St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-08-16
NO REALLY WILD HORSES.
All Are Said to BE Descendants of Those
That Once Were Domesticated.


That Once 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 Mex
leo, the wild horse Of the South Ameri-
can pampas, the brumbi Of Australia, all
hre descendants Of the domesticated ami
mails introduced from Europe. The first
horse was landed in America at Buenos
Ayres in 1857. In 15S0-that is, in less
than 80 years-horses had spread to re-
gions as remote as Patagonia. In Aus
tralia the diffusion Of horses that have
escaped from civilization has been quite
as rapid, and in 1876 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 witt
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 90, 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 ne 'ntain his
supremacy by frequent combats, which
especially occur at certain seasons of the
year. The animals are suspicious in the
extreme, swift in flight, 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 a
leader and implicitly obeys 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
ly with their heels, or they close i'll 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
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 state
ment that no aboriginal or 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 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 evidence as to his pedigree in rela-
ton to domestication. The wild horse
of the British islands is now practically
the Shetland pony, but he is not the
powerful animal described by Caesar.
The domesticated animal everywhere,
however, re-erts' very easily to the saw
age state The PAGES of a wild horse are
walk and gallop The double and the
canter are artificial and it is still a
mooted question as to whether the wild
horse ever trots Paper Read Before
the Bombay Historical Society.