THE HORSE. 



CHAPTER I. 



HIS ANCIENT AND MODEnN HISTORY. 



CONNECTED WITH MAN FROM THE EARLIEST HISTORICAL PERIOD. 1. THE HORSE 



IN ANCIENT HISTORY. II. THK HORSE IN CIVILIZATION. III. PRESERVING 



BREEDS IN PURITY. IV. THE WILD HORSES OF TO-DAY V. FOSSIL HORSES 



VI. HOUSES OF ASIA. VII. EUROPEAN HORSES. VIII. ARTIFICIAL BREEDING 



AND DISEASES, IX. OPINIONS RELATING TO BREEDING. X. IN-BREEDING OF 



HORSES. XI. VALUE OF HEREDITARY CHARACTERISTICS. XII. A CAREFUL 



STUDY NECESSARY. XIII. ABOUT OBJECT LESSONS. 



The period when the horse was first subjected to the use of man 

 extends so far back beyond the origin of written history, that no mention 

 is made by Avriters of the native country of this noble animal. That his 

 native territory was the hill and plain regions of tropical or sub-tropical 

 Asia, there is, however, little doubt, since it is in such regions, the world 

 over, that this animal, upon regaining his freedom and becoming semi- 

 wild, soonest multiplies into vast herds. 



In none of the most ancient inscriptions is the horse found represented 

 in a wild state, but always in connection with man. The fabulous stories 

 of the centaur, a creature half human and half horse, arose from the 

 imagination of those savage tribes who were conquered by more enterpris- 

 ing and partly civilized foes, who had acquired the art of subjecting the 

 horse to use. It is stated that a Thessalian tribe, the Lapithge, first 

 subjected the horse, and hence acquired the name. But the horse was 

 known in a civilization far anterior to that of this Thessalian tribe, though 

 no record is made of the horse in a wild state even by his earliest masters. 

 Hence we infer that the horse was not a native of Egypt, but was intro- 

 duced from some other country into the civilization of that land, the 

 earliest on record except that of China. 



I. The Horse in Ancient History. 



The first record made of the horse in sacred writings, is in the time of 

 Joseph in Egypt, at which period the horse had been subjected to harness. 

 At the time of the Exodus under Moses, the horse was extensively used 

 m war. The Grecian mythological stories give accounts of the use of 

 horses in war, particularly at the siege of Troy, but they aeeiii to have 

 been confined only to the use of heroes. 



Coming down to the true historical perioa, we be^n to find the use of 

 horses quite universal, for pleasure as well as for war ; and as civilization 

 began to colonize the earth, the hoise closely followed. Wliere thecriginal 



