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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



THE CELTIC AND NORSE HORSES 



The Celtic horse (side view) is specially adapted to severe climates. The small head sug-g-ests relationship to the Arab. 



Norse horse, (^Equus cahallus typictis) of Scan- 

 dinavian descent. They were obtained by Pro- 

 fessor Henry Fairfield Osborn from J. Cossar 

 Ewart, of the University of Edinburgh, who 

 has devoted much study to the Equidce. 



The peculiar importance of these horses is 

 due to the fact that they represent ancient wild 

 types that roamed over Europe long before the 

 industry of domesticating animals began. In 

 this connection Professor Ewart has for many 

 years studied the fossil ancestors of the horse, 

 the palaeolithic evidence as shown in the art, 

 implements and life history of the men of the 

 Stone Age, and the facts collected from early 

 history. He has also made a study of mod- 

 ern strains, as well as of experimental breed- 

 ing, and is convinced that the Celtic horses now 

 under domestication in Iceland are the direct 

 descendants of a very hardy northern species 

 that has come down to us through the ages in 

 an almost pure state, having been changed but 

 little either by artificial selection or by cross- 

 breeding with other strains. 



It seems highly probable that this species 

 branched off at an early period from the 

 Arabian or North African stem and spread 



northward, becoming smaller in stature and 

 more adapted to a severe climate, but retaining 

 many characteristics in common with the pres- 

 ent Arabian horse. In both species we find a 

 high degree of intelligence, an extremely docile 

 temperament, and a similarity in the eyes and 

 in the shape of the head. In both Celtic and 

 Arab the hind chestnuts (leg callosities) are 

 absent, and all four ergots (fetlock callosities) 

 are either very minute or entirely absent. 



In growth of hair the two species do not 

 widely differ in the summer coat, but the heavy 

 winter pelage of the Celtic is in striking con- 

 trast to the sleek-coated Arab. When the 

 horses arrived at the Zoological Park on Octo- 

 ber 16, the short, summer coats had grown con- 

 siderably in anticipation of the approaching 

 season, though they were still far from being a 

 winter's garb. 



The Celtic, which has been named Celt, is a 

 horse about twelve and one-half hands in 

 height, but rather short-limbed. The coat, in 

 effect a brownish gray, is a fine mixture of pure 

 white hairs with brown, with a greater per cent, 

 of white hairs on the sides and under parts. 

 Along the ridge of the back, black hairs take 



