Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-08-31
TAME ANIMALS.
Still Preserve the Traits They Possessed II
Their wild State.


Their Wild State.
We value the horse for his speed and
endurance. Yet had it not been for the
chief ancestor Of our faithful friend, the
dog. G., the grim gray wolf of Europe
Rnd Asia, with his everlasting hunger and
| untiring gallOp-the wild horses which
swarrned over tho plains Of the old world,
| and from which all our modern steeds have
sprung, would never have developed the
swftness and staying power they possessed
and have transmitted to their descendants.
The wolves and the wild horses were con-
Ttantly at war and, moreover, the wolf was
the only predatory beast existing in an
Gient times which was able to pursue the
horses and hunt them down out on the
open steppe The galloping power of the
horse was thus undoubtedly developed to
enable him to escape these gaunt, persist
ent foes So certain does this appear to
me that never see a wolf In menagerie
without feeling inclined to raise my hat to
him and thank him for many an exhila-
rating gallop on horseback. If his blood
thirsty forefathrrs had never existed, there
would have been little to choose between
horse and donkey. 1t must be borne
in mind that such influences were at work
from day to day, from year to year and
from century to century during immense
epochs before ever the first wild horse was
lassoed by man. 1t seems strange that
this long and bitter fcud between the
/ equid@ and the CANDIDA should now almost
be entirely forgotten. Horses seldom show
an instructive enmity to dogs in the same
way that cattle do Probably this is be-
cause they are SO closely associated to-
gether in their common state of servitude
to man The horse is an intelligent ami
NAL and readily finds out who are his
friends. Probably also when wild he had
little fear of single wolf, for he has
plenty Of courage and is "a skillful fighter
with hoofs and teeth. Occasionally, how
ever, the old dread and enmity crop up.
I have known young horses when sur
rounded by pack Of foxhounds for the
first time to become almost frantic with
fear.
We know that the horses wild forefa-
theirs, like the free mustangs inhabited
the open plains and trusted chiefly to
their speed to escape from their enemies
This becomes all the more evident when
we examine young foal, All young
creatures tend to resemble their earlier
types from which the race has sprung
more Unhn dtRlllLS no ne legs Vi JllN lNtI
are enormo, " developed from birth He
looks absurdly like horse ON stills, and
when four or five days old he can gallop
almost as fast as ever he will in his life
He holds his head up boldly and never
tries to stink away and hide, like young
calf or fawn. whose ancestors dwelt in the
forest. There is story that u thorough
bred foal Of about q month old once beat
race horse over half mile course. His
dam was mare celebrated for her speed,
and she had a jockey on her back She
outstripped the rival horse, and her long
/ legged offspring kept level with her with
ease
If you watch how a young colt takes his
nourishment, you will sec that his habits
tell the same story He never takes q full
meal in the way young calf does but
keeps constantly running to his mother
and refreshing himself every few minutes.
| This shows, first, that it is not his custom
to be long absent from his dam, as aro
| young animals which lie hidden among
tho thickcts while their parents go to seek
food. 1t shows, secondly, that his stomach
Is never so loaded with a meal rs to hin
der his running powers, which were all
important when the youngest member Of
the band had to keep up with the rest in
their Eight from wolves or other enemies.
Again, "a colt when he lies down does not
curl himself up in a small compass, as If
TO escape observation, after the bashful
manner Of the calf, but extends his long
limbs conspicuOusly NORTH American
! Review.