THE HORSE. 



CHAPTER I. 



EARLY HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE 

 HORSE. 



Early history of the Horse— General Habits -Parts of the frame of the Horse— 

 Paces — Teeth as signs of age— Memory, &c. 



THE Early History and Origin of the Horse is 

 wrapped in obscurity and fable, and we really know 

 little or nothing of it, except that we have reason to believe 

 that he first came from Asia, like man, and according to 

 the Mosaic account, all other animals now existing ; and 

 that he was used in Egypt more than 1600 years before 

 Christ. But with the history of the horse I shall not 

 encumber this book, which might be enlarged to an 

 enormous extent if this department were entered into at 

 length. Suffice it, then, to discuss the present condition 

 of the horse, and its more recent origin, as now existing 

 in Great Britain, in addition to his general habits. 



The Habits of the Horse, in all countries, and of al' 

 varieties, are pretty much alike. Wherever he is at large 

 he is bold, but wary, and easily taking note of the ap- 

 proach of man, to give him as wide a berth as he possibly 

 can, or rather show him a clean pair of heels. Wild horses 

 exist to the present day in the interior of Asia and in South 

 America. But botli the horses of the Tartars and those 

 of La Plata are descended from domesticated animals, and 

 can scarcely be called wild in the ordinary acceptation ot 

 the term. Indeed, the Californian horses, which are still 

 more recently bred in a wild state from Spanish horses, are 

 quite as wild as those described by Sir F. B. Head. From 



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