The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-10-03
NO REALLY WILD HORSES.
All Are Said to BE Descendants OF Those
That Once Were Domesticated.

That Once were DOmestlcateus
Is there such a 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 Amerl-
can pampas, the brumbi OF Australia, all
are descendants of the domesticated anil
mails introduced from Europe. The first
horse was landed in America at Buenos
Avres in 1887 In 1530--that is, in less
than so 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
essay 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 a 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 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 in on
their opponent i'll 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, reverts very easily to the saw
age state. The PAGES of 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.