76 



THE HORSE 



used in agriculture, the ox being almost universally em- 

 ployed in ploughing till the Middle Ages. The repre- 

 sentation in the Bayeux tapestry of a horse drawing a 

 harrow is said to be the earliest indication of the kind, 

 and quite exceptional at that period. 



Horses are now diffused, by the agency of man, 

 throughout almost the whole of the inhabited parts of the 

 globe, and the great modifications they have undergone, 

 in consequence of domestication and selective breed- 

 ing, are well exemplified by comparing such extremes 

 as the Shetland pony, dwarfed by uncongenial climate 

 and scanty food, the thoroughbred racehorse, and the 

 gigantic London dray-horse. The smallest specimens of 

 the former may be not more than half the height of the 

 largest of the latter. 1 



Perhaps the most striking instance, as it has the 

 certainty of a mathematical demonstration, which can be 

 given of the change of constitution and capability brought 

 about by careful selective breeding in a comparatively 

 short space of time, is seen in the steady progress that 



1 Mr. R. Brydon, writing in the Journal of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society of England, 3rd series, vol. i. part 1 (1890), says : — 

 ' Having measured many hundreds of them [Shetland ponies], I am 

 convinced that ten hands is the average height, and that very few 

 are found outside a range of from 9.2 to 10.2. An occasional 

 specimen is met with as low as 8.2 when full grown, but anything 

 under 9 hands is extremely rare, and the largest of the pure breed 

 rarely exceed 11 hands.' On the other hand, carthorses between 17 

 and 18 hands in height are not uncommon. 



