EVOLUTION AND HISTORY OF THE HORSE 

 M. W. Hakper 



Professor of Animal Husbandry, Cornell University, Ithaca. 



The earlj history of the horse is 

 both interesting and instrnetive. It 

 is interesting because of the marked 

 changes that have taken place in 

 size and conformation. It is instruc- 

 tive because it attbrds a good example 

 of the adaptation of a race of animals 

 to their environment. It shows clearly 

 the influence of selection, whether it be 

 i:atnral or artificial. 



PREHISTORIC DEVELOPMENT 



By means of fossil remains, the earlier history of the horse has 

 been worked out farther back into the past than that of any other 

 farm animal. Moreover, the horse was one of the first animals 

 to receive the attention of progressive breeders, his improvement 

 antedating that of cattle, sheep, and swine. This is not strange 

 when we consider the intimacy of horse and man, their constant 

 companionship, and the dependency of man upon his horse in the 

 chase, in the pursuit of his foes, and in escape from his enemies. 



The prehistoric development of the horse has been thoroughly 

 investigated by the American Museum of Xatural History. The 

 horse family has been traced back without a single important 

 break to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. During this 

 long period, estimated at 3,000,000 years, the animals of the horse 

 family have passed through important changes in all parts of the 

 body, especially in the feet and teeth, adapting them more per- 

 fectly to their environment. Thus the earliest known ancestors 

 of the horse family differed widely from the horse of the pre-^ent 

 time. These ancestors were very small, possibly no larger than 

 the domestic cat. They possessed four complete toes on each 

 front foot and three on each hind foot. The teeth of this early 



[111 



