The Horse

Teacher’s Story

“There was once a little animal no bigger than a fox,
And on five toes he scrambled over Tertiary rocks.
They called him Eohippus, and they called him very small,
And they thought him of no value when they thought of him at all.

Said the little Eohippus, I am going to be a horse!
And on my middle finger nails to run my earthly course!
I am going to have a flowing tail! I am going to have a mane!
And I am going to stand fourteen hands high on the Psychozooic plain!”

—Mrs. Stetson.

It was some millions of years ago, that Eohippus lived out in the Rocky Mountain Range; its fore feet had four toes and the splint of the fifth; the hind feet had three toes and the splint of the fourth. Eohippus was followed down the geologic ages by the Orohippus and the Mesohippus and various other hippuses, which showed in each age a successive enlargement and specialization of the middle toe and the minimizing and final loss of the others. This first little horse with many toes, lived when the earth was a damp, warm place and when animals needed toes to spread out to prevent them from miring in the mud. But as the ages went on, the earth grew colder and drier, and a long leg ending in a single hoof, was very serviceable in running swiftly over the dry plains; and according to the story read in the fossils of the rocks, our little American horses migrated to South America; and also trotted dry-shod over to Asia in the Mid-pleocine age, arriving there sufficiently early to become the companion of prehistoric man. In the meantime, horses were first hunted by savage man for their flesh, but were later ridden. At present, there are wild horses in herds on the plains of Tartary; and there are still sporadic herds of mustangs on the great plains of our own country, although for the most part, they are branded and belong to someone, even though they live like wild horses; these American wild horses are supposed to be descendants of those brought over centuries ago by the Spaniards. The Shetland ponies are also wild in the islands north of Scotland, and the zebras roam the plains of Africa the most truly wild of all. In a state of wildness, there is always a stallion at the head of a herd of mares, and he has to win his position and keep it by superior strength and prowess. Fights between stallions are terrible to witness, and often result in the death of one of the participants. The horse is well armed for battle; his powerful teeth can inflict deep wounds and he can kick and strike hard with the front feet; still more efficient is the kick made with both hind feet while the weight of the body is borne on the front feet, and the head of the horse is turned so as to aim well the terrible blow. There are no wild beasts of prey which will not slink away to avoid a herd of horses. After attaining their growth in the herd with their mothers, the young males are forced by the leader to leave and go off by themselves; in turn, they must by their own strength and attractions, win their following of mares. However, there are times and places where many of these herds join, making large bands wandering together.

The length of the horse’s leg was evidently evolved to meet the need for flight before fierce and swift enemies, on the great ancient plains. The one toe, with its strong, sharp hoof, makes a fit foot for such a long leg, since it strikes the ground with little waste of energy and is sharp enough not to slip, but it is not a good foot for marshy places; a horse will mire where a cow can pass in safety. The development of the middle toe into a hoof results in lifting the heel and wrist far up the leg, making them appear to be the knee and elbow, when compared with the human body.

The length of neck and head are necessary in order that an animal, with such length of leg as the horse, may be able to graze. The head of the horse tells much of its disposition; a perfect head should be not too large, broad between the eyes and high between the ears, while below the eyes, it should be narrow. The ears, if lopped or turned back, denote a treacherous disposition. They should point upward or forward; the ears laid back is always a sign that the horse is angry; sensitive, quick-moving ears indicate a high-strung, sensitive animal. The eyes are placed so that the horse can see in front, at the side and behind, the last being necessary in order to aim a kick. Hazel eyes are usually preferred to dark ones, and they should be bright and prominent. The nostrils should be thin-skinned, wide-flaring and sensitive; as a wild animal, scent was one of the horse’s chief aids in detecting the enemy. The lips should not be too thick and the lower jaw should be narrow where it joins the head.

The horse’s teeth are peculiar; there are six incisors on both jaws; behind them is a bare space called the bar, of which we have made use for placing the bit. Back of the bar, there are six molars or grinders on each side of each jaw. At the age of about three years, canine teeth or tushes appear behind the incisors; these are more noticeable in males, and never seem to be of much use. Thus, the horse has on each jaw, when full-grown, six incisors, two canines, and twelve molars, making forty teeth in all. The incisors are prominent and enable the horse to bite the grass more closely than can the cow. The horse when chewing, does not have the sidewise motion of the jaws peculiar to the cow and sheep.

The horse’s coat is, when rightly cared for, glossy and beautiful; but if the horse is allowed to run out in the pasture all winter, the coat becomes very shaggy, thus reverting to the condition of wild horses which stand in need of a warmer coat for winter; the hair is shed every year. The mane and the forelock are useful in protecting the head and neck from flies; the tail is also an efficient fly-brush. Although the mane and tail have thus a practical value, they add greatly to the animal’s beauty. To dock a horse’s tail as an ornament is as absurd as the sliced ears and welted cheeks of savages; and horses thus mutilated suffer greatly from the attacks of flies.

Owing to the fact that wild horses made swift flight from enemies, the colts could not be left behind at the mercy of wolves. Thus it is, the colt like the lamb, is equipped with long legs from the first, and can run very rapidly; as a runner, it could not be loaded with a big compound stomach full of food, like the calf, and therefore, must needs take its nourishment from the mother often. The colt’s legs are so long that, in order to graze, it spreads the front legs wide apart in order that it may reach the grass with its mouth. When the colt or the horse lies down out of doors and in perfect freedom, it lies flat upon the side. In lying down, the hind quarters go first, and in rising, the front legs are thrust out first.

The horse has several natural gaits and some that are artificial. Its natural methods of progression are the walk, the trot, the amble, the gallop. When walking there are always two or more feet on the ground and the movement of the feet consists in placing successively the right hind foot, the right fore foot, left hind foot, left fore foot, right hind foot, etc. In trotting, each diagonal pair of legs is alternately lifted and thrust forward, the horse being unsupported twice during each stride. In ambling, the feet are moved as in the walk, only differing in that a hind foot or a fore foot is lifted from the ground, before its fellow fore foot or hind foot is set down. In a canter, the feet are landed on the ground in the same sequence as a walk but much more rapidly; and in the gallop, the spring is made from the fore foot and the landing is on the diagonal hind foot and just before landing, the body is in the air and the legs are all bent beneath it.

An excellent horseman once said to me, “The whip may teach a horse to obey the voice, but the voice and hand control the well-broken horse,” and this epitomizes the best horse training. He also said, “The horse knows a great deal, but he is too nervous to make use of his knowledge when he needs it most. It is the horse’s feelings that I rely on. He always has the use of his feelings and the quick use of them.” It is a well-known fact that those men who whip and scold and swear at their horses, are meantime showing to the world that they are fools in this particular business. Many of the qualities which we do not like in our domesticated horses, were most excellent and useful when the horses were wild, for instance, the habit of shying was the wild horse’s method of escaping the crouching foe in the grass. This habit as well as many others is best controlled by the voice of the driver instead of a blow from the whip.

Timothy hay, or hay mixed with clover, form good, bulky food for the horse, and oats and corn are the best concentrated food. Oats are best for driving-horses and corn for the working team. Dusty hay should not be fed to a horse; but if unavoidable, it should always be dampened before feeding. A horse should be fed with regularity, and should not be used for a short time after having eaten. If the horse is not warm, it should be watered before feeding, and in the winter the water should have the chill taken off. The frozen bit should be warmed before being placed in the horse’s mouth; if anyone doubts the wisdom of this, let him put a frozen piece of steel in his own mouth. The tight-drawn, cruel use of the over check-rein should not be permitted, although a moderate check is often needed and is not cruel. When the horse is sweating, it should be blanketed immediately if hitched outside in cold weather; but in the barn, the blanket should not be put on until the perspiration has stopped steaming. The grooming of a horse is a part of its rights, and its legs should receive more attention during this process than its body, a fact not always well understood.

The breeds of horses may always be classified more or less distinctly as follows: Racers or thoroughbreds, the saddle-horse, or hunter; the coach-horse; the draft-horse and the pony. For a description of breeds see dictionaries or cyclopedias. Of the draft-horses, the Percherons, Shires and Clydesdales are most common; of the carriage and coach-horses, the English hackney and the French and German coach-horses are famed examples. Of the roadster breeds, the American trotter, the American saddle-horse and the English thoroughbred are most famous.