]

2907604 You counted Flutterponies, and I did not. On the other hand, I did count Discord, Tirek, deer (you should read the IDW comics), and sheep (from "Sisterhooves Social").

[toafan]

2907604
Oh, ponyfeathers. I even recal explicitly thinking "don't forget to mention Saddle Arabian horses, even though we don't see them talking in s3", and I didn't.

2908272
I don't count the comics. (Partly because I don't read them.) Which apparently is too bad, since I do headcanon deer.

[Borg]

2910489 And I've been waiting all day to get back to my computer so I can point out that you forgot cows, and I forgot to notice that.

Basically, I should have written my list down, because your guess is as good as mine what I had in mind.