General flistory of the £I° rse ' 



The native land of the horse cannot accurately be determined. 

 Varying- in size, height and usefulness, it is found in all of the tem- 

 perate, most of the tropic and many of the northern regions of the old 

 world. It is however established that the horse has been in existence 

 before the last great inundation, known as the deluge, in the days of 

 Xoah. In numerous places in Europe, Asia and Africa, fossil bones of 

 of animals belonging to the species of the horse have been found, mostly 

 in company with the petrified remains of the Hippopotamus, the Ele- 

 phant, the Rhinoceros, the Bear, the Deer and other animals. The lime- 

 stone beds at Cannstadt, W^urttemberg, Germany, at Sevron, Argen- 

 teuil, France, and Vald'Arno, Italy, are particularly rich in teeth of 

 fossil horses. At an early period, the tertiary sand, fossils of an animal, 

 similar to the horse, have been found and called "hippotherium" this 

 species showing two false toes on each foot. The majority of these 

 bones are of the same size as the ones belonging to their survivors. 

 Xaturalists speak of America as the only country where skeletons of 

 gigantic horses "were ever discovered. From the bible, which aside 

 from its higher claims, contains the first credible information on the 

 past, we learn that 1650 years before Christ horses had been tamed 1 y 

 by the Egyptians. 

 1st Book of Moses, Chapter 50, Verse 9 : 



" When Joseph carried the remains of his father from Egypt to 

 Canaan, there went up with him both chariots and horsemen." 



One hundred and fifty years later, horses formed the main strength 

 of the Egyptian army. 

 2nd Book of Moses, 14th Chapter, 7th Verse: 



"Pharaoh persecuted the Israelites and he took 600 chariots and all 

 the chariots in Egypt, and captains over every one of them." 



Mules are mentioned very early, as it is said of the descendants of 

 Esau, who inhabited the districts of Sier : " And these are the children 

 of Zibeon; both Ajah and Anah, this was that Anah that found the 

 mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon, his father." (1st 

 Book of Moses, Chapter 24.) Anah was a contemporary of Isaac, who 

 lived 1590 years before Christ; If we may believe the statements of 

 the ancient historians. Sesostris, probably the King, whom Joseph 

 served, had 27,000 chariots, and Semiramis, the foundress of Babylon, 

 had 100,000 chariots and 1,000,000 riders; but these accounts are un- 

 doubtedly very much exaggerated. Fifty years later, after the exodus 

 of the Israelites from Egypt and 1450 before Christ, horses had already 

 been acclimated to such an extent in Greece, that at the commencement 

 of the Olympic games, races with horses and chariots were given. We 

 have then sufficient proof , that at a very early period the horse had been 

 made the servant of the human race, and as we have seen, first in war. 

 The beautiful description which Job gives of the horse, also speaks of 

 its use in arms as follows: (Job, Chapter 38, Vers 18.) "Hast thou 

 given the horse strength ? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder ? 

 Canst thou make him afraid of the grasshopper? The glory of his 



