92 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



horse — unless he is used for mihtary purposes — 

 and therefore has not been specially cultivated 

 by breeders, it is probable that the natural 

 couraee of horses has been rather increased 

 than diminished by civilisation. This is due to 

 the selection of successful race-horses for breed- 

 ing purposes. Now a horse - race is quite as 

 much a test of pluck as of muscular power ; in 

 fact it is usually more so, for the animal which 

 will keep up its pace as long as it has breath, 

 will generally prevail over a better equipped rival 

 which flags as soon as it feels severe fatigue. 

 Owing to this fact, and the long-continued choice 

 of winners for stud purposes, it is now an almost 

 universal rule that " blood "- horses are highly 

 courageous. They are certainly not so much 

 given to shying as are " half-bred " horses — al- 

 though this may possibly be due in part to 

 another cause. Modern race-horses have an al- 

 most pure and unbroken descent from the desert- 

 dwelling steeds of the East, whereas our heavier 

 horses are probably derived to a great extent 

 from the wild mobs which in prehistoric times 

 inhabited the moister regions of Central and 

 Western Europe. Now, if our interpretation of 

 the origin of the habit of shying be correct, it 



