St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-23
TAME ANIMALS

Still Preserve the Traits They
Possessed in Their Wild State.
North American Review
We value the horse tor his speed and
endurance; yet had it not been for the
chief ancestor of our faithful friend the
dog. e., the grim gray wolf of Europe
and Asia. with his everlasting hunger
and untiring gallop-the wild horses
which swarrned over the great plains of
the old world, and from which all our
modern steeds have sprung. would
never have developed the swiftneSs and
staying power they possessed and have
transmitted to their descendants.
Z The wolves and the wild horses were
constantly at war and, moreover, the
wolf was the only predatory beast exist
ing in ancient 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 undoubt-
eddy developed to enable him to escape
these gaunt, persistent foes. So certain
does this appear TO me that never see
wolf Ill a menagerie without feeling in
clined to raise my hat to him and
thank him for many an eXhiiarating
gallop oil horseback. If his bloodthirsty
forefatifers had never existed there
would have been little to choose be-
tween horse aud donkey.
1t must be borne in mind that such
influences were at work from day to
day, fr0n year To year, and from cen
fury to century. during immense epochs
before ever the first wild horse was
laS,otd by man. 1t seems strange that
this long and bitter feud between the
equid8 ard the caRid8 should
now be almost entirely forgot
ten. Horses seldom show an in
stinctive enmity to dogs in the same
way that cattle do. Probably this is
because they are SO closely associated
together in their common state of Serv-
nude to man. The horse is an intelli-
gent animal. and readily finds out who
are his friends. Probably also when
wild lie had little fear OF single wolf.
for he has plenty of courage and is a
skillfui fighter with hoofs and teeth.
Occasionally, however, the old dread
and einnltY crop up. have known
young horses, when surrounded by
pack of fox-hounds for the INST time. to
become almost frantic with fear.
We know that the horses wild fore
fathers, like the free mustangs, inhab-
tied the open plains and trusted chiefly
to their speed TO escape from their en-
emieS. This becomes all the more evil
dent when we examine q young foal.
All young creatures tend to resemble
the earlier types from which the race
has sprung more than the adults do.
The legs Of the foal are enormously de-
veloped from birth. He looks absurdly
like horse on stills. and when four or
five days old he can gallop almost as
fast as he ever will i'll his life He holds
his head up boldly and never tries to
ctink q wau and h1dp liko ynnDp GOLF
orfawn, whose ancestors dwelt in the
forest There is a story that IA thorough
bred foal of about a month old once beat
q race horse over half-nile course.
His dam was mare celebrated for her
speed, and she had jockey on her
back. She outstripped the rival horse.
and her l0ng-legged offspring kept level
with her with ease.
: Ii you watch how a young colt takes
ibis D0uriShmeut you will see tina; his
habits tell the same story. He never
takes q full meal in the way that
young calf does, but keeps constantly
running to his mother and refreshing
himself every few minutes. This shows.
| first. that 1t is not his custom to pe long
absent from his dam, as are young ami
mails which lie hidden among the thick
cts while their parents go TO seek TODD.
/ il shows, secondly, that his stomach Is
Bnever SO loaded with meal as to hinder
his running powers, which were ALL
important when the youngest member
of the hand had to keep up with the
rest in their flight from wolves or other
enemies Again, a colt, when he lies
do WI, does not curl himself up in a
small compass, as ii to escape observa-
ton, alter the bashful manner of the
calf, but extends his long limbs con.
SulcIlOuSlY.