PROFESSOR RIDGEWAY'S THEORIES 51 



I am nothing more than an old rough-neck. 

 My poor little theories about the Europe horse 

 have the impudence to contradict a great au- 

 thority. Professor Ridgeway brings historic 

 proof that the Tarpan, who is the Prejevalski, 

 the wild Dun of Asia, inhabited the green pas- 

 ture of Europe, that he was a small scrawny 

 and foul-tempered person unfit to ride, and 

 that his crossings with the slender imported 

 Bay produced our gigantic sturdy and gentle 

 draught horse. I have ridden so many Duns, 

 packed so many, loved them so much, that I 

 am sure they would agree with me in bucking 

 hard against Professor Ridgeway. I do not 

 believe that the Dun wore his tawny colour in 

 green pastures where he would be a target. I 

 do not believe that the wild Dun in an average 

 district was small, scrawny or vicious. I do 

 not believe that a horse of the Dun type could 

 be an ancestor to draught stock. History is 

 the lens through which we see the past — out 

 of focus. 



Against the evidence of history and the 

 proofs of science, I have nothing to offer ex- 

 cept the common heritage of sight and reason, 

 with that experience which trains a fellow to 

 interpret landscape and to care for horses. I 

 cannot expect others to ride as I have through 



