2 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



toot witl: [\\- ' l')os. At that time lie lived in low, 

 luarsl'v hnul<, and ioos were needed to help him get 

 iboiii. :.vs tlu/ i^cvAh became harder he lost one toe 

 after another and so was able to travel faster to 

 escape from his enemies. The horse's hoof is the 

 Qail of the one remaining toe. 



Riding Horseback. The Greeks first drove the 

 horse hitched to rude chariots, but later, it is said, 

 they learned to ride him without saddle or bridle. 

 They invented the first bridle bit, which is called 

 the .snaffle. Neither Greeks nor Eomans shod their 

 horses. At first only kings, nobles, and warriors 

 could afford horses. They were used chiefly in war 

 and for riding and driving in war chariots. But 

 everybody who was able rode horseback; even kings 

 looked upon this as the most dignified way to travel. 



The First Work Animal. All this time the farmer 

 had only the plow ox or the stubborn ass to help him 

 raise his crops. "When at last the farmer began to 

 use the horse, he did his work much faster, for the 

 horse has not only better speed and greater strength 

 than the ox, but he can hold out longer. 



The Horse and the Indian. Horses were not found 

 in America when the white men first came. The 

 Indians were greatly frightened when they saw the 

 horses which the Spaniards brought over. They 

 thought these animals were terrible monsters. But 

 the Indians soon learned to use the horse, and, after 

 a time, great herds of horses appeared wild on the 

 western plains. 



