20 THE HORSE 



ORIGIN OF THE HORSE AND FORMATION OF 

 DIFFERENT BREEDS 



In speaking of the origin of the horse and his 

 early development as a domestic animal, I must 

 of necessity be brief, for the subject is too large 

 to discuss at length. But a few facts in this con- 

 nection have a bearing upon what we can do in the 

 modification of equine types and so have practical 

 value for the breeder too important to go wholly 

 unnoted. 



The horse is believed to have originated in 

 southern Asia. His natural size is not very great, 

 averaging about eight hundred pounds, and there 

 is reason to believe that the original type was 

 rather fine than coarse. All the different breeds 

 now in vogue, ranging in fineness from the thor- 

 oughbred to the coarsest of the heavy types and 

 in size from the little Shetland to the great draft- 

 horses, trace back to this common origin and are 

 simply modifications of it, wrought by environ- 

 ment or the skill of man, or both. This fact ex- 

 plains the tendency of all breeds to revert to the 

 natural and parent type. In other words, all the 

 variations of the original type which we call 

 breeds have a constant tendency to drop back to 

 where they started. 



The breeder of draft-stock, if he becomes care- 



