n] 



HISTORY OF THE HORSE 



9 



old breed, known as the Neapolitan, was par- 

 ticularly suitable for carriage work on account 

 of its size and stateliness. 



The Spanish horse has always been of the 

 best, and owes its excellence to the Barbary 

 blood brought over by the Moors. 



The German horse is large, heavy and slow. 

 Many of the modern German horses have 

 originated from Holstein. 



The French horse is of various breeds. The 

 best are those from Limousin and Normandy, 

 but the modern French horse is much crossed 

 with English breeds. 



Flemish and Dutch horses form a great part 

 of the ancestors of our draught horses, their 

 breeds being strong, large and beautifully 

 formed. 



The Swedish and Norwegian horses are 

 small, speedy, high-spirited and well-formed. 

 Finland breeds are even smaller. 



The Iceland horse is small, strong and swift, 

 and is very probably descended from the 

 Norwegian. 



31. It is a regrettable fact that the climate 

 of the North American continent is not suited 

 to produce fine horses for any length of time. 

 Before European horses were imported into 

 Canada and the United States, the horses of these 

 countries were small and often of a weedy type, 

 although, centuries ago, derived from the finest 

 breeds of large and well-formed horses. 



Horse-breeding in these countries is only 

 successful with a certain admixture of European 

 blood every now and then. On the other hand, 

 the English climate is absolutely ideal for horse- 

 breeding. The cobby breed of horse {see P. 29) 

 could be produced for ever without introducing 

 other blood. 



It will be remembered how soon the Cana- 

 dian and the United States horses collapsed in 

 the South African war. Very few of the Cana- 

 dian horses exported to England are of the same 

 build and stamina as the English horse. 



The Argentine horses, that had been fed on 

 alfalfa (sainfoin) previous to leaving their native 

 land, collapsed at once when fed on oats in 

 South Africa. The best horses that were sent to 

 South Africa were the London 'bus horse and the 

 Kirghiz pony (from South Russia). The former 

 (similar to those in P. 29d, e, f) were in the best 

 of condition, and very readily adapted them- 

 selves to their new country, the latter lasting 

 equally as well. 



The Horse in Geology 



32. The earliest trace of the ancestors of the 

 horse shows us a small animal of about 16 in. 

 in height. He is known as the Palaeotherium, 

 and had a hoof on each side of the main one, 

 nearly as big as the latter. All three of the hoofs 

 touch the ground. The next tribe was the Pala- 



photherium, which had smaller hoofs on each 

 side of the centre one. Next was the Anchi- 

 therium, which had much smaller hoofs on each 

 side. 



Then came the Hipparion, whose side hoofs 

 were hidden in the leg close to the main hoof. 

 Lastly came the horse. How great a time elapsed 

 between these various ancestors it is impossible 

 to state. Suffice it to say that the Hipparion was 

 probably the several millionth great-grandfather 

 to the horse. The Hipparion was found in the 

 Pliocene and Miocene periods of geological time. 

 The most recent period is the Post-pliocene, 

 which is subdivided into the Glacial and the 

 newer recent epochs. To give an idea of the age 

 of the Hipparion (so geology tells us), to say 

 nothing of its three ancestors mentioned above 

 and others previous to these, it must be noted 

 that the whole of the written history, from early 

 Egyptian, Babylonian and other Bible records 

 to the present day, forms a small part of the 

 latter half of the recent epoch. 



Prof. J. Cossar Ewart, speaking at the Vic- 

 toria and Albert Museum (British museum) a 

 few years ago, said that it was impossible to fix 

 the ancestors of the horse. He believed that the 

 horse descended from many lines. The Paleon- 

 tological Section of the New York Museum has 

 six stages of the evolution of the horse, all of 

 which were collected from the rock beds of the 

 State of Montana (West U.S.A.) by Professor 

 Wortmann. 



Etymology of the Horse 



33. The horse is supposed to have derived its 

 name equus, in the Latin tongue, or hippos, in 

 the Greek tongue, from its swiftness, equus 

 meaning swift. 



Zoological Position of the Horse 



34. The position that the horse holds in the 

 universe is worthy of note. 



The horse belongs to the animal kingdom, the 

 Chordata Phylum (form), the Vertebrata Sub- 

 Phylum, and to the Craniata division of this 

 Phylum. 



He belongs to the Mammalia class, the Theria 

 sub-class, and the Eutheria division of this sub- 

 class ; and to the Ungulata order (hoofed or 

 nailed), the Perissodactyla sub-order (odd 

 number of digits, the Equidae family, the Equus 

 genus, and the Caballus species. Varieties of the 

 species are very numerous. 



The Equine Machine 



35. Let us first consider what the equine 

 machine is. It is a complicated mass of power- 

 ful and less powerful muscles which connect to 

 bony levers (limbs, etc.), and have the power of 



