CHAPTER XV 

 THE BREEDS OF HORSES 



The origin of the horse was for many j^ears not well 

 understood. It used to be thought that the domestic horse 

 was descended from the wild ass that lived in Africa and 

 Asia. It is now pretty well agreed that the horse of to-day 

 is descended from animals that hved in past geological times. 

 Fossil remains of horses have been found in different parts of 

 North and South America and in Europe. These are known 

 as prehistoric horses, because they lived on the earth before 

 man left any recorded history. 



The prehistoric horse in the earliest geological times, say 

 three million years ago, was very small. He was probably 

 about as big as a fox terrier, and is known as the "dawn 

 horse." During the development of the earth's surface, the 

 prehistoric horse passed through gradual and very important 

 changes. There was an increase in size, and his body, legs, 

 and head became more and more like those of the modern 

 horse. The skeletons of these early horses have been found 

 in different parts of the world, but more especially in North 

 America, in the far West, in Wyoming and the Bad Lands 

 of that section. Scientific men have put the fossil parts of 

 these horses together so completely that their development 

 is clearly understood. From this first period up to the last, 

 skeletons more or less complete have been found, showing 

 the gradual increase in size and general development through 

 which this prehistoric horse passed. In the American 

 Museum of Natural History in New York City is a 

 remarkable collection of skeletons of the horse, from the 

 earliest form through the several stages up to the present 

 day form. These prehistoric skeletons are grouped in their 



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