X INTRODUCTION 



enough behind the animal's back, provided 

 the philosopher makes quite sure that it is 

 really and truly extinct. But suppose he met 

 one, would he call it a perissodactylic ungulate 

 to its face ? Not at all ! He would shin up a 

 tree and use worse language than that. 



So if the Reader finds me ignorant, I beg 

 him to lay the blame on men of science who 

 have dug up dead languages to make them a 

 trade jargon lest any education should reach 

 the vulgar. 



In his " Tropical Light," Surgeon General 

 Woodruff, of the U.S. Army, makes no mention 

 of horses, but opens up a new field of thought. 

 Professor William Ridgeway, in his " Origin 

 and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse," 

 commands the respect of every horseman by 

 his researches in history. Professor Cossar 

 Ewart, by far the greatest living authority 

 on hippology, has, apart from the teaching of 

 his books, most generously granted me his 

 private criticism. For the rest, burning my 

 books behind me, I have ventured to write 

 about horses just because I love them. An 

 old rough-neck of the American ranges, who, 

 living with horses, has tried to understand 

 them, sets down a few ideas which may be of 

 use to horsemen. 



