The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-05-17
THE HORSE.
Why That Animal Was Driven Before II
Was Ridden.


Was Ridden.
Canon Taylor, in that most interest
Ing book, 1.-The Origin of the Aryans,"
has raised once more u question which
has often attracted the attention of
scholars, especially those interested in
the Homeric poems, says the Academy.
Why is it that in the earliest records Of
the Greeks, Egyptians, Assyrians,
Indians, and Cclts we find the horse
used for drawing chariots, but not yet
for riding?
Canon Taylor remarks: cit is curious
to notice at how late period men first
venturcd to mount the swift one;'" and
he goes on to say that there is nothing
in the rig Veda" to show that the art
of riding was practiced, and that our
first notice of it is in the 'Zend Avcsta."
The Homeric Greeks employed the
horse almost exclusively for tho
chariot, riding being only alluded to in
some two or three isolated passages, as
when Odysscus and Diomedes rode to
the ships the horses of Rhesus which
they had captured. This, however,
shows that it was hardly from fear
that the Greeks did not habitually ride
instead of drive their stoeds. The
same remark applies to the ancient
Britons, who, according to the ancient
accounts, performed wonderful feats of
agility in running out and standing upon
the pole of the chariot.
The true solution may probably be
this: The primitive horse that ranged
over the plains of Europe and Asia was
too small whom he was first domesti-
Gated to carry Il man for any great
time or distance on his back This, of
course, would render him practically
useless for warfare. There is ample
evidence to prove that the primitive
wild horse was of very dminutivc size
Probably of all his descendants the
Shetland pony is his best represent
alive. Canon Taylor says (spcal;irg of
the enormous deposit of their bones
found Mt Solutrc, near Macon. which
contains from twenty thousand to forty
thousand slcletons):
This primitive horse was Il dilninu-
tive animal, not much larger than an
ass, standing about thirteen hands
high, the largest specimens not exceed
ing fourteen hands. But the head was
of disproportionatc size and the teeth
were very powerful. lie rescmbled the
tarpan or wild horse of the Caspian
stcppes."
Even long after he had been domesti-
Gated he remained very small, as is
proved by the bits made of bronze and
staghorn which have been found at Mo-
rlngcn and Auvcrnicr, which belong to
the latest bronze age. "Thesc bits are
only three and one half inches wide,
and could now be hardly used for
child's pony"
Let us now turn to Hcrodotus, where,
speaking of the unknown regions to the
north of the Danube, he says that the
only people he can learn of as inhab-
ting the region are called Sigyannae,
who wear the costume of the Medcs,
and whose horses are shaggy all over
the body, being covered with hair to n
depth of five fingers, and are small and
flat noscd and incapable of carrying
men, but when yollcd under chariots
they are very swift, and that the ma
tives accordingly drive chariots. This
description OF the external appearance
of the little horses of the Sigyannae of
central Europe agrees very well with
that of the sketches found near Ma
con. The simous shape of the head
ITALICS well with the ugly shaped skull
and powerful jaws of the bone de-
posts.
We can hardly doubt that we have
here primitive horses such as those
whose diminutive bits have been found
in the later lake dwellings of Switzer-
land. 1T seems to me then that the
reason llerodotus here assigns for the
fact that this tribe of central Europe
drove their horses instead of riding
them is the true explanation why all
early peoples alike employed the horse
for driving long before they ever habit
ually practiced riding. 1t was only
after generations of domestication that,
under careful feeding and breeding, the
horse became of sufficient size to carry
man on his back with case. That
size was held to be of great Importance
by the lloIneric Greeks is proved by
Iliad X, 400.
a Pictured Com.
Onp of tho Stro n crncf IN MD, r;o, f,o,1-e