HORNED HORSES 



Several Well-Authenticated Cases on Record — Not Certain Whether They Are 



Mere Abnormalities, or Whether They May be Looked on as Reversions 



to an Ancestral Condition — Manner in Which Horns are Formed 



J. E. Miller 

 Physician and Surgeon, Roger sville, Tenn. 



FROM the Eohippus of the lower 

 eocene formation, with its four 

 toes, and not larger than the 

 house cat;^ on through millions 

 of years of transition to the Equus or 

 horse of modern times, no animal, 

 perhaps, has shown greater evolution 

 than the horse. It was a long time 

 before paleontologists were able fully 

 to prove the fact that this animal at 

 one time possessed five toes. Will it 

 also be discovered that it possessed 

 horns at one stage of its history? 



Herewith is a photograph of a two- 

 year-old filly owned by Dr. J. J. Koger, 

 of Rogersville, Tenn. The filly's sire 

 is of the "Chief" family of Kentucky. 



A horn is located on the lower border 

 of the right ear, about 1 inch from the 

 attachment of ear to head. It is firmly 

 attached to the muscles, skin and deep 

 parts of the ear, is moveable, that is, 

 it swings and dangles on movement of 

 the colt's head. It is 33^ inches long, 

 and a little more than three-eighths of 

 an inch in diameter at base, and has 

 rings and lamination somewhat similar 

 to the horn of sheep and cow. It is 

 of the same color as the hoof and is as 

 hard as the horn of sheep or cow. It 

 sheds one-third of its length every 

 spring about the middle of March. 



The filly seems to suffer no more 

 inconvenience from the presence of the 

 horn, than does a lady from the gold-set 

 pearl or pendant in her ear. 



The New York Sporting Times of 

 March 4, 1905, reports two cases of 



horned horses, near New York City, 

 owned by A. Day. 



Mr. Darwin and other scientists 

 speak of horned horses. 



The former says: "In various coun- 

 tries horn-like projections have been 

 observed on the frontal bones of the 

 horse: in one case described by Mr. 

 Percivall they arose about two inches 

 above the orbital processes, and were 

 'very like those in a calf from five to 

 six months old,' being from one-half 

 to three-quarters of an inch in length. 

 Azara has described two cases in South 

 America in which the projections were 

 between three and four inches in 

 length : other instances have occiured in 

 Spain. "2 



Azara's account is as follows: "I have 

 heard for a fact, that, a short time ago, 

 a horse was born in Santa Fe de la Vera 

 Cruz, which had two horns like a bull, 

 4 inches long, sharp and erect, growing 

 close to the ears ; and that another from 

 Chile was brought to Don John Augustin 

 Videla, a native of Buenos Ayres, with 

 strong horns, 3 inches long. This 

 horse, they tell me, was remarkably 

 gentle; but, when offended, he attacked 

 like a bull. Videla sent the horse to 

 some of his relatives in Mendoza, who 

 gave it to an inhabitant of Cordova, 

 who intended, as it was a stallion, to 

 endeavor to form a race of horned 

 horses. I am not aware of the results, 

 which may probably have been favorable, 

 for the heifers of the hornless bulls are 

 prcdrctive, as we shall see further on.'"' 



1 The Eohippus was figured, from a new restoration by J. W. Gidley, in the ApriJ, 1917, issue 

 of this Journal (Vol. viii, p. 168). It had a rudimentary fifth toe, as well as four functional ones. 



2 Darwin, Charles R. The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. New 

 York. 1900, Vol. i, p. 50. 



'Azara, Felix de. Natural History of the Quadrupeds of Peru. London, 1838, Vol. i, 

 pp. 30-31. 



303 



