CHAPTER VI 



FERAL HORSES 



ALTHOUGH the comparatively modern domesticated 

 breeds produced in America, Australia, and other 

 countries to which the horse is not indigenous do 

 not come within the purview of this volume, 

 reference must be made to horses which have run 

 wild in various parts of the world, since some of 

 these display features of considerable interest in 

 connection with the history and evolution of the 

 family. For domesticated animals that have 

 escaped from captivity and reverted to a more 

 or less completely wild condition, it is frequently 

 convenient to employ the term " feral " ; for, al- 

 though this term, which is derived from the Latin 

 ferus, is etymologically equivalent to the English 

 " wild," it has acquired a special restricted meaning, 

 which can be expressed by no other word in our 

 language. 



To North America horses were introduced 

 during the Spanish Conquest, and their feral 

 descendants, like those of South America, are 

 consequently of Spanish origin, and therefore of 

 the Barb type, just as the feral cattle were originally 



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