Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-11-19
NO REALLY MID HORSES.
All Ars Said TO he Descendants of Those
That Once We're Doalesticated-

Is there sn.h thing as the Wild
horse. All abcr ilai o. truly wild horse.
in the world nuws The answer Is more
than doubtful The mustang Of Mex
leo, the wild horse Of the South Ameri-
can palnpas, the brumbi Of Australia, all
are descendants Of the domestieated AMI
mails introduced from Europe. The first
horse was landed III America at Buenos
Ayres in 1881 In l5S0--that is, in less
than 80 years--horses had spread to re-
gions as remote as Patagonia. Ia Aus
tralia the diffusion Of horses that have
escaped from civilization has been quite
as rapid, and in 1875 it was found nee
essary TO shoot as many as 1000 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 domestic horses TO
join them, and wild stations also in
wade the Australian horse runs and viii
ate choice herds in a most annoying
manner. They recur TO the ancestral
manners in way that is always the
same. Each stallion has his following
of mares, ranging from few up to 40
and even so, and these parties may be
separate or banded together in herds Of
considerable size, even, it is said, 400
strong. The young and the weak mares
remain with scanty or even no follow
ing The stallion has TO maintain his
supremacy 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 de-
Tense with tooth and heel in emergency.
They range extensively in search of pas
ture and water, and when hard pressed
by danger and famine the herds break
up. 1t is said that each troop has
leader and implicitly Obs IS him. He is
the first to face danger and give the hint
to fly. When pressed, the horses form a
ring, with the mares and foals in the
center, and defend themselves vigorous
" with their heels, or they close in on
their opponent in dense masses and
trample him to death.
1t is distinctly proved, then, that
there can be no aboriginal or wild horse
ineither 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 ex's st. Darwin : state
ment that no aboriginal CT truly wild
horse is known to exist must still be
held as explaining the exact position Of
this question But We must supplement
it by stating that it is not certain that
truly wild horses DO Tot e. It, and. on
the whole. conclude that tie evidence
is in favor Of the existence CT tho Wild
horse in central Asa, bat thai we have
no ovide..ce rs TO ms ped gIee i'll rela-
ton to domest.caticn The wild horse
of the British islnds is now practically
the Shetland pony, but he is not the
powerful animal described by Caesar.
The domeSticated animal everywhere,
however, reyerts very easily to the saw
age state. The PAGES Of avid horse are
a walk and gallop. The double and the
canter are artificial. and it is still q
mooted question as 70 whether the Wild
horse ever trots. Paper Read Before
the Bunhay Historical Society.