154 J Animal Friends and Helpers 



note to the American scene. Comparatively few survive in the 

 wild state today; and of this remnant, many are captured by 

 ranch owners, branded, and then released. We generally speak 

 of these animals as "mustangs." 



As for "broncho," this is not a name for a special breed, but 

 rather a generic term applied to any wild American horse that 

 is captured and trained for man's use. Today's bronchos are 

 usually born of domesticated horses, then turned loose and 

 allowed to run wild until they reach the age of usefulness. 



The African zebras, members of the horse family, have resisted 

 all attempts to domesticate them. By way of contrast Shetland 

 ponies, which still run wild on Shetland and other islands about a 

 hundred miles north of Scotland, are valuable pack animals and 

 trustworthy pets. 



WHERE HORSES CAME FROM 



The distribution of horses in the modern world follows a 

 long history of wanderings and migrations. The family started 

 in North America with the "Dawn Horse" the original ancestor. 

 This was a creature about the size of a fox, with several toes on 

 each foot. Over a long period of time gradual changes took place 

 in later ancestral horses, notably in the lengthening of the legs 

 and the steady enlargement and greater specialization of the 

 middle toe. At the same time the other toes grew smaller and 

 smaller, finally vanishing and being replaced by the enormously 

 enlarged middle toe, which had taken on the proportions of the 

 hoof as we know it today. 



Even before the Ice Age, some of the ancestral horses had been 

 leaving North America for other continents, and the true horse 

 of the Ice Age migrated also. Then, while the branches that had 

 gone to Asia, Europe and Africa flourished, the original North 

 American family died out. Thus there were no horses on the 

 North Amecian continent until the Spanish explorers brought 

 them back. 



THOROUGHBREDS AND OTHER POPULAR BREEDS 

 Even when many groups of horses still lived in the wild 

 state, men in diverse lands were busy breeding the animals for 



