Part II. THE HORSE UNDER DOMESTICATION 



ITS ORIGIN AND THIS STRUCTURI: AND (iROWTH Ol THI: TIH IH 



By S. H. Chubb 



WHI^X animals aic livin*:; imdci- pci'tVctly natuial coiiditions, 

 their j^hysical structure is slowly modified by cliiuatc, topo^- 

 laphy of hal)itats and food supply as well as h}- many othci' 

 forces. In the strug;gle for self-preservation amon^- the competitors l)y 

 which tliey are surrounded, they develop weapons of defence, or acquire 

 speed mechanism or other means of escape. Thus what we may call 

 natural, as opposed to artificial evolution, is controlled by a great variety 

 of forces, while in a condition of domestication \\v have development 

 directed in certain lines b}' man's intelligence. 



ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC HORSE 



IN the light of researches made by Professors Ridge way, Osborn and 

 Ewart, there seems to be little doubt that the domestic horse has been 

 derived from several wild types which have since become extinct as 

 wild species. Of two at least we may be reasonably^ sure: one of Europe 

 or northwestern Asia, which has been called the Norseman's horse; the 

 other from northern Africa, which Professor Ridge way has called Equus 

 Uhycus. 



There is abundant evidence to prove that in the late Quaternary, 

 during and after the Glacial Period, but nevertheless many thousands of 

 years ago, pi-ehistoric man chased and killed wild horses, using their 

 flesh for food and possibly their skins for raiment. This period was fol- 

 lowed by a second, during which wild horses wTre captured, broken to 

 rude harness and driven. The rearing action of the horse skeleton in the 

 group on exhibition in the Museum (Frontispiece) is designed to express 

 unwilling subjection, and the position of the man, as if holding a bridle, 

 intellectual control. The period of domestication passed insensibly into a 

 third, that of artificial development, during which the horse was modified, 

 and is still being modified in various directions. 



Under man's protection and management, changes are brought about 

 in domestic animals with considerable control and much more rapidly 

 than under perfectly natural conditions. Through training and careful 

 selection in breeding, speed has been greatly increased in the race horse, 

 weight and strength have been developed in the draft horse, while the 

 Shetland pony has been reduced to a most diminutive size. 



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