HISTORY OF THE HORSE -A BRIEF SYNOPSIS
A. Fossil Evidence in America- 58 million years ago
B. When Columbus arrived in America in 1492 there were no horses-What Happened?
1) Disease?
2) Climatic Change
3) Failure to adapt?
4) Land bridge to Asia
5) Horses were then reintroduced to America by the Spanish Conquistadores - 5OOyrs ago.
C. Oldest ancestor was Eohippus
1) Fout feet high
2) Four toes in front and three in back
3) Gradually grew and changed in form to present day horse- Equus
a) Middle toe became cannon bone
b) Outside toes became splints and chesnuts
c) Shape of head changed slightly- But brain size remained
SMALL!
D. Humans and Horses
1) Horses were hunted 25,000 years ago
2) Horses were the last of present day animals to be domesticated
(~5,000 yrs ago)
3) Horses were first used in the military around 1500 B.C
4) Agriculture and transportation
5) Present generation- recreation and sport
E. Many different wild stocks gave rise to the present day breeds
1) Wild horse of Asia
a) Arabs and Thoroughbreds
2) Wild horse of Europe
a) Modern day draft breeds
b) Smaller ones- Shetland pony
3) Przewalski horse
a) Only surviving ancient species- ~ 700 remaining today in captivity
b) Last one seen in the wild in 1968 in Asia
Back