The Ely miner., 1895-09-04
NO REALLY WILD HORSES.
All are Said to BE Descendants of Thoss
That Onos Were Domesticated.

All Are Said to BE Descendants OF Those
That Onos Were Domesticated.
Is there such thing as the wild
horse, an aboriginal or truly wild
horse, in the world now? The answer
is more than doubtful. The mustang
of Mexico. the wild horse of the South
American pampas, the brumbi of Aus
tralia. all are descendants of the do
mesticated animals introduced from
Europe. The first horse was landed in
America at Buenos Ayres in 1897. In
l5sO-that is. in less than fifty years
horses had spread to regions as remote
as Patagonia. In Australia the diff
fusion of horses that have escaped from
civilization has been quite as rapid, and
in 1878 it was found necessary to shoot
as many as seven thousand wild horses
in the colony of New South Wales alone.
In some parts of Australia the horse
pest has received legislative notice.
The wild horses tempt tame domestic
horses to join them, and wild stations
also invade the Australian horse runs
and violate choice herds in most an
noying manner. They recur to the
ancestral manners in a way that is al
ways the same. Each stallion has his
following of mares, ranging from a
few up to forty and even Fifty, and these
parties may be separate or banded to-
gether in herds of considerable size,
even it is said, four hundred strong.
The young and the weak mares remain
with scanty or even no following.
The stallion has to maintain his su-
premacy by frequent combats, which
especially occur at certain seasons of
the year. The animals are suspicious
in the extreme, swift in fight, but bold
in defense with tooth and heel in emer-
genoy. They range extensively in
search Of pasture and water, and when
hard pressed by danger and famine the
herds break up. It is said that each
troop has leader and implicitly obeys
him. He is the first to face danger
and give the hint to fly. When pressed
the horses form ring, with the mares
and foals in the center, and defend
themselves vigorously with their heels,
or they close in on their opponent in
dense masses and trample him to death.
1t is distinctly proven then, that
there can be no aboriginal or wild
horse in either America or Australia,
although there are tens of thousands
of unknown horses. Tradition points
to Central Asia as the original abode
of the horse, and there the original
stock of wild horses may still possibly
exist. Darwin's statement that no alb
original or truly wild horse is known
to exist must still be held as explain
ing the exact position of this qaestion.
But we must supplement it by stating
that it is not certain that truly wild
horses do not exist; and, on the whole,
conclude that the evidence is in favor
of the existence of the wild horse in
Central Asia, but that we have no evi-
dence as to his pedigree in relation to
domestication. The wild horse of the
British Islands is now practically the
Shetland pony, but he is not the pow
erful animal described by Cesar. The
domesticated animal, everywhere,
however, reverts very easily to the
savage state. The PAGES of a wild
horse are a walk and gallop. The
double and the canter are artificial,
and it is still mooted question as to
whether the wild horse ever trots.-N.
Y. Sun.