136 A YEAR IN AGRICULTURE 



pointed a little forward, the ears erect and rather close 

 together, the eyes large and bright, and the whole body 

 neat, trim, and gracefully poised. 



BREEDS AND TYPES OF HORSES 



Some horse history. The horse was probably the next 

 animal after the dog to be domesticated. Its immediate ances- 

 try is almost a matter of conjecture, since there have been 

 no really wild horses within historic times. Down deep in 

 the rocks, geologists have found remains of an animal that 

 apparently was a relative of the horse. This ancient horse 

 was smaller than ours, and, in place of one toe and hoof on 

 each foot, he had three toes. Other remains were found of 

 horses with five toes. The splint bones, the slender bones on 

 either side of the long bone just below the knee, are all that is 

 left of the two outside toes of the three-toed horse. The wild 

 ass of Abyssinia, the zebra, and quagga of South America, 

 are the modern relatives of our horses. 



The early use of the horse was to carry man on his back 

 in hunting the fleeter game, and in waging war. The horse 

 has never been used for food except in France, though recently 

 such use has been recognized in New York and in other sec- 

 tions as an emergency food. As man became more civilized, 

 he found new uses for the horse, until now, in the twentieth 

 century, even the gas engine can not detract from the great 

 number of services which this beast performs. The various 

 uses to which man has put the horse has caused the different 

 types and breeds to develop. Draft horses are heavy and 



