6 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE * 



Man and the prehistoric horse were associated as early as the 

 Paleolithic, or Stone Implement Age. It is assumed that man first 

 hunted horses for food, then drove them, and finally used them 

 for riding and as beasts of burden. The bones of human beings 

 have been found in connection with prehistoric-horse remains in 

 South America, but not in North America. In Europe man and 

 the prehistoric horse were without doubt associated. 



The connecting link between the prehistoric and modern horse 

 is assumed to be the present form of the zebra, the wild ass of 

 Asia and Africa, and Prejvalsky's horse. The prehistoric horse 

 became extinct in America and Europe during the Quaternary 

 period, or Age of Man, while those of Asia and Africa survived. 

 It has been assumed by various authorities that Prejvalsky's horse, 

 discovered in 1881 by Poliakoff on the desert of Zungaria in 

 western Mongolia in Asia, is the connecting link between the 

 recent and prehistoric horse. This type of wild pony, standing 

 forty inches high, bears a striking resemblance to the European 

 cave drawings of the horse. The rough, small, coarse-headed 

 ponies native to Norway, Ireland, and other parts of northern 

 Europe show much resemblance to the wild ponies of Mongolia 

 and China. Professor J. Cossar Ewart of Scotland, who has given 

 much study to the origin of our domestic breeds, states^ that 

 " though the wild horse discovered some years ago by Prejvalsky 

 in Mongolia has neither coarse limbs nor broad hoofs, it is re- 

 garded by many as the modern representative of the fossil horse 

 from which domestic breeds are said to have descended. This is 

 the view adopted by Professor Diirst in his report on the "Animal 

 Remains from the Excavations at Anau.'" In 1904 Ewart recog- 

 nized as connecting links three distinct types of horses — Prej- 

 valsky's, Celtic, and Norwegian, which he later respectively 

 designated as " steppe," "' plateau," and "' forest" types. Diirst of 

 Germany, who arrived at the same conclusion, though independ- 

 ently, represented in graphic form the origin of the modem breeds. 

 However, he assumed that both wild and tame modern horses 

 are all descended from a fossil species now represented by Equus 

 Prejvalsky. 



1 " The Principles of Breeding and the Origin of Domesticated Breeds of 

 Animals," 27th Report Bureau Animal Industry for the year 1910, pp. i25-2-?g. 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



