CHAPTER V 

 HISTORY OF THE HORSE 



The early history of the horse is both interesting and 

 instructive. It is interesting because of the marked 

 changes that have taken place in the size and conforma- 

 tion. It is instructive because it affords the best-known 

 illustration in existence, of the adaptation of a race of 

 animals to its environment, and shows clearly the in- 

 fluence of selection — whether natural or artificial. 



The history of the horse, as now worked out, extends 

 farther back into the past than that of any other farm 

 animal. He was one of the first animals to receive the 

 attention of progressive breeders, his improvement ante- 

 dating that of cattle, sheep or swine. Nor do we wonder 

 at this when we consider the intimacy of horse and mas- 

 ter, their constant companionship, and the dependence of 

 man upon his horse in the chase, in the pursuit of his 

 foes, or in the escape from his enemies. 



Antiquity of the horse. — The ancestry of the horse 

 family has been traced back, without a single important 

 break, to the Eocene epoch in the Tertiary period.* Dur- 

 ing this long period, estimated at three millions of years, 

 the animals of the horse family have passed through ua- 

 portant changes in all parts of the body, but especially in 

 the feet and teeth, adapting them more perfectly to their 

 environment. Thus the earliest known ancestors of the 

 horse family dififered widely from the horse of the present 

 time. These early ancestors were very small animals, 

 not larger than the domestic cat. They possessed four 

 complete toes on each forefoot and three on each hind- 



*The geologist divides time into eras, ages, periods, epochs and the lilce. 

 Fossiliferous remains of the horse are found in the Tertiary period, which is 

 divided into four epochs. Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene; as well as in 

 bpth the Quarternary and Recent periods. 



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