The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-08-14
History Of the Horse.


ton of man, and even further than
the very layer of earth upon which
we live, into the rocks and petrifica-
tion of the next age below us.
Far back before the age of man
there lived upon the earth species
of the horse family, long ago extinct,
which at the present day would make
showman's fortune. This horse was
very little larger than a sheep. and
some not larger than a terrier dog.
These little horses, as far as we know
from the fossil remains. were the be-
ginning of the horse tribe.
They had every outline of horses
and the anatomy also, with the excep-
ton that the feet were most peculiar.
Instead of having one hoof on each
leg. as our modern horse has this
diminutive pony was the posessor of
four. making sixteen hoofs in all. AS
the horse developed, these hoofs, or,
speaking more correctly, these toes
all disappeared, leaving our modern
horse TO walk upon the end of one leg.
In order to clearly understand the
manner of the gradual disappear
ance of these toes a little anatomy
may be tolerated.
Starting with the hand of man as a
standard, the thumb. which is really
a finger, is called the first finger, the
index is called the second, the next
third, fourth and fifth. 1t has been
observed that when this order is in
any way interfered with the first to
disappear is the thumb or first finger.
This Is noticed in dogs. The ''dew
claw" is the first finger or thumb.
So it was with the little horse.
No remains can be found possessing
the first finger. The earliest had the
second. third, fourth and fifth toe
present, all of which reached the
ground and were disable. These toes
all disappeared until none was left
except the third, which is the toe up.
on which the horses OF the present
day walk.
The one just preceding our modern
horse had three toes, the second, third
and fourth, but the outside ones did
not reach the ground and were ac
cordingly not disable. They were up
a little distance on the leg, like the
little hoofs of deer. and only remain
on our modern horse in what is known
as splint bones. It occasionally hap
pens that horses. as we'll as other ami
mails, will breed back, and a mou-
stroslty. as it appears to us, will be
the result. In England some time
ago horse was born which had two
hoofs OIL each foot, and was carried
about the country as 3 curiosity. 1t
was a reference, or index. of what
sort of feet the species once had.
Just why they were at first in pos
session of such feet Is matter of con-
lecture. 1t may have been because
the ground was soft and marshy. and
the extra feet gave more surface for
resistance, and as the earth grew
tirmer no necessity existed for so
many toes, so that by disuse they be-
gan to disappear.
With the modification of the feet
the horse increased in height ana
strength, getting ready to help man
bear his burdens and progress IN the
line of civilization. AS it increased
In size, through mans interference
and culture, it also increased in men.
tai capacity until one of the most in
telligent. d0ciIe, useful creatures ever
given by Supreme Being to man is
the animal almost human-the horse.
In very early days horses were not
used by all nations, and by none as
beasts of burden. Asses and mules
did the drudgery. and horses were
only used as racers. warriors, hunters,
or to carry their owners upon jour.
neys of pleasure or business.
Seeing men on horseback, appar-
emily part and parcel of the b asst.
led some native to think that the
strange appearance was but one ami.
NAL, hence the belief In the centaur,
or animal half animal and half man.
In war they were the source of great
terror to those who were unfamiliar
with him, and often the approach of
a troop would strike disnlay into the
hearts of the enemy.
The gradual development from the
little pocket pony into the full-grOwn
horse has been prominent factor in
the advancement of the human race,
and upon no other animal has the
hand of human interference been so
marked. This can be seen in the
wonderful variety in the horse fam
lily. Shetland ponies, heavy draught
horses, the racer whose feet spurn the
ground, and the slow-plodding but
powerful horse which draws our iron